The Best App to Learn Dothraki in 2026 (I Tested Every Option)

The Best App to Learn Dothraki in 2026 (I Tested Every Option)

I spent four weeks running every Dothraki learning resource I could find through the same daily routine — 25 minutes a day, same vocabulary retention test, same grammar checks. The market for Dothraki is much thinner than for Klingon or Elvish, which makes the verdict simpler but also more interesting: one app dominates by default, because almost nobody else has built one.

Short answer:

Goal	Resource	Why
Best overall app	Tengwar	The only gamified Dothraki course with an AI tutor
Best deep reference	Living Language Dothraki (Peterson)	The canonical textbook, written by the language's creator
Best free community resource	dothraki.org	Active fan wiki with grammar notes

Fonas chek — hunt well. Here is what I found.

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How I Tested These Dothraki Resources

Same protocol for each:

• 28 days of daily use, ~25 minutes per session
• Identical goal: produce five connected sentences about a khalasar riding to Vaes Dothrak
• 50-word vocabulary retention test, one week after first exposure
• Grammar coverage checked against Peterson's Living Language Dothraki

Tested in 2026, on web and mobile, free tier first then paid where it existed.

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The Five Dothraki Resources Tested

1. Tengwar — Best Overall (9/10)

What it is: A multi-language conlang platform at learningelvish.com that teaches Dothraki alongside Elvish (Quenya, Sindarin) and Klingon, with an AI tutor called Mithrandir.

Best for: Anyone who wants structured lessons, gamified daily practice, and grammar explained on demand.

Free tier: Five Dothraki lessons. No credit card.

Strengths:

• The only Duolingo-style Dothraki course that exists in 2026
• AI tutor handles the trickier Peterson grammar — noun class agreement, the difference between dothralat (to ride) and the casual dothras forms
• Spaced repetition catches Dothraki vocabulary right before you forget it (critical, because there is no ambient exposure to this language)
• XP, streaks, and hearts in the familiar Duolingo flow
• One subscription also unlocks Elvish and Klingon

Weaknesses:

• The Dothraki course is newer than the Elvish course — fewer total lessons than Peterson's full curriculum covers
• No audio recordings of Peterson himself yet (the book has audio)
• No native mobile app (the web app works well on phones)

Pricing: Free tier, then $9.99/month Premium.

Try it: Start learning Dothraki free →

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2. Living Language Dothraki by David J. Peterson (8/10)

What it is: The official textbook, written by the linguist who created Dothraki for HBO. Includes a 128-page book, audio CD, and online resources.

Best for: Serious learners who want the canonical reference and Peterson's own voice on every grammatical decision.

Strengths:

• It is the canon — every Dothraki resource derives from this
• Covers all four noun classes and the full verb conjugation system
• Audio CD includes Peterson pronouncing every example sentence
• A real linguist's textbook, not a fan project

Weaknesses:

• Static format. There are exercises, but no progress tracking or spaced repetition
• Sold out frequently — currently around $30 used on Amazon, more for new
• No grammar Q&A — when you get stuck, you have to figure it out from context

For best results, pair the book with Tengwar — use the book as your reference shelf, and use Tengwar's daily lessons and AI tutor for active practice. That is how I learned to read Peterson's example dialogues fluently.

Pricing: ~$30 (book + CD).

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3. dothraki.org (6/10)

What it is: A community-maintained wiki devoted to Peterson's Dothraki, including grammar notes, dictionary entries, and translation discussions.

Best for: Looking up specific words and reading deep-dive grammar essays.

Strengths:

• Free
• Genuine enthusiasts, often correcting each other with citations to Peterson's blog
• The closest thing Dothraki has to a Wiktionary

Weaknesses:

• Not a course. No progression, no practice, no quizzes
• Information density varies wildly between articles
• You need an existing grammar foundation to use it effectively

Treat dothraki.org as a reference library you visit after a Tengwar lesson, not a place to start from zero.

Pricing: Free.

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4. 101languages.net Dothraki Section (5/10)

What it is: A small collection of Dothraki phrases and a basic alphabet/sound primer hosted on a multi-language hobbyist site.

Best for: A first 10-minute taste of what Dothraki sounds like.

Strengths:

• Free
• Quick orientation to the sound system

Weaknesses:

• Tiny content. You will finish everything in one sitting
• Some entries have not been updated against Peterson's post-2014 vocabulary expansions
• No interactivity

Pricing: Free.

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5. Memrise User-Created Decks (6/10)

What it is: Community-built Dothraki vocabulary decks on Memrise. There is no official Dothraki course on Memrise — only learner-uploaded sets.

Best for: Pure vocabulary drilling if you already know the grammar.

Strengths:

• Good spaced repetition mechanics from Memrise itself
• Several decks of 200–500 Dothraki words

Weaknesses:

• Quality varies — some decks contain non-canon words or transcription errors
• No grammar coverage at all
• The official Memrise team has not curated this content

Pricing: Free, with a Memrise Pro tier for the spaced repetition algorithms.

