Lithuanian for free:
courses and resources

Short answer. You can learn Lithuanian for free on Vilnius city courses (the Aš kalbu portal: a 75-academic-hour VDU course and a 60-hour distance course), at International House Vilnius and in Red Cross clubs. Places are scarce: according to LRT, about 6,000 people signed up in February, and about 200 got in.

Free Lithuanian courses for foreigners in Lithuania do exist, and their number is growing. The problem is elsewhere: there are fewer places than people who want them, and a group course gives you very little time to speak yourself. Below: where to look for free lessons, who can get a place and how to combine a course with practice on your own so that each fills the gaps of the other.

Conditions and enrolment dates change. We checked this information on 2 October 2026; check the organiser's website before you sign up.

State and city courses

Užimtumo tarnyba (Employment Service)

Užimtumo tarnyba is the state employment service. Whether it currently has a Lithuanian language programme for your situation, ask on uzt.lt or at your local office: the programme page we relied on before would not open on 3 October 2026, so we don't repeat its conditions here.

Vilnius: Aš kalbu and VDU

Since April 2026 Vilnius has had the Aš kalbu ("I speak") portal, on the vilnius.lt website, in Russian and English. It gathers the city's options in one place: a free 75-academic-hour course at Vytautas Magnus University (VDU), a 60-hour distance course at levels A1–B1 with explanations in Russian and English, a VDU self-study course for Ukrainians, conversation clubs and a list of tutors. As of 2 October 2026 enrolment for the free courses was closed, and you could subscribe to a notice for when it reopens.

International House Vilnius

International House Vilnius runs the city course together with VDU for citizens of non-EU countries who hold a residence permit and have declared their place of residence. The programme is funded until 2028. Registration for the next intake is expected to open in autumn 2026. International House also hosts Lithuanian Language Clubs, which are conversation meetups.

Kaunas and Klaipėda

Kaunas has no International House of its own, but the Kaunas IN portal collects apps and conversation meetups in its free resources section. International House Klaipėda runs free lessons and events.

For refugees and people under temporary protection

The Lithuanian Red Cross runs Lithuanian clubs in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda as part of its integration programme. Ukrainos centras at VDU offers language classes.

Why there are not enough places

According to LRT, the Lithuanian public broadcaster (August 2026), about 6,000 people signed up for the free courses in February, and about 200 got to study. The city promises paid options for those who did not get in. So sign up for every programme you qualify for straight away, and don't wait for a course to start before you start learning the language.

Not everything that looks state-run is free. The courses of the State Language Centre at the House of National Communities (Tautinių bendrijų namai) are paid: €180–240 per level, taught in Russian.

Free materials for self-study

The Migrant Information Centre (micenter.lt, run by the International Organization for Migration) has put together a list of free resources. From that list and from our own check:

• The National Library: Lithuanian textbooks and dictionaries.
• The VDU tool for Ukrainians: materials for levels A1–A2.
• LingLea: texts to read.
• SPEAK Lithuania: conversation meetups and language exchange in Vilnius.
• 50 Languages: a free phrasebook of 100 lessons.
• Šaunuolė (saunuole.lt): a free A2 grammar trainer in Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian, plus a mock test of the written part.

How to learn before your course starts

A group course gives you a system and a teacher, but you speak for only a few minutes per lesson. On your own, cover what the group lacks.

1. 15–20 minutes out loud every day. Read and repeat phrases, retell what you did today. Without this habit, knowing the grammar does not turn into speech.
2. Learn phrases, not single words. Kiek tai kainuoja? (How much does it cost?) is more useful than the word "price" and its declension table.
3. Start with the topics of your own life. Work, home, the shop, the doctor, transport. These are also the topics of the A2 exam for permanent residence, if you have it ahead of you.
4. Review on a schedule. Flashcards with spaced repetition keep words in memory longer than rereading a list.
5. Find someone to talk to. A conversation club, a colleague, a neighbour, a language exchange. If there is no one, practise with AI.

Where to start today: the guide 100 essential Lithuanian phrases. If you need Lithuanian to work with customers, see Lithuanian for customer-facing jobs. All our guides are in Lithuanian guides.

Talkfirst's free plan

Talkfirst does not replace a course. It adds what a course has little of: time to speak. The free plan gives you 35 voice minutes a week with an AI conversation partner in Lithuanian, the scenes "Meeting someone", "At a café", "Asking the way" and one courier scene, pronunciation practice and word flashcards. After each conversation you see your pauses and mistakes, explained in English, Russian or Ukrainian. The full mock oral A2 exam is available once every 7 days, and the mock Constitution test works without signing up.

Questions and answers

Sources: Vilnius portal Aš kalbu, International House Vilnius, LRT, 13 August 2026, State Language Centre (TBN), micenter.lt: self-study (page in Russian); the websites of International House Klaipėda, Kaunas IN and the Lithuanian Red Cross. Checked on 2 October 2026, links on 3 October 2026.