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Menu
 * Start here!
 * Italian Words & Phrases
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LINGQ REVIEW: THE BEST ITALIAN LANGUAGE APP?

March 26, 2023November 13, 2021 by Heather Broster

As a self-proclaimed language geek, I am constantly on the lookout for new and
innovative methods to improve my language skills, especially those that allow me
to save oodles of time and streamline the learning process.

I first discovered LingQ (pronounced ‘link’) while watching an episode of
Podcast Italiano in which the host, Davide, interviews the program’s founder,
Steve Kaufmann, about his experience as a polyglot and entrepreneur. Keen to
give it a try, I downloaded the app and within minutes, I was hooked!



The concept behind LingQ is simple:


 1. consume your favourite media (articles, e-books, YouTube videos with
    subtitles, Netflix shows, podcasts, and so on) within the app
 2. click on unfamiliar words and phrases as you read, or follow along with the
    subtitles
 3. save them for easy access later on in the form of lists and flashcards.



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Ethics statement: Within this article, there are affiliate links. If you
subscribe to LingQ after clicking one of these links, we will receive a small
commission. To know more about our ethics, you can visit our full disclosure
page. Thank you!

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HOW TO USE LINGQ

When you first open an article, or any other form of media, in the app, you’ll
notice that every single word is highlighted in blue. All this means is that you
haven’t encountered words in the app before.

The six terms highlighted in blue are those that have not yet appeared in the
material I’ve been reading.


As you turn the virtual pages using the arrows, these words automatically go
from blue to white, thus entering your “known words” list. If, however, you
click on a word and save it to your vocabulary list, it turns yellow.

After clicking on frapponeva, the word went from blue to yellow, joining my list
of saved words.

In addition to singular words, you can also save phrases by dragging your finger
or cursor over multiple words. These phrases also turn yellow as you can see
below.

Saving the phrase “di buon cuore” has caused it to turn yellow.


Note that if you don’t like the definition provided by LingQ (which is usually
but not always accurate), you can add a modified definition of your own. A
number of popular dictionaries such as Word Reference and Context Reverso can be
accessed straight from the app.

For the word schiettezza, I added a couple of extra translations to compliment
the original definition provided by LingQ, which was “straightforwardness”.


In addition to the myriad of ready-made materials, there is also the really cool
option to import your own media. This is what I tend to do most of the time, so
that I’m always consuming media relevant to my needs and interests rather than
random articles suggested by the app or uploaded by other users. (The only
exception was the first five chapters of Harry Potter which I devoured in a
couple of days! 😁)

The simplest way to upload your own media from your phone is to visit an article
in your browser, press the Share button, and select LingQ from the list.
Alternatively, you can cut and paste the URL of the article you’re interested
in, and add it directly to the app.

Share to LingQ directly from your phone’s browser


On desktop, the most straightforward method is to download the LingQ Importer
extension for Chrome, Safari or Firefox.

Click on the extension button and import any article of your choice

As I mentioned in the introduction, LingQ also includes a built-in flashcard
program so that you can study the words you don’t know. Each word is assigned a
level from 1 to 4, depending on how well you know it. Words are assigned a
checkmark once you’ve learned them off by heart.


An example of a LingQ flashcard

To be honest, I don’t use the LingQ flashcards very much for the simple reason
that I’ve been happily using the Anki flashcard app for the past four years, and
I see little point in splitting my time between two flashcard programs.

Instead, I go through the list of words I’ve saved in LingQ once a week, pick
out a handful I’d like to learn, and add them to Anki. Usefully, LingQ allows
you to download the words as an Anki file, but I prefer to add them manually so
that I can include my own example phrases and definitions.



Within the various settings, there is the option to set your daily LingQ goal,
or in other words, the number of new words you aim to save per day. This can be
as low as 13 or as high as 100. (I have mine set to 13 since I don’t have much
time to read during the day.) I find it extremely motivating to see my learning
streak progressively increase, so much so that I haven’t skipped a day since I
signed up! (I’m at 209 days and counting!)



And if you’re seeking even more motivation, it’s a good idea to join at least
one of the monthly or 90-day challenges, so that you can see how your progress
compares to that of other LingQ users.




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WHO IS LINGQ FOR?

Due to LingQ being primarily a reading and listening based app, my personal
recommendation is to take the plunge once you’ve reached at least an A2 / B1
level of Italian – otherwise you might feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of
new words and phrases.

That said, LingQ does provide what they call Guided Courses with content for all
levels, including absolute beginners. They aren’t traditional courses in that
they don’t include grammar lessons or exercises – rather they provide you with
reading and listening material that has been carefully preselected to suit your
level.




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IMPROVEMENTS I’D LIKE TO SEE

Of course, not everything about LingQ is perfect, which is something that can be
said about most language learning apps.

Perhaps the most annoying aspect is that LingQ counts all forms of a verb or
adjective as a new word. So, for example, if you save the adjective bello (a
masculine singular adjective meaning “beautiful”), and it appears later on in
the form bella (the feminine singular of bello), LingQ will count these as two
separate words.

Likewise, if a word is preceded by a preposition, such as all’inizio (a +
l’inizio = at the beginning), this entire prepositional phrase will also be
counted as one word.

What’s more, when you click on a word, the definitions that appear aren’t always
accurate, and occasionally, are even in the wrong language. This occurs because
users are free to add definitions of their own, and LingQ is unable to vet all
the various definitions added by its users. That said, this tends to occur more
within English learning platform than the Italian one. (Yes, I use LingQ when I
read English articles too!)

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WHY I LOVE LINGQ

Before LingQ, I used to underline the words I didn’t know as I read, write them
down on a separate sheet of paper, look them up in a dictionary, and if I had
time, add them to my Anki flashcard program. As you can imagine, the process ate
up enormous amounts of precious time, and was so tedious and demoralising that I
rarely chose reading over other more interesting activities such as listening to
music or watching Italian television.

What LingQ has given me, above all, is the motivation to read on a daily basis,
and the confidence to tackle challenging reading material that I might otherwise
have avoided. The old me was lucky to get through an Italian article just once a
week, whereas nowadays, I read a range of materials, from news articles to
novels, for at least a half an hour a day. I’ve been using it for over 200 days
straight, and I’ve seen a notable improvement in my vocabulary and understanding
of difficult topics.

If you’d like to try out LingQ for yourself, you can sign up for the free trial
and by using our code, save a total of 35% off the full price!
(affiliate links)



Have you ever used LingQ? If so, what was your experience? Let us know in the
comments below! 😀

Heather Broster

Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of
Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian,
as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally
from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a
period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language
acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.



Categories Blog

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Ethics statement: Below you will find affiliate links. If you buy something
after clicking the link, we will receive a small commission. To know more about
our ethics, you can visit our full disclosure page. Thank you!



Lingopie (affiliate link) is the Netflix of language learning application that
uses real TV shows and movies to help you learn a new language. You can choose a
show to watch based on your fluency level, and use the interactive subtitles to
get instant translations to help you learn quickly.

Are you interested in improving your Italian in a fun and stress-free manner?
Then we highly recommend Serena Capilli's short stories in Italian (affiliate
link), designed for beginners, advanced beginners, and lower intermediate
learners (A1-B1 CEFR). These stories have been optimised for English speakers in
search of a fun, laid-back learning experience! Read our full review here.

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