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Feature Comparison: All Five Side by Side

Feature	Tengwar	Peterson Book	dothraki.org	101languages	Memrise
Structured course	✅	✅	❌	⚠️	⚠️
AI tutor for grammar	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Spaced repetition	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅
Audio from Peterson	❌	✅	❌	❌	❌
Free tier	5 lessons	❌	Full	Full	Full
Mobile-friendly	✅	❌	⚠️	⚠️	✅
Updated in last 12 months	✅	❌	⚠️	❌	⚠️
Also teaches Elvish/Klingon	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌

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Why Dothraki Is a Wide-Open Market

Klingon has Duolingo, Tengwar, boQwI', and the Klingon Language Institute. Elvish has Tengwar plus decades of academic work by people like Helge Fauskanger. High Valyrian has Duolingo.

Dothraki has Peterson's book — and Tengwar. That is it for structured courses.

This matters for new learners. The Dothraki community is small enough that a few weeks of daily lessons puts you above 90% of fans who claim to "know some Dothraki." There is no Duolingo course to commoditize the basics. The first mover in your social circle on this language is whoever opens an app and starts grinding.

For background on Peterson himself — how he won the HBO commission and what he built — see our profile of David J. Peterson.

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Why I Use Tengwar for Daily Practice

Three reasons:

One: It is the only app where Dothraki shows up in a daily lesson queue alongside spaced repetition. Khal Drogo's language doesn't get said at the bus stop — without a system pushing words at you, you forget them in a week.

Two: The AI tutor handles questions Peterson's book cannot answer interactively. When I got confused about why anha vos dothrak (I do not ride) uses vos and not nem, Mithrandir gave me a 90-second explanation pulling from Peterson's documented negation rules. That is faster than scrolling 40 pages.

Three: I also wanted Sindarin. One subscription, three languages, one streak to maintain. The switching cost between languages is zero.

To be fair, Tengwar's Dothraki course is younger than its Elvish offering. If you want the deepest grammar treatment in print, Peterson's Living Language book is still essential. I keep mine on the desk and the app on my phone.

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Who Should Use Which?

• You want a structured, gamified daily course → Tengwar
• You want the canonical reference written by Dothraki's creator → Peterson's Living Language Dothraki
• You want to look up specific words and read deep grammar essays → dothraki.org
• You want pure vocabulary drilling with spaced repetition → Memrise (after you know the grammar)
• You want the cheapest 10-minute taste → 101languages.net

For most readers — yes, the answer really is: install Tengwar, and order Peterson's book if you want to go deeper than the app's curriculum. They complement each other.

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How Long Does It Take to Learn Dothraki?

• Greetings and 50 essential words: 3–6 weeks of daily practice
• Five-sentence small talk about your khalasar: 3 months
• Read Peterson's example dialogues fluently: 9–12 months
• Hold an unscripted conversation with another Dothraki speaker: 18+ months (and you'll need to find one — try Peterson's Discord)

Spaced repetition systems like the one in Tengwar shave months off the vocabulary curve. The grammar curve depends on how much time you spend with Peterson's book.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best app to learn Dothraki in 2026? Tengwar is the only Duolingo-style app that teaches Dothraki. Peterson's Living Language Dothraki remains the canonical print reference. For a fuller comparison, see our guide to Duolingo alternatives for Dothraki.

Does Duolingo have Dothraki? No, and it never has. Duolingo offers Klingon and High Valyrian only among fictional languages. See Duolingo for Dothraki: real alternatives for what to use instead.

Who created Dothraki? David J. Peterson developed the language for HBO's Game of Thrones in 2009. The first season aired in 2011 with Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) speaking Peterson's Dothraki.

Is Tengwar's Dothraki course finished? The core curriculum is live and we are adding lessons regularly. The Dothraki track is younger than the Elvish track. If you want the entire Peterson grammar in one place, his book is still essential.

Can I learn all three of Tengwar's languages with one subscription? Yes. Tengwar Premium ($9.99/month) covers Elvish (Quenya & Sindarin), Klingon, and Dothraki, plus unlimited AI tutor sessions with Mithrandir.

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My Final Recommendation

If I had to pick one resource for someone starting Dothraki in 2026, I'd pick Tengwar for daily practice, with Peterson's book on the side. The daily lessons, AI tutor, and spaced repetition do the work no static book can do. Peterson's textbook still owns the grammar reference shelf.

For free learners: Tengwar's five-lesson free tier plus dothraki.org will get you further than any other free combo on the market.

Start learning Dothraki free →

Fonas chek.

Related Reading

• How to Learn Dothraki: The Complete 2026 Guide for Beginners
• How to Learn Dothraki: The Language of the Horse Lords
• David J. Peterson: The Linguist Who Built Dothraki
• Famous Dothraki Sayings and What They Reveal About the Culture