Lingualism

Lingualism is a small independent publishing company founded by Matthew Aldrich, a lifelong language learner and educator originally from California. The company's mission is to provide self-motivated language learners with authentic, practical materials that help bridge the gap between beginner and advanced levels, especially for those studying independently. Its catalogue is best known for Arabic resources — Modern Standard Arabic and dialects such as Egyptian and Lebanese/Levantine — alongside Russian, Spanish, Thai, and other languages. The company was born in Egypt, where Aldrich, frustrated by the lack of high-quality learning materials for Egyptian Arabic (specifically a reference for verb conjugation), created his own book, Egyptian Colloquial Arabic Verbs. Encouraged by the success of that first project, he continued publishing resources for Egyptian Arabic, then expanded into other varieties of Arabic as well as other languages such as Spanish and Russian. Lingualism sells primarily direct-to-consumer through its website, offering PDF eBooks, paperbacks, Anki flashcards, and audio. Its product lines include vocabulary series (e.g., Build Your Arabic Vocabulary), graded readers such as the "This is..." series (This is Egypt... The History of Egypt; This is Lebanon... The History of Lebanon; This is Egypt... The Geography of Egypt), the "Level Up!" story series (Thai Stories, Russian Stories), and children's/learner titles such as My Dad, the Soccer Star (MSA). The company also publishes free daily news lessons in Arabic and Russian with vocabulary help and English translations, and organizes accompanying audio into playlists on YouTube. Positioned as an immersion-first publisher for independent learners, Lingualism emphasizes authentic texts without diacritics, vocabulary defined in the target language, and English translations placed at the back of books to encourage independent reading and interpretation. Its advanced readers target C1–C2 learners and include native-speaker audio at natural speed, comprehension tasks, discussion and essay prompts, and vocabulary answer keys. The company continues to release updated editions of its series, with redesigned covers, new guides for Arabic script and phonemic transcription, typo corrections, and reduced prices on eBooks and Anki flashcards.

Lingualism was founded by Matthew Aldrich, a lifelong language learner and educator originally from California. Aldrich majored in French and German at university with the goal of becoming a high school language teacher, but his path shifted when he moved abroad to teach English — a decision that led to 17 years of teaching and living in Turkey, South Korea, China, and Thailand. He also spent time living in Austria and Egypt, immersing himself in different cultures and languages. The company was born in Egypt. Frustrated by the lack of high-quality learning materials for Egyptian Arabic — specifically, a reference for verb conjugation — Aldrich created his own book: Egyptian Colloquial Arabic Verbs. Drawing on his experience using similar resources for other languages, and with help from Egyptian friends and tutors, he compiled a categorized index of verb patterns. Encouraged by the success of this first project, he continued publishing resources for Egyptian Arabic, then expanded into other varieties of Arabic, as well as other languages such as Spanish and Russian. Today Lingualism operates as a small independent publishing company selling direct to consumers through its website. Its catalogue spans Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic and dialects including Egyptian and Lebanese/Levantine), Russian, Spanish, Thai, and more. Products include PDF eBooks, paperbacks, Anki flashcards, and audio, with accompanying audio organized into playlists on YouTube. The company also publishes free daily news lessons in Arabic and Russian with vocabulary help and English translations. Its editorial approach is immersion-first: authentic texts appear without diacritics, vocabulary is defined in the target language, and English translations are placed at the back of books to encourage independent reading and interpretation. Advanced readers such as This is Egypt... The History of Egypt and This is Lebanon... The History of Lebanon target C1–C2 learners and include native-speaker audio at natural speed, comprehension tasks, discussion and essay prompts, and vocabulary answer keys. The company continues to update and expand its series, including updated editions of its Arabic Vocabulary series with redesigned covers, new guides for Arabic Script and Phonemic Transcription, typo corrections, and reduced prices on eBooks and Anki flashcards.

• Lingualism is founded by Matthew Aldrich; the first book, Egyptian Colloquial Arabic Verbs, is created in Egypt out of frustration with the lack of high-quality Egyptian Arabic learning materials.

• Encouraged by the success of the first project, Aldrich continues publishing resources for Egyptian Arabic.

• Lingualism expands into other varieties of Arabic as well as other languages such as Spanish and Russian.

• The company publishes advanced readers in the "This is..." series, including This is Egypt... The History of Egypt and This is Lebanon... The History of Lebanon, targeting C1–C2 learners.

• Lingualism publishes the "Level Up!" story series, including Thai Stories (Book 1) and Russian Stories (Book 2).

• Lingualism offers free daily news lessons in Arabic and Russian with vocabulary help and English translations.

• Lingualism publishes updated editions of its Arabic Vocabulary series with redesigned covers, new guides for Arabic Script and Phonemic Transcription, typo corrections, and reduced prices on eBooks and Anki flashcards.

Immersion-first independent publisher of authentic, practical language-learning materials for self-motivated learners, bridging the gap between beginner and advanced levels — especially for independent study.

• Egyptian Colloquial Arabic Verbs

  The first Lingualism book, a categorized index of Egyptian Arabic verb patterns created by Matthew Aldrich with help from Egyptian friends and tutors.

• Build Your Arabic Vocabulary series

  Vocabulary series for mastering essential words and phrases in Modern Standard Arabic or the dialect being learned, with example sentences and audio.

• This is Egypt... The History of Egypt

  An advanced Egyptian Arabic reader focused on Egypt's history, designed for C1–C2 learners; 138 pages, 12 units, PDF eBook, with native-speaker audio and bonus AI-generated podcast conversations reviewed by a native speaker.

• This is Lebanon... The History of Lebanon

  An advanced Lebanese Arabic reader exploring Lebanon's history through authentic texts, audio, and discussion prompts; designed for C1–C2 learners of Levantine Arabic; 107 pages, 12 units, PDF eBook.

• This is Egypt... The Geography of Egypt

  Part of the "This is..." series of advanced Arabic readers.

• Level Up! Thai Stories (Book 1)

  Part of the "Level Up!" story series for language learners.

• Level Up! Russian Stories (Book 2)

  Part of the "Level Up!" story series for language learners.

• My Dad, the Soccer Star (MSA)

  A Modern Standard Arabic title for learners.

• Daily News lessons

  Free short daily news lessons in Arabic and Russian with vocabulary help and English translations.

1. 1Lingualism | Arabic & Russian eBooks, Flashcards & Courseslingualism.com
2. 2This is Egypt... The History of Egypt (Advanced Egyptian Arabic) – Lingualismlingualism.com
3. 3This is Lebanon... The History of Lebanon – Lingualismlingualism.com
4. 4About Lingualismlingualism.com
5. 5Wikidata Q131192880wikidata.org