Checked 3 September 2026

Does Duolingo have Thai?

No. Not for English speakers, and not for want of people asking. Here is what that means and what to do instead.

The short answer

Duolingo does not teach Thai to English speakers. Thai exists on Duolingo only in the opposite direction: there are courses for Thai speakers learning English and other languages, which is why searching turns up Thai-language Duolingo pages and raises your hopes for about ten seconds.

So the honest position is that the most famous language app in the world is not an option for the language you have chosen, and no amount of looking will change that today.

Why Thai is the awkward one

Thai asks for two things at the start that most languages do not, and both are badly served by a format designed to cover a hundred languages the same way.

It is tonal. The same syllable at five different pitches is five different words. That is not a vocabulary problem, it is an ear problem, and it needs audio on every single word plus something that drills the tones on their own. Multiple choice cannot teach you to hear.

The script is not optional. Thai has no spaces between words, 44 consonants, and vowels that can sit before, after, above or below the consonant they are pronounced after. You can get a long way on romanization, and you will hit a ceiling the first time you need to read a menu.

An app covering forty languages at once has to pick a format that works for all of them. Thai is the one that does not fit it.

What to use instead

There are real options, and this page would be worth less to you if it pretended otherwise. The fuller comparison is here, including where each one is better than us.

Sabai Thai is the closest thing to the Duolingo shape: a lesson path, streaks, XP, weekly leagues, five games, and a cast of companions who are no help whatsoever. The difference is that it does one language, so it can afford a tone trainer with pitch curves, a tracer for all 68 letters, and speech scoring that marks you word by word. 38 free starter lessons across 6 chapters, covering Act 1 of each, plus two checkpoints. After that, unlock one new lesson free each day. Replay and practise unlocked lessons whenever you like. Read the free-access details.

Ling covers Thai and 40-odd other languages and runs on iOS, which we do not. ThaiPod101 is an enormous archive of audio lessons if you prefer listening to drilling. Our comparison with Ling is here.

The recommendation

Stop waiting for Duolingo. That is the actual advice. People spend a surprisingly long time checking back.

If you are on Android, try ours, because trying costs nothing and there is nothing to cancel. If you are on an iPhone, we genuinely are not an option and Ling or ThaiPod101 is where to look.

You do not have to install anything to decide. Chapter 1 is on this site with the real audio, and the whole alphabet is here too. Twenty minutes will tell you more than this page can.