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Learn Igbo

Tones, dotted vowels and vowel harmony, taught one short Igbo lesson at a time.

Free to start. Built from a single prompt. No credit card.

Igbo is spoken mainly in southeastern Nigeria and written in a Latin alphabet with dotted vowels ị, ọ and ụ and the letter ṅ, plus digraphs like gb, kp, nw and ch. It is tonal, with high and low tones and a lowered high called downstep, so akwa can mean cloth, egg, crying or bed depending on its tones. Vowels follow harmony, splitting into two sets that rarely mix inside a word. Learnr builds a personalized Igbo course from a single prompt and teaches tone, grammar and conversation in short, interactive lessons.

How to learn Igbo, step by step

Learn the eight vowels in their two sets. Igbo vowels split into a, ị, ọ, ụ and e, i, o, u. Practice dotted against plain pairs (ị against i, ụ against u) until you hear the difference, because the set a root uses decides which form its affixes take.
Practice the double consonants gb and kp. These are made at the lips and the back of the tongue together, as in ụgbọ (boat or vehicle) and akpa (bag). Add nw, ny and kw next, since they appear in very common words like nwanne (sibling).
Learn tone from audio, not spelling. Everyday Igbo writing usually leaves tone unmarked, so take every new word from a recording or a dictionary that marks it. Notice downstep, where a high tone sits slightly lower than the one before it.
Master na- and the -rV past suffix. Ọ na-eri nri means "she is eating food," with na- marking ongoing action. For the past, a suffix copies the verb's vowel, so ga (go) becomes gara in ọ gara ahịa, "she went to the market."
Greet and converse from early on. Start with kedụ (how are you) and ọ dị mma (it is fine), then daalụ for thanks. Short daily Learnr practice keeps these phrases and new verbs fresh between conversations.
Use proverbs, songs and films to hear dialects. Igbo has many dialects, and courses teach Standard Igbo. Proverbs, highlife music and Nollywood films in Igbo expose you to real tone and regional variety, and proverbs are prized in conversation.

What you'll learn

Read the Igbo alphabet, dotted vowels and consonant digraphs
Distinguish high, low and downstepped tones in common words
Apply vowel harmony when adding prefixes and suffixes
Form present, past and progressive sentences with na- and -rV
Greet people, ask questions and talk about family and work

What's inside your Igbo course

A sample path Learnr builds for Igbo. Your real course adapts to your goal and level.

1. Alphabet, dotted vowels and digraphs
2. Tone and how dictionaries mark it
3. Vowel harmony in prefixes and suffixes
4. Pronouns, greetings and simple statements
5. Verb forms: progressive, past and future
6. Questions, proverbs and everyday conversation

How long does it take to learn Igbo?

Basic greetings and simple sentences take 2 to 4 months of daily practice. Holding everyday conversations usually needs 12 to 18 months at 30 to 60 minutes a day. Tone, unmarked spelling and dialect variety are what slow learners down, and speaking with native speakers is the best fix.

What you need before you start

Nothing is required. Familiarity with another tonal language like Yoruba helps your ear, and family ties to Igbo speakers give you a valuable source of practice.

Common mistakes to avoid

Learning words from unmarked text and guessing their tone, which spreads mispronunciations; always check tone in audio or a tone-marked dictionary.
Ignoring vowel harmony and attaching the wrong prefix, such as mixing the two vowel sets in one word; learn each root with its harmony set.
Expecting one fixed form of Igbo and getting confused by dialects; learn Standard Igbo, then note how your speakers' local variety differs.

How Learnr builds your course

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Learnr instantly builds a full Igbo course tailored to your goal and skill level.

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Igbo questions, answered

Is Igbo tonal?

Yes. Igbo uses high and low tones plus downstep, and tone separates words that are spelled the same. Most written Igbo omits tone marks, so learners rely on listening.

How is Igbo different from Yoruba?

Both are tonal Niger-Congo languages from Nigeria and both use dotted letters, but they are not mutually intelligible. Igbo has vowel harmony and a two-tone system, while Yoruba uses three level tones.

Can my children learn Igbo with Learnr?

Learnr can build an Igbo course pitched at a beginner level. Pair it with speaking at home, since hearing family members use the language is the strongest way to keep it alive.