Hi all,
I have been using readlang for about almost a week now. I am on Macbook and I was wondering if the experience is better on a tablet. Has anyone tried different methods to read? I own a kindle but it is not even remotely intelligent as readlang since it isn’t built for language learning obviously.
I downloaded Readlang on my laptop, tablet and phone and all the devices since it is one of the cleverest services I’ve ever seen. For me, there’s no problems in using in different devices I guess. I don’t think there is an app providing Readlang service, but in some browser, you can add a site link to your home screen like an app and use it in full screen. In my phone, for the saved words I previously learned, I can still enjoy the word game without spending lots of data. (you can turn it off after just opening the site.) I strongly recommend everyone to install a browser version of Readlang. It’s essential to repeatedly learn the same expressions over and over… 
All my devices are Apple. I used Chrome on the Mac for a while (because there’s a Readlang plugin), but Readlang words great in Safari on all my devices. If you’re going to give it a try on an Apple device, here’s the link to help you do it: Install the Readlang Web Reader on iOS Safari. I use this on my iPad which is a great device for reading.
I use Readlang on an Android phone and two Android tablets, and it works fine. I prefer using my 9" tablet, similar in size to a book - very convenient for carrying around and reading in the local park.
I don’t use the app-like site link, however, as I use Readlang through the Edge browser app. I do this because I use Readang’s Read Aloud feature extensively, often using it more like an audiobook, and just checking the text when I miss something. And with the Edge app you get all the Microsoft voices, and they are really good. Incidentally, to do this you need to enable it in the Edge settings. Otherwise the Read Aloud arrow won’t appear.
I’ve now started uploading YouTube transcripts via the tablet as well, so I hardly need the desktop. The trick is to open YouTube in your browser, not in the Android app, where you can’t copy the transcript.
Another advantage of using my Samsung tablet I’ve just discovered relates to podcasts or other audio when you’ve already got the transcript, or when you don’t want to leave the mp3 on Readlang. As far as I can see, any audio player, including that of the the podcast app I use, automatically floats at the top of whatever app I’m in, so I get the advantage of an on-page player without using up my audio allowance on Readlang, or when I’ve got access to the transcript without even having to download the podcast.
@WarsawWill_RandomIde Could you elaborate on youtube transcripts? what is the goal and how does it contribute to your language learning process?
Perhaps you don’t know, but Readlang has a function for uploading YouTube transcripts, linking to the video, and syncing to the video. It’s on the far right of the function bar. Then you can watch the video in Readlang with all the normal Readlang advantages of look-up, word saving, etc
YouTube contributes enormously to my language learning, and is my primary source of comprehensible input. In other words, it is where I most get used to hearing the language and learning new vocabulary. It is also the main place, together with ChatGPT or whatever, that I go to when I want to have language queries answered.
Depending on my level in the language I’m learning, there are various types of video I watch:
Videos intended for native speakers on a subject I’m interested in.
Videos produced by teachers for listening practice at a given level. Here I generally prefer talks on a given topic, like “Midsummer in Sweden”, rather than overtly teaching videos.
Short stories aimed at learners at a given level. If I can find real people, such as “My German Short Stories”, all to the good, but there are now also masses of AI generated stories at given levels in, for example, German, Italian and Dutch, three of my target languages. They may not be the most exciting of stories, but they are really helping my listening skills and increasing my passive vocabulary.
I’ve also recently started uploading videos to Google’s Notebook LM, which turns them into podcasts, where a man and a woman discuss the topic in hand. You can give them a level, and the conversation is incredibly lifelike, the AI voices sometimes sounding more interesting than in the original video.
A big plus here is that the original video can be in any language, not necessarily the target one.
I do these first as simple listening exercise, without transcript (there isn’t one on LM), simultaneously recording it with Audacity and uploading the resulting mp3 to Readlang, which produces a transcript. I can then listen again, and read along with all the normal Readlang text features, as with any other podcast.