First steps
Your first session in PlayLingo: answer a few questions, pick a video, choose a mode, look up words and save them for practice.
PlayLingo turns YouTube videos into lessons. This is the shortest path from installing the app to your first saved word.
How to start your first lesson
- Open PlayLingo and answer a few short questions: which language you learn, which language you speak, and your level. See Onboarding and your level.
- The app opens on the Play tab, on the Explore page — a catalog of videos picked for your language.
- Tap a video from the Start here shelf. It opens the video page.
- Leave the mode on Watch and tap Watch to start.
- Tap any word you don’t know to get an explanation. See Word explanations.
- Save the words you want to remember. They go to the Vocabulary tab, where you practice them later. See How practice works.
Find your own video instead
- Open the Search tab and search YouTube, or paste a video link. See Search.
- Share a video from the YouTube app to PlayLingo. See Add a YouTube video.
Try a practice mode
Once a video feels comfortable, open it again and pick another mode: Understand hides the translation, Listen hides the text, Build asks you to put the line together, Speak asks you to say it out loud. See Modes overview.
Where things are
- Play — Home (your recent videos), Explore (the catalog) and Following (channels you follow).
- Vocabulary — saved words and practice.
- Profile — your progress, languages and settings (gear icon).
- Search — YouTube search and links.
On iPad, Home, Explore and Following are separate tabs, and you can open a sidebar with all sections.
Free or Pro
You can start without paying. Free use has daily limits; Pro removes them. See Free and Pro.
Common questions
Do I need an account to start?
No. You can watch and save words right away. Create an account to keep your progress and vocabulary safe and in sync. See Account and sign in.
Can I change my answers later?
Yes. Go to Profile → Settings (gear) → Profile to change your languages, level and goals.
Which video should I start with?
Start with Start here or 6 minutes or less on Explore — both are matched to your level.
Related guides
- Onboarding and your levelThe questions PlayLingo asks when you first open it — learning language, native language, CEFR level, goals, name, daily time — and how to change them later.
- Explore catalogHow the Explore catalog works in PlayLingo — curated shelves for each language, Start here and short videos, level badges and level filters.
- Video pageWhat you see before a video starts in PlayLingo — Saved, Description and Similar tabs, the mode and subtitle rows, and the Watch button.
- Modes overviewWatch, Understand, Listen, Build and Speak — PlayLingo’s modes turn the same video into listening, sentence-building and speaking practice. Here’s when to use each.