Translation Foundation ქართული
Menu
Text size

Home / Watch and learn

Learn Georgian with films

Films will not replace lessons, but they make Georgian familiar: its sounds, its rhythm and the phrases people actually use.

In short

  • Learn the alphabet first: 33 letters, each with one official Latin spelling.1
  • Start with English subtitles, then move to Georgian ones. Subtitles in the language being spoken help listening and vocabulary.2
  • Restored Georgian classics are free to watch online at GNFC Heritage.3

Last checked: 17 October 2026

The alphabet

Modern Georgian is written in Mkhedruli, an alphabet of 33 letters. Next to each letter is its spelling in Georgia's national romanization system, with an example place name from the official table.1

  1. ა a ამბროლაური Ambrolauri
  2. ბ b ბათუმი Batumi
  3. გ g გორი Gori
  4. დ d დუშეთი Dusheti
  5. ე e ერგე Erge
  6. ვ v ვანი Vani
  7. ზ z ზუგდიდი Zugdidi
  8. თ t თბილისი Tbilisi
  9. ი i ონი Oni
  10. კ k’ კასპი K’asp’i
  11. ლ l ლაგოდეხი Lagodekhi
  12. მ m მარნეული Marneuli
  13. ნ n ნინოწმინდა Ninots’minda
  14. ო o ოზურგეთი Ozurgeti
  15. პ p’ პანტნარი P’ant’nari
  16. ჟ zh ჟანივრი Zhanivri
  17. რ r რუსთავი Rustavi
  18. ს s სენაკი Senak’i
  19. ტ t’ სამტრედია Samt’redia
  20. უ u ქუთაისი Kutaisi
  21. ფ p ფოთი Poti
  22. ქ k ქობულეთი Kobuleti
  23. ღ gh ღრმაღელე Ghrmaghele
  24. ყ q’ ყუმისთავი Q’umistavi
  25. შ sh შხარა Shkhara
  26. ჩ ch ჩუნეში Chuneshi
  27. ც ts ცაგერი Tsageri
  28. ძ dz ძეძილეთი Dzedzileti
  29. წ ts’ წალკა Ts’alk’a
  30. ჭ ch’ აჭარა Ach’ara
  31. ხ kh ხაშური Khashuri
  32. ჯ j ჯვარი Jvari
  33. ჰ h ჰეღო Hegho

The apostrophe marks an ejective consonant, said with a short catch in the throat: კ (k’) is not the same sound as ქ (k).1

Mkhedruli is one of three Georgian scripts, with Mrgvlovani and Nuskhuri. Their living culture is on UNESCO's list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, inscribed in 2016.4

How to watch

  1. First, with English subtitles. Follow the story without effort.
  2. Then a scene again, with Georgian subtitles. Seeing the words while you hear them helps: a review of studies found that captions improve learners' listening comprehension and vocabulary.2
  3. Pause and repeat. Say short lines aloud, the way the actors say them.
  4. Keep a list of phrases that come back: greetings, thanks, apologies.

If your player shows only one subtitle track at a time, watch the scene twice: once with each.

Where to watch

  • GNFC Heritage. The Georgian National Film Center streams 36 restored films from the 1920s and 1930s, free of charge, anywhere in the world.3 gnfcheritage.ge
  • Geocinema. The Film Center's database of Georgian films, for finding titles, years and directors.3 geocinema.ge
  • This project. Subtitles appear on the projects page as they are reviewed and published.

Help other learners

If English is your first language, you can polish English subtitles once a Georgian speaker has checked their meaning. Working in pairs

Where this information comes from

  1. UK Permanent Committee on Geographical Names. "Romanization of Georgian: Georgia 2011 national system; BGN/PCGN 2009 Agreement" (PDF, checked February 2022). The system was devised in 2002 and approved by Presidential Decree 109 of 2011.
  2. Montero Perez, M., Van Den Noortgate, W. and Desmet, P. (2013). "Captioned video for L2 listening and vocabulary learning: A meta-analysis." System 41(3): 720–739.
  3. Georgian National Film Center. GNFC Heritage: film list (36 films, October 2026) and FAQ.
  4. UNESCO. "Living culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet," inscribed in 2016 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.