Learn Arabic by reading what you love
Otto swaps a share of the words you read into Arabic: on any website, in books and in podcasts. You still follow everything, and the Arabic you understand grows a little every day, without setting aside time to study.
The same sentence at all seven levels
This is the sentence Otto uses to show its levels, taken straight from the app. At A few words only the most common words are Arabic; at Confident the sentence takes Arabic word order too; at Native it is all Arabic.
city council سيقوم repair old bridge هذا winter, و mayor promised بأن pedestrians و cyclists بإمكانهم still cross footbridge.
city council سيقوم repair old bridge هذا winter, و mayor promised بأن pedestrians و cyclists بإمكانهم لا يزال cross footbridge.
مجلس المدينة سيقوم repair القديم bridge هذا الشتاء, و mayor promised بأن pedestrians و cyclists بإمكانهم لا يزال cross footbridge.
مجلس المدينة سيقوم بإصلاح القديم الجسر هذا الشتاء, و mayor وعد بأن pedestrians و cyclists بإمكانهم لا يزال عبور footbridge.
سيقوم مجلس المدينة بإصلاح الجسر القديم هذا الشتاء, و وعد العمدة بأن المشاة و cyclists لا يزال بإمكانهم عبور footbridge.
سيقوم مجلس المدينة بإصلاح الجسر القديم هذا الشتاء, و وعد العمدة بأن المشاة و راكبي الدراجات لا يزال بإمكانهم عبور footbridge.
سيُصلح مجلس المدينة الجسر القديم هذا الشتاء، وقد وعد العمدة بأن المشاة وراكبي الدراجات سيظلون قادرين على عبور جسر المشاة.
The most common words come first
A few hundred words make up most of what anyone reads, so that is where Otto starts. In this sentence, the first Arabic you would meet is:
Arabic words appear in Arabic script, as a Arabic speaker would write them. Tap one and Otto shows what it means and says it aloud, so the script comes to you word by word, in sentences you can already follow.
How you learn Arabic with Otto
- Pick your level. Start with a few everyday words, or most of the page.
- Read as you normally would. A book in the app, a podcast, or any website in Chrome, Safari or the app's own browser.
- Tap any word you don't know. See what it means and hear it. Save it with one tap.
- Practise and move up. Short games in Learn use the words you saved, and as you learn more, Otto shows you more Arabic.
Everything you read, in Arabic at your level
Any website
News, blogs, Wikipedia, recipes: Otto weaves Arabic into the page in Chrome, in Safari and in the app.
Books and podcasts
A library of classic books, and podcasts in which some of the words you hear are Arabic, both at your level.
Your word bank
Every word you save goes to Learn, where quick games bring it back until it sticks.
Your tutor
Working with a tutor? They can set your reading and see the words you looked up.
Questions
Can you learn Arabic just by reading?
Reading things you can mostly understand, with a few new words each time, is one of the best-supported ways to build vocabulary. Otto keeps your reading at that point, and pairs it with short practice games for the Arabic words you save.
What level of Arabic do I need to start?
None. At the first level Otto swaps only a handful of the most common words into Arabic, and it adds more as you learn them, all the way to reading entirely in Arabic.
Is Otto free?
Yes. Everything Otto does is free, with a daily limit. Otto Pro (£3.99 a month) lets you read five times more and work with a tutor; Otto Max (£9.99 a month) five times more again.
Where does Otto work?
On iPhone, iPad and Mac, and as an extension for Chrome and Safari, so it works on the websites you already read.
Do I need to read Arabic script before I start?
No. Words appear in Arabic script, and a tap shows the meaning and plays the sound, so you learn to recognise them as you go.