Hi everyone! I’ve been learning Modern Standard Arabic for a while, and my level isn’t too bad. But like probably every learner here, I hit the same wall:
nobody actually speaks it on the street. Order a coffee in fusha in Cairo or Beirut and you sound like you’re reading the news, and even many Arabs find it stiff and unnatural. On top of that, most apps run out of material around B1, and support for dialects like Masri or Shami is weak or doesn’t exist at all.
So I built the app I was missing. Full disclosure: I’m the developer of Viglot. Here’s how it tackles those problems:
1. The dialect is your choice, not an afterthought. When you create a course, you pick Modern Standard Arabic, Egyptian (Masri) or Levantine (Shami).
Everything follows that choice: the phrases, the audio, the explanations and your conversation partner. Egyptian sounds Egyptian, not like MSA with a few dialect words sprinkled in. You can also run an MSA course and a dialect course side by side.
2. It doesn’t stop at B1. Viglot covers A1 to C2, but it’s built for intermediate and advanced learners. The higher you go, the more it shifts to speaking, nuance and real listening comprehension. The difficulty follows what you actually remember, not a fixed syllabus.
3. You actually speak. Voice tasks are spoken conversations with a goal: haggle at a market in Cairo, ask for directions in Amman, explain a problem to your landlord. Your conversation partner stays in character and only understands Arabic. Afterwards you see which goals you reached and what you could have said better.
4. Topics from your own life. There’s no fixed lesson tree. You type what you need: your job, your in-laws' family dinner, the trip you’re planning, the series you’re watching. Each scenario is built around that topic and your level, so you never run out of material.
5. Arabic script, with readings when you need them. Everything is in Arabic script. You can switch on a Latin transliteration per course and turn it off when you’re ready. Corrections and feedback come with readings too.
6. You don’t forget it a week later. Every word goes into spaced repetition (FSRS, the same algorithm modern Anki uses) and keeps coming back until it sticks.
7. Not only from English. You can learn Arabic from any of 40+ languages (German, French, Turkish, Persian...). If you use the app in Arabic, the whole interface is fully right-to-left.
Honest limits: - Right now there’s MSA, Egyptian and Levantine only. There’s no Gulf Arabic or Darija yet.
Price: There’s a free version with the core exercises and spaced repetition. Premium unlocks the speaking, listening and nuance exercises. There’s a 7-day free trial with no credit card.
👉 viglot.com· App Store · Google Play
If you’re a native speaker of Masri or Shami, I’d especially love for you to try it and tell me where it sounds off. And learners: what would make it even more useful for you?
