From 1864 to 1904, printing Lithuanian in the Latin alphabet was banned in the Russian Empire. Books were printed across the border in East Prussia and carried into the country by smugglers, the knygnešiai, who risked prison or exile to deliver prayer books and primers. A language that came through that isn't going to make itself easy for you either, and if you want to learn Lithuanian, it helps to know that from the start.
It also helps to know that it's entirely learnable. Lithuanian is famous among linguists for keeping old Indo-European features that other languages lost, which means a rich system of endings and a stress that moves around. It also means some words an English speaker can recognise once someone points them out, spelling that mostly follows sound, and a regular grammar underneath the endings. Learn each word with its ending and stress, study a little every day, and the first month gets you reading, greeting, ordering and describing yourself in simple sentences.
Where Lithuanian is spoken
Lithuanian is the state language of Lithuania, a country of a little under three million people, and an official EU language since 2004. A small Lithuanian minority lives in north-eastern Poland, around Puńsk and Sejny, and the diaspora is large for a country this size: the UK, Ireland, Norway, Germany, and the US, where Chicago has had a Lithuanian community for well over a century. In all, roughly three million people speak it as a first language.
It's one of two surviving Baltic languages. The other is Latvian, and the two share structure and some vocabulary but aren't mutually intelligible; there's a separate guide on how to learn Latvian.
Why linguists love Lithuanian, and what that means for you
Lithuanian changed slowly over the centuries, and people who study the history of Indo-European often compare it with Sanskrit and Latin. You don't need to care about that to learn it, but it has two practical consequences.
The first is pleasant: some basic words have relatives in English that you can spot.
| Lithuanian | English |
|---|---|
| du | two |
| trys | three |
| naktis | night |
| sūnus | son |
| sėdėti | to sit |
| medus | honey |
That last one is a cousin of "mead", the honey wine. You won't find many more pairs this obvious, but each one is a free word.
The second consequence is less pleasant: Lithuanian kept a lot of endings. Nouns have seven cases, two numbers and one of several declension patterns, and verbs have a generous set of participles that written Lithuanian uses freely.
The alphabet: 32 letters
Lithuanian uses the Latin alphabet with 32 letters. There's no q, w or x. The additions are ą, ę, į and ų, the "nasal" letters, which were once nasal vowels and are now pronounced long; ė, a long closed e; ū and y, a long u and a long i; and č, š and ž. Spelling is regular, and vowel length is mostly shown. Stress isn't, and that's where the real work lies.
How to learn Lithuanian stress and cases
Stress that moves
Lithuanian stress can fall on any syllable and can move between forms of the same word, and on long syllables it carries a rising or falling pitch. Nouns belong to four stress patterns that decide where the stress lands in each case. None of this is marked in ordinary writing, though good dictionaries and learner materials mark it. Don't try to learn the rules first. Learn each word by ear, with its stress, and the patterns will show themselves over time.
Seven cases
Nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative and vocative. Vilnius gives you Vilniuje (in Vilnius) and iš Vilniaus (from Vilnius). The vocative matters socially: Jonas becomes Jonai when you speak to him, and getting this right with people's names is a small courtesy that doesn't go unnoticed.
Names and gender
There are two genders, and Lithuanian surnames show them. Mr Kazlauskas's wife has traditionally been Kazlauskienė and his unmarried daughter Kazlauskaitė, though a neutral feminine form ending in -ė is now also allowed. Foreign names get Lithuanian endings too, so don't be surprised to see your own name with an -as on the end.
What's easier than it looks
There are no articles. Verbs fall into three main conjugation groups and behave fairly predictably in the present, past and future. Word order is flexible, so a sentence in English order is usually still correct. And the participles, impressive as they are, can mostly wait until after A2.
First Lithuanian words
Labas is hi, and laba diena is good day. Ačiū is thank you, and prašau covers please, you're welcome and "here you are". Taip and ne are yes and no. Atsiprašau is excuse me or sorry. Nesuprantu means I don't understand, kiek kainuoja? is how much is it, and į sveikatą is cheers. Viso gero is goodbye.
To English ears, ačiū sounds a lot like a sneeze. Lithuanians have heard that joke before, so make it once at most.
Why Lithuanian courses are hard to find
About three million speakers make a small market, and the language's reputation for difficulty scares publishers as well as learners. There are good courses at universities in Vilnius and Kaunas, summer schools, and a scattering of books and online material. Searches like "learn Lithuanian app free" and "learn Lithuanian book pdf" show learners piecing it together from whatever they can find. What's missing, mostly, is a step-by-step course for adults starting from zero.
A four-week starter plan
Week 1: letters and greetings
Learn the alphabet, especially the nasal letters and ė, and the greetings above. Read short texts aloud every day, slowly, even if you understand little.
Week 2: nouns with endings and stress
Learn forty everyday nouns, each with its gender, its ending and its stress as you hear it. Add the numbers to twenty, aš esu (I am) and turiu (I have).
Week 3: the present tense and places
Learn regular verbs in the present, such as dirbu (I work) and kalbu (I speak). Kalbu truputį lietuviškai, "I speak a little Lithuanian", is a sentence worth having ready. Add the locative for where you are, Vilniuje or namuose (at home), and write five sentences a day about yourself.
Week 4: the past tense and first messages
Learn the past tense of your ten most common verbs and start sending short messages to a Lithuanian speaker or another learner. Keep a list of the mistakes you repeat. Expect endings and stress to top it, and our guide to vocabulary learning methods will help with the words that won't stay put.
How Qlango teaches Lithuanian
Qlango has Lithuanian from A1 to B2, from labas to the level where you can hold a real conversation without either side straining; here's what each CEFR level means. Lessons are short, every word comes with example sentences, and spaced repetition brings it back just before you'd lose it. The writing exercises make you type ą, ė and ū yourself. Because the stress isn't written, hearing every word matters, and words and sentences can be played aloud with AI-generated speech that you can slow down. Premium adds an AI teacher you can ask about any ending or form, and offline lessons. When you add the course, you choose the language you learn through, which can be your native language rather than English. The full list of languages and levels is here, along with the Premium plans.
Start Lithuanian today, through the language you know best, with the first A1 lesson. The book smugglers carried primers through the forest at night. You only have to open an app.
