ReadAloud
Get notified

English practice, on your own device

Real voices.
Every word, in time.

Bring a podcast, a lecture or a video. ReadAloud matches every word to its moment in the audio, then lets you read along, write what you hear and say it back — one sentence at a time.

Get notified at launch
  • Free during the beta
  • No account
  • Works offline

Fig. 1

The Fox and the Crow, as the app hears it

Loudness every 25 ms; each word placed at the moment the app timed it. One row per sentence, one time scale. Click anywhere to play from there.

Live demo · real timings from the app

0:00.0 / 0:58.3

Nowpress play

Swipe the chart sideways to follow the voice

The same recording, as textTap any word to hear it from there

How to read the chart

  • How loud the voice is, every 25 ms. Strong: already heard; faint: still to come.
  • Where a word starts. Its label begins at that moment.
  • The word being spoken, in the app's highlighter.
  • The playhead: where the audio is now.
  • One second, at this scale.

← → move by sentence · Space plays or pauses

Source: Aesop, “The Fox and the Crow”, tr. V. S. Vernon Jones; read by Kara Shallenberg for LibriVox. Public domain. Word timings: the app's own.

§2 Fig. 2 · One sentence, four times

How a sentence becomes practice

Listen, write, speak, one sentence at a time. Follow one sentence from the recording above: heard, written, said, and due again.

  1. 01 · Listen first

    Heard

    Annotation

    The words stay blurred until you have heard them: that is Listen first, one of the seven modes.

    Loop a sentence until you catch it.

  2. 02 · Listen & write

    Written

    Dictation in the app on the Two Crows reader: sentence 1 of 10, a word card for “Crow” with one letter typed, the next part still empty, and a Check button.Dictation in the app on the Two Crows reader, in the Dusk theme: sentence 1 of 10, a word card for “Crow” with one letter typed, the next part still empty, and a Check button.
    Dictation in the app, on the same reader.

    Annotation

    Write it word by word in dictation, and the ones you miss come back at the end.

    Sentence by sentence, or part by part · Gentle · Standard · Challenging

  3. 03 · Read aloud · Shadowing

    Said

    The narrator's timing, word by word: each bar runs from where the app timed a word's start to its end.

    Annotation

    Read it after the narrator and see how close you are: scored for accuracy, completeness, fluency, rhythm and intonation.

    Or speak along with the voice and see your timing against it.

  4. 04 · Review · Today

    Due again

    Today in the app: pick up where you left off in a dictation of Two Crows, a button to start today's session, and Continue listening for the same reader.Today in the app, in the Dusk theme: pick up where you left off in a dictation of Two Crows, a button to start today's session, and a review of your week.
    Today in the app (top of the screen).

    Annotation

    The words you save and the sentences you practise come back for review, on a schedule.

    Today puts the day together: a short session, where to pick up, and the days you've practised this week.

    Offline dictionary with word levels · Export to CSV or Anki with audio clips

§3 Practise it

Seven ways to practise

Loop a sentence until you catch it. Write it word by word in dictation, and the ones you miss come back at the end. Read it after the narrator and see how close you are.

Fig. 3 · The practice modes, as the app describes them
No.ModeWhat you do
01Listen & writeDictation and the listening loop
02Read aloudRead after the voice and see how close you are
03Key expressionsThe words and phrases worth learning here
04Listen firstThe text stays blurred until you have heard it
05ShadowingSpeak along with the voice and see your timing against it
06RetellHear a passage, then say it in your own words
07Expressions drillThe expressions that fit your level: preview, then fill the gaps
The Practice menu in the app, opened over the Two Crows reader, listing the seven modes from Listen & write to Expressions drill with a one-line description each.The Practice menu in the app, in the Dusk theme, opened over the Two Crows reader, listing the seven modes from Listen & write to Expressions drill with a one-line description each.
Fig. 3b · The Practice menu, opened on the same reader.

§4 Bring anything

A recording becomes a reader, word-exact

Audio or video, with or without its text: podcasts, lectures, audiobooks, films, an exam listening test. The app listens on your device and times every word.

Fig. 4 · What you can bring
KindFormatsNotes
AudioMP3 · M4A · AAC · WAV · FLAC · OGGWith or without a transcript. No transcript? It writes one.
VideoMP4 · MOV · MKVWith or without a transcript.
BooksEPUB
DocumentsPDF
The webArticles
PodcastsListen & WatchPicked in the app.
Text alone—Read aloud with the device's voices.
The reader in the app playing Two Crows (Aesop): the current sentence washed in pale yellow, the word “getting” lit in highlighter, and the player at 0:15.The reader in the app playing Two Crows (Aesop) in the Dusk theme: the current sentence washed in dark gold, the word “discover” lit in highlighter, and the player at 0:14.
Fig. 5 · The result: the reader in the app, playing this recording, a word lit.

§5 The facts

ReadAloud, by the numbers

Four figures, set large. Each footnote says exactly what its number covers.

367Footnote 1

practice sets for four English exams

21Footnote 2

languages for meanings and translations, besides English

8Footnote 3

reading themes

  • Paper
  • Mist
  • Sepia
  • Sky
  • Night
  • True Black
  • Dusk
  • Mocha

0Footnote 4

accounts to make

Who it is for

For learners of every first language. If your English is somewhere between B1 and C1 and you learn best from real voices, ReadAloud is built for you.

  • Exam candidates
  • English at work
  • Lifelong learners
  1. A1
  2. A2
  3. B1
  4. B2
  5. C1
  6. C2
  1. 1Exams. 367 practice sets in 13 packs for TOEFL, PTE, IELTS and the Duolingo English Test, by skill: speaking, listening, reading, writing. Repeat, read aloud and shadow model answers, scored on the device.
  2. 2Languages. If your language isn't covered you get clear English definitions. The interface is in English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese today, more to come.
  3. 3Themes. Paper, Mist, Sepia, Sky; Night, True Black, Dusk, Mocha. The voice is marked in highlighter yellow, or any colour you choose.
  4. 4Accounts. No sign-up, no email, no password. Free during the beta.

§6 Private by design

Your recordings stay on your device

Speech recognition and word alignment run on the phone or computer. Listening, word timing, practice and the dictionary work offline once the speech models are downloaded.

Your phone or computer

  1. Your recordingAudio, video, a book or an article
  2. Speech recognitionRuns locally, even in flight mode
  3. Word alignmentEvery word matched to its moment
  4. Reader and practiceListen, write, speak, review
Only if you chooseAI meanings and translationOptional. A service you choose with your own key, or Apple Intelligence where the device has it.
Your own cloudSyncOne library on every device, through iCloud or a folder you choose.
Fig. 6 · Where a recording goes. Everything inside the dashed line happens on the device.
  • 01

    Runs on the device

    Speech recognition and word alignment run locally — even in flight mode.

  • 02

    No account

    Open the app and start. No email, no password, no profile.

  • 03

    You choose what leaves

    AI meanings and translation are optional, and use the service you pick.

  • 04

    Sync through your own cloud

    One library on every device, through iCloud or a folder you choose.

§7 Free during the beta

Get notified at launch

Coming to the App Store, Google Play and the Microsoft Store. Leave your email and we'll tell you the day it's out.

Fig. 7 · Where it runs
DeviceNeedsStatus
iPhone & iPadiOS 17+Coming soon
Mac with Apple siliconmacOS 14+Coming soon
AndroidAndroid 10+Coming soon
Windows10 and 11Later

One email, the day it's out.