Features

Everything Glossy does, part by part

What you'll find in each part of the app, what exactly it does, and whether it's free or Premium.

Understand what you read, watch and hear

Real content in the language you're learning, and help with every word right where you meet it.

Library Premium

Graded stories, classics and your own books

Start with stories written for your level and move on to real books when you're ready.

  • Reading paths by level, from A1: each story builds on the one before.
  • Over 75,000 free classics, and illustrated books to begin with.
  • Your own EPUBs and PDFs.
  • Every book shows how many of its words you already know.
  • Listen to the chapter read aloud while you read it.
Screenshot of Glossy: Graded stories, classics and your own books

Articles