Tanuki
Deutsch

Italian that sticks.

From your very first “Ciao,” Tanuki teaches you Italian in short lessons, explains everything in English, and brings back every word just before you’d forget it.

Soon on the App Store

See the learning path

For iPhone. Free, with no account and no ads. Works in airplane mode, too.

A quick taste

Question 1 of 3

How do you say this in Italian?

“Good morning!”

Turn on JavaScript to practice right here.

A clear path, level by level

No vocabulary chaos: Tanuki always shows you the next step. In English, 381 lessons in 50 chapters take you through A1 and A2, each level with its own words and grammar. The lessons from B1 up are being translated. Everything is free.

Level A1

First steps: saying hello, ordering, introducing yourself.

Learning path
28 chapters, 256 lessons
Practice
2,470 exercises
Listening
198 audio texts
Vocabulary
501 words
Grammar
4 lessons
Exams
20 tasks
  1. Start Getting started with A1 34 lessons
  2. Alphabet and pronunciation 9 lessons
  3. Saying hello and goodbye 9 lessons
  4. Introducing yourself 10 lessons
  5. Numbers, calendar and time 9 lessons
  6. Articles, gender and plural 10 lessons
  7. How are you? 9 lessons
  8. Family 7 lessons
  9. Il presente: regular verbs 8 lessons
  10. Home 9 lessons
  11. Café/bar and gelateria 16 lessons
  12. Common irregular verbs 12 lessons
  13. Food and restaurants 9 lessons
  14. Shopping 11 lessons
  15. Reflexive verbs and daily routine 6 lessons
  16. Pharmacy and health 8 lessons
  17. Talking with the neighbors 7 lessons
  18. Sentence structure and more A1 grammar 12 lessons
  19. Transportation and travel 9 lessons
  20. Work and jobs 6 lessons
  21. Weather 5 lessons
  22. Time and appointments 6 lessons
  23. Paperwork and everyday life 7 lessons
  24. Phone calls and messages 6 lessons
  25. Free time and hobbies 6 lessons
  26. Emergencies 5 lessons
  27. Going further: past tense and commands 7 lessons
  28. Goal A1 final check 4 lessons

Understand first, then do it yourself

A short introduction, then it’s your turn. Instead of walls of text, you tap, listen, and speak.

  1. A quick introduction

    Every lesson starts with a few new words and sentences, with examples and pronunciation.

  2. Listen and understand

    Short scenes from everyday life, each with a question. Listen again as often as you like.

  3. Answer on your own

    You type or speak the answer yourself. If something’s off, Tanuki explains what went wrong, in English, and gives you a second chance.

Two hourglasses joined by a small stone bridge

Reviewed right before you forget

Tanuki schedules every word with FSRS, a modern spaced repetition method. What you know comes back less often. What’s shaky comes back sooner. So you learn a little every day and remember more.

  1. Today
  2. 2 days
  3. 1 week
  4. 3 weeks
  5. 2 months
Example: how the gaps grow for a word you know every time.
Daily goal
10 new words a day, plus the reviews that are due. You set the pace yourself.
“Ripe” means
A word is ripe once it won’t come up again for at least three weeks.
Reminder
If you like, one friendly message a day at the time you pick. If you’ve already studied, it skips that day.

Progress you actually earn

You earn XP when you recall a word correctly without help for the first time, and again once you’ve truly mastered it. Hints and peeking don’t count. Your XP grows your word levels: bands A, B, and C have 100 levels each.

A ball for every level

Its color shows your language level from A1 to C2, the number your word level. At 100, it turns into MAX. Tap a ball to watch the level-up again.

  • A1 Brown
  • A2 Green
  • B1 Silver
  • B2 Gold
  • C1 Diamond
  • C2 Obsidian

24 badges to collect, for example:

  • First Steps Learn your first 10 words.
  • A Hundred Words Learn 100 different words.
  • Week-Long Streak Learn 7 days in a row.
  • Early Bird Learn early in the morning — between 5 and 9 a.m.
  • Night Owl Learn between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m.
  • Flawless Do 10 reviews in one day without a single “Again”.

What’s in the course

All content comes with the app, with no extra downloads. And it’s completely free.

Levels
A1 and A2 in English, each with its own learning path. B1 to C2 are on the way.
Learning path
381 lessons in 50 chapters, with 3,791 exercises
Vocabulary
3,162 words with example sentences
Topics
  • Food & Drink
  • Home & Living
  • Paperwork & Contracts
  • Work
  • Travel & Transportation
  • Small Talk & Everyday Life
  • Numbers & Time
  • Body & Health
  • Nature
  • Feelings & Opinions
Grammar
9 lessons, from the Presente to the Imperfetto
Listening
304 audio texts in Italian, all offline in the app
Placement
448 questions that find your starting point
Exams
40 tasks in exam format
Translation
50 tasks in the translation Coach
  • Presente A1
  • Articles A1
  • Passato prossimo A2
  • Imperfetto A2
  • Reflexive verbs A2
  • Gerundio A2

Airplane mode? Tanuki keeps going.

The whole course lives on your iPhone. You don’t need a connection, an account, or a subscription.

  • No account

    No sign-up, no password. Open the app and get going.

  • No ads

    No advertising ID, no third-party analytics. Tanuki only records how you use the app if you agree.

  • All on your iPhone

    The course, your progress, and your settings stay on your device.

  • Reminders without a server

    Your iPhone schedules the daily reminder itself. You can turn it off anytime.

Privacy in detail

Common questions

Didn’t find your answer? You can reach me directly on the Help & contact page.

How much does Tanuki cost?

Nothing. Tanuki is free, with no subscription, no ads, and no in-app purchases.

Is the app in English?

Yes. Tanuki follows your iPhone’s language: if it’s set to English, all menus and explanations are in English. To change the language for Tanuki only, tap Language in the app’s settings. This opens Tanuki’s page in the Settings app, where you can choose English or German.

In English, the lessons cover A1 and A2 right now. The lessons from B1 to C2 are being translated, but you can already practice all 3,162 words (A1–C2) in English.

Do I need an account?

No. There’s no sign-up and no login. Your progress stays on your iPhone. Only the optional word duels with friends use your Game Center account from Apple.

Does Tanuki work offline?

Yes. The whole course is on your device, including all audio. The one exception: the first time you use speech input, iOS may download Italian speech files from Apple. Typing always works.

Which level is Tanuki for?

For beginners, from your very first “Ciao.” If you already know some Italian, the placement test finds where you should start, up to A2 for now.

Which devices does Tanuki run on?

iPhone with iOS 26 or later. There’s no Android version.

Where can I get Tanuki?

Tanuki is coming to the App Store for iPhone soon. This page will tell you as soon as it’s available in English.

I found a mistake. Where should I report it?

Tap the flag in the lesson, or write to me at hallo@jasonholweg.de. The English course is brand new, so every report of a wrong translation or a clunky explanation helps a lot.

Can Tanuki beat the green bird?

In the ring, definitely. When it comes to learning, though, Tanuki prefers calm over pressure: at most one friendly reminder a day, and only if you want it.

Ready for your first “Ciao”?

Tanuki is coming soon to the App Store for iPhone, and it’s free.

Soon on the App Store