Does Duolingo Have Uzbek? How to Learn Uzbek Instead

Does Duolingo offer anything close to Uzbek?

The obvious candidate is Turkish, and it helps less than you might expect. Both are Turkic, but from different branches, and Uzbek sits much further from Turkish than Azerbaijani does.

Two things pulled it away. Uzbek has largely lost vowel harmony, the rule that makes Turkish suffixes change to match the word: Turkish says evler (houses) but kitaplar (books), while Uzbek uses -lar after every word, uylar, kitoblar. And centuries alongside Persian speakers in Samarkand and Bukhara filled Uzbek with Persian words. Even "thank you" parts ways: teşekkür ederim in Turkish, rahmat in Uzbek.

You will spot shared roots once you know that Uzbek often has o where Turkish has a: tosh is taş (stone), bosh is baş (head), qora is kara (black). Spotting roots won't get you through a conversation in Tashkent, though. Babbel and Busuu don't offer Uzbek either (checked November 2026).

How to learn Uzbek with Qlango

Qlango teaches Uzbek at A1 and A2, the first two levels of the CEFR scale. At these levels you introduce yourself, talk about daily life in simple sentences and get through everyday exchanges.

A lesson gives you short example sentences in Uzbek with the translation in the language you learn from. You answer them in different ways: flashcards, picking one of two answers, matching pairs, putting scrambled words in order, writing what you hear and writing the translation yourself. An AI voice reads each example aloud, and you can slow it down to hear q against k and x against h. A finished lesson comes back after one, two, four and eight days and then once more, and examples you needed a hint for return in harder questions later.

You choose the language you learn from: English, or your own native language.

Turkic grammar, Persian words

Uzbekistan adopted a Latin alphabet in 1993, but Cyrillic is still common on older shopfronts and in print. The Latin spelling is easy once you know a few conventions: o is close to the o in British "hot", oʻ is a pure o, gʻ is a g made in the throat, and sh, ch and ng sound as in English. On phones most people type o' and g' with an ordinary apostrophe.

The grammar is Turkic, with suffixes stacked on a root and the verb at the end, but the vocabulary owes a lot to Persian. Even small words such as agar (if) and chunki (because) came from Persian, and so did -xona, from the Persian word for "house", which Uzbek adds to a noun to name a place:

Learn Persian later and much of that vocabulary will be waiting for you. It isn't on Duolingo either: see does Duolingo have Persian.

Your first Uzbek words

Assalomu alaykum works with anyone at any time of day, and the reply is vaalaykum assalom. Salom is for friends and people your own age. Our full guide to learning Uzbek covers both alphabets, the suffixes and a plan for your first month.

FAQ

Is Uzbek on Duolingo?

No. As of November 2026, Duolingo has no Uzbek course from English or from any other language.

What is the best app to learn Uzbek?

It depends on what you need. If you want a course organised by CEFR level, in Uzbekistan's official Latin alphabet, with a fixed review schedule, Qlango teaches Uzbek at A1 and A2. Duolingo, Babbel and Busuu don't offer Uzbek (checked November 2026).

Is there a free app to learn Uzbek?

Qlango is free to download on iPhone and Android, and you can start your first Uzbek lesson without creating an account. It also works in your browser.

How should I start learning Uzbek?

Start with the Latin alphabet, keeping o and oʻ, q and k, x and h apart. Then add greetings, numbers, the plural -lar and the endings for "in", "to" and "from": Toshkentda, Toshkentga, Toshkentdan. Review on a schedule, and add a little Cyrillic in your second month.

Will Duolingo add Uzbek?

We can't say. Duolingo adds and removes courses over time, so check its catalogue if you're reading this much later.

Uzbek isn't the only Central Asian language missing from Duolingo. See every language Duolingo doesn't teach, or compare Qlango and Duolingo. Your first Uzbek lesson takes about five minutes.