Learn a language with podcasts, at your level.
Free to download. iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android.
A podcast is the most honest listening practice there is: real people, real speed, fillers and jokes included. It is also the hardest, because a podcast app gives you sound and nothing else. PlayLingo gives an episode the same support as a video: a transcript split into sentences, the translation under each line, and Lingo, who explains any word or phrase in your native language.
How it works
- 1Find a show. Open the Podcasts shelf of your language or search for any show by name: a learner podcast, the news, stories for children.
- 2Start the episode. Listen right away. When you want the text, PlayLingo transcribes the episode and splits it into sentences that follow the audio.
- 3Read along. The current line is highlighted and the translation sits under it. Replay a line, loop a phrase or slow the speech down.
- 4Ask and save. Tap a word for Lingo’s explanation in context. Save words, phrases and whole sentences; they come back for review with the line where you heard them.
What you get with every episode
A transcript of any episode
Not only for shows that publish their own text: PlayLingo makes the transcript from the audio and splits it into full sentences.
Translation under each line
In your native language, sentence by sentence and in context — not word by word.
Lingo explains
Slang, idioms, cultural references and grammar, explained for this sentence. Ask a follow-up question.
Practice on the episode
Hide the translation to check yourself, hide the text to train your ear, or repeat lines out loud — the same modes as on video.
Words that come back
Saved words return in spaced-repetition practice (FSRS-6) with the line where you heard them.
Listen anywhere
The episode keeps playing with the screen locked, and you can download it to listen without a connection.
What to listen to at your level
Pick something you understand most of, with a few new words in every minute — the comprehensible input sweet spot. Not sure of your level? See the CEFR levels.
- A1–A2
- Podcasts made for learners: slow, clear speech and short episodes, such as BBC Learning English’s 6 Minute English, and stories for children like Storynory or Circle Round. The translation stays on.
- B1–B2
- Learner podcasts at natural speed and conversation shows, such as All Ears English or VOA Learning English. Hide the translation and check yourself line by line.
- C1+
- Any show you would listen to in your own language: news, interviews, comedy, true crime. Open the text only where you get lost.
Which languages
Podcasts — a shelf picked by us, search and transcripts — work in most major languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Hindi, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Cantonese and more. Where a language has no podcasts yet, it still has videos and books.
Podcasts for shadowing
Speak mode works on episodes too: a line plays, you repeat it, and the words light up as they are recognised. A learner podcast with two hosts at natural speed is a good place to start. See how shadowing works.
FAQ
Is it free?+
Listening to episodes and the podcast catalog are free. Making transcripts is part of Pro, with an allowance of three hours of episodes a week.
Can I open any podcast?+
Any show with a public RSS feed, which is almost every podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Exclusives that live only inside one app are not available. Search for the show by name inside PlayLingo.
How accurate are the transcripts?+
They come from speech recognition, so names and mumbled words are sometimes wrong, and long music breaks are cut out. Lines follow the audio closely enough to read along.
Do I need Spotify or Apple Podcasts?+
No. PlayLingo plays the episode itself, with the transcript and translation on the same screen.
Which languages can I learn with podcasts?+
Most major languages, from Spanish and Japanese to Hindi, Persian and Cantonese, each with transcripts. Where a language has no podcasts yet, it still has videos and books.
Which devices does it work on?+
iPhone, iPad and Mac, and Android from version 6.42. Saved words and progress sync between devices.
Your next episode, understood.
Free to download. iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android.