Try it right now
A few sentences of real Ukrainian, no account needed.
Real Ukrainian podcast
Why Ukrainian is harder to understand than to read
Ukrainian is phonetically more regular than Russian — what is written is much closer to what is said — but that regularity does not help with speed, with the case endings that reshape every noun, or with the fact that most learning material available in English is thin. Listening material, on the other hand, is abundant: Ukrainian news and podcasting is prolific and current. The constraint is not audio, it is having the text aligned to it.
How Lingush works
1. Pick a real Ukrainian podcast
News, current affairs and conversation — the same audio native speakers listen to. Nothing is re-recorded, slowed down, or scripted for learners.
2. Listen one sentence at a time
Each sentence plays on its own and loops until you have it. This is the part ordinary podcast apps cannot do, and it is the difference between listening and drowning.
3. Check what you missed, word by word
The English translation is aligned phrase by phrase and highlights along with the audio, so you see exactly which words you heard and which ones went past you.
4. Ten minutes a day
Listening improves through frequency, not session length. A streak and daily picks keep it to something you actually repeat.
Ukrainian episodes with transcripts
Every episode below has a Ukrainian–English transcript you can read right now, no account needed.
- Як енергоефективність та сонячна генерація рятують громаду під час відключень світла й теплаHow energy efficiency and solar generation save the community during power and heating outagesГромадське Радіо
- Сі навіть не міг уявити такого. Трамп загнав США в глухий кут | Максим Несвітайлов - Війна в УкраїніHe Couldn't Even Imagine That. Trump Cornered the US | Maksym Nesvitailov - War in UkraineRadio NV
Why learn Ukrainian?
Around 40 million speakers
The state language of Ukraine, with large and growing diaspora communities across Europe and North America.
Spelling matches sound
Ukrainian rewards learning the alphabet properly — after that, reading and hearing line up far better than in Russian.
Excellent current audio
Daily news podcasts and independent media publish constantly, so material is current rather than archival.
Under-served by courses
There is far less English-language Ukrainian courseware than the demand justifies. Listening practice fills a real gap.
Common questions
I know some Russian. Does it help with Ukrainian?
It helps with reading and with roughly half the vocabulary, and it actively misleads on pronunciation — the vowel systems differ, and Ukrainian does not reduce unstressed vowels the way Russian does. Treat the shared vocabulary as a bonus and train the ear from scratch.
How does Lingush help me understand spoken Ukrainian?
You listen to real Ukrainian audio one sentence at a time. Each sentence is shown in Ukrainian with an English translation aligned phrase by phrase, so as the audio plays you can see which words you just heard. You can replay a sentence until it clicks, then move on. Nothing is slowed down or re-recorded — the audio is what native speakers actually said.
Do I need to already know some of the language?
Some, yes. Lingush is built for the stage after the basics: you have a few hundred words and can read simple sentences, but native speech still goes past too fast to follow. If you are starting from zero, use a beginner course first and come back once you can read a short article.
Is it free?
You can listen without an account. A free account adds progress tracking, a daily streak, favourites, and picks up where you stopped.
Start with one episode
Ten minutes of real Ukrainian, one sentence at a time. You will miss things. That is what makes it work.
Start listening — free