Who Is David Peterson? The Man Behind the Language

David J. Peterson is an American linguist and language creator best known for developing constructed languages for film and television. Peterson co-founded the Language Creation Society and holds a master's degree in linguistics from the University of California, San Diego.

For HBO's Game of Thrones, Peterson developed two complete languages: Dothraki, the guttural tongue of the nomadic horse warriors, and High Valyrian, the classical prestige language of the ancient Valyrian Freehold, functioning roughly the way Latin did in medieval Europe. He took the brief phonetic fragments that author George R.R. Martin had included in his novels and expanded them into full grammar systems, extensive vocabularies, and detailed phonological rules.

Peterson has since created languages for The 100 (Trigedasleng), Defiance, Thor: The Dark World, Warcraft, and Doctor Strange, among many others. He also wrote The Art of Language Invention (2015), a practical book that walks readers through how constructed languages are built from scratch, covering phonology, grammar, vocabulary, and writing systems.

Understanding Peterson's background matters because the languages he creates are linguistically rigorous and internally consistent — they follow real grammatical logic rather than being invented sounds strung together randomly. That rigor is exactly what makes them genuinely learnable, and it is why thousands of fans have taken on the challenge of studying High Valyrian in earnest rather than treating it as a novelty.

Step 1: Start With the Duolingo High Valyrian Course

The fastest way to begin learning High Valyrian is through the free Duolingo course, which was developed with David Peterson's direct input and launched in 2017. It remains the most accessible and structured entry point for absolute beginners, requiring no prior knowledge of linguistics or constructed languages.

How to get started:

1. Go to duolingo.com or download the Duolingo app on iOS or Android.
2. Create a free account if you do not already have one.
3. Search for High Valyrian in the language selector or browse the full language list.
4. Start at Unit 1, which begins with greetings, basic nouns, and simple sentence structure before introducing more demanding grammar concepts.
5. Aim for at least one lesson per day, roughly 5 to 10 minutes, to build the habit before the material becomes more difficult.

The Duolingo course covers approximately 1,000 to 1,500 vocabulary items and introduces core grammar through short exercises and spaced repetition. It will not make you fluent on its own, but it builds a solid practical foundation in 4 to 8 weeks of consistent daily practice.

The app's gamification features, including streaks, XP points, and league rankings, help beginners stay consistent through the early stages when progress can feel slow. If you miss a day, restart without dwelling on it. Consistency across weeks and months matters far more than any individual study session.

Step 2: Understand the Core Grammar System

High Valyrian has a more complex grammar than most modern natural languages because Peterson designed it as a classical language, similar in ambition to Latin or Ancient Greek. The sooner you understand the core grammatical systems, the faster vocabulary and reading exercises will begin making sense rather than feeling like random memorization.

The four noun genders: Every noun in High Valyrian belongs to one of four genders: lunar, solar, terrestrial, and aquatic. Unlike the mostly arbitrary gender assignments in Spanish or French, High Valyrian's genders often correlate loosely with meaning. Living things tend to be lunar or solar, while inanimate objects tend to be terrestrial or aquatic. This makes the system more predictable once you internalize the basic patterns, rather than requiring pure rote memorization for every noun.

The eight noun cases: High Valyrian marks grammatical function through noun endings rather than fixed word order. The eight cases are nominative (subject), accusative (direct object), genitive (possession), dative (indirect object), locative (location), instrumental (means or tool), comitative (accompaniment), and vocative (direct address). Start by mastering nominative and accusative before working through the remaining six cases progressively.

Verb conjugation: Verbs agree with their subject in person and number. High Valyrian distinguishes singular, plural, and collective forms. Study the present tense of 10 to 15 common verbs thoroughly before moving to past and future tenses.

Practical tip: Write out the noun case tables and basic verb conjugation patterns by hand on paper. Physical writing reinforces memory better than passive screen reading when learning grammatical paradigms. Pin the tables somewhere visible at your study space so you encounter them throughout the day.

Step 3: Build Vocabulary With Fan-Made Resources

The Duolingo course introduces vocabulary in context, but reaching deeper fluency requires dedicated vocabulary study beyond what any single app can provide. The High Valyrian fan community has built excellent free tools that fill this gap effectively and comprehensively.

Key resources to use:

• dothraki.org wiki — The most complete reference for both High Valyrian and Dothraki. Maintained by fans in close coordination with David Peterson, the wiki contains full word lists organized by part of speech, detailed grammar tables, pronunciation guides, and canon examples taken directly from the show. Bookmark this resource and return to it constantly throughout your studies.
• Anki flashcard decks — Search High Valyrian in the Anki shared deck library at ankiweb.net. Community-built decks organize vocabulary by theme, covering numbers, body parts, verbs, and adjectives, and use spaced repetition to schedule review at the optimal moment before forgetting occurs. This is far more efficient than reviewing words on a fixed schedule.
• Peterson's own writings — Peterson posted language updates, sample texts, and grammar notes on his personal blog and social media accounts over the years. These primary-source examples show the language in authentic use rather than in pedagogical exercises, and they reveal how Peterson intended phrases to feel in practice.

Aim to learn 10 to 15 new words per day using Anki alongside your Duolingo sessions. After one month of consistent practice, you will have a working vocabulary of 300 to 450 words, which is enough to construct basic sentences covering most topics relevant to the show's world and culture.

Step 4: Practice Writing With the Fan Community

Language learning accelerates significantly when you practice with other learners who can give real feedback. The High Valyrian fan community is small but active and explicitly welcomes learners at every stage of study.

Where to find the community:

• Reddit — r/HighValyrian: The main subreddit for learners and enthusiasts. Post sentences you have written for grammar corrections, ask questions about confusing constructions, and browse existing discussions to observe how the language is used by intermediate and advanced learners in practice. Beginners are openly welcomed and rarely criticized harshly.
• Reddit — r/DavidJPeterson: Peterson's own community subreddit, where he occasionally posts updates on new language projects and engages directly with fans. A useful place to follow news about his current work and any official language additions.
• Discord servers: Several Game of Thrones and conlang-focused Discord servers maintain dedicated High Valyrian channels for real-time text practice and discussion. They provide immediate correction and feedback that asynchronous forum posts cannot match.

Practical exercises to start with:

1. Write one sentence per day in High Valyrian describing something you observed or experienced. Post it on r/HighValyrian and invite corrections from more advanced learners.
2. Translate short English sentences into High Valyrian using your vocabulary list and case tables, then check your answers against available canon text from the wiki.
3. Rewatch scenes from Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon where High Valyrian is spoken. Pause the scene, attempt to understand the dialogue, then verify your comprehension using the subtitles. Add any unrecognized words to your Anki deck.

Step 5: Set Realistic Goals and Track Your Progress

Constructed languages like High Valyrian do not have standardized proficiency tests comparable to CEFR levels for European languages or JLPT for Japanese. You will need to define your own learning milestones and track them consistently to stay on course.

A practical 6-month study plan:

• Month 1: Complete Duolingo Units 1 and 2. Learn the four noun genders and master the nominative and accusative cases. Build a working vocabulary of at least 100 words using Anki.
• Month 2: Complete Duolingo Units 3 and 4. Begin using Anki daily for vocabulary review. Write your first practice sentences and post them on r/HighValyrian for feedback from the community.
• Month 3: Finish the full Duolingo course. Study all eight noun cases using written paradigm tables. Reach a vocabulary of 300 or more words. Begin reading through selected grammar entries on the dothraki.org wiki.
• Months 4 and 5: Work systematically through the full grammar reference on the wiki. Attempt translating short paragraphs from English into High Valyrian without consulting reference notes first. Engage regularly in community discussions, both asking questions and attempting to answer questions from other beginners.
• Month 6: Write a short paragraph entirely in High Valyrian without looking up vocabulary or case endings. Participate in any community translation projects that are active. Review which grammar points still feel uncertain and concentrate remaining study there.

Use a simple spreadsheet to track your daily progress: the date, lessons completed, new words added to Anki, and sentences written and corrected. Watching these numbers grow week over week provides concrete, visible evidence of progress even during stretches when fluency gains feel imperceptible in the moment.

Dothraki vs. High Valyrian: Which Should You Learn First?

David Peterson created both Dothraki and High Valyrian for Game of Thrones, but they are entirely different languages with different phonologies, different grammar systems, and different vocabularies. If you are deciding where to begin, the choice depends on what kind of learning experience appeals to you.

Learn High Valyrian first if:

• You prefer structured, classical grammar and find working through paradigm tables satisfying rather than overwhelming
• You want the broadest range of learning resources — High Valyrian has a larger Duolingo course, a more developed wiki section, and a larger online learner community than Dothraki
• You want to understand dialogue in House of the Dragon, where High Valyrian appears frequently among Targaryen characters and is central to many key scenes
• You are drawn to the scholarly, aristocratic culture of the Valyrian Freehold and the deep historical backstory Peterson built into the language

Learn Dothraki first if:

• You prefer languages that feel more like natural spoken tongues rather than formal classical literary languages
• You are specifically interested in the Dothraki culture and Daenerys Targaryen's storyline in the early seasons of the show
• You find consonant-heavy, rhythmic phonology more appealing than High Valyrian's more melodic and vowel-rich sound system

Most serious fans eventually study both languages. High Valyrian is generally the better starting point because of the richer learning resources and the more active learner community. Once you have learned one Peterson conlang, picking up the second becomes noticeably easier — you are already familiar with how he approaches grammar construction, vocabulary building, and phonological design, and that knowledge transfers directly across both languages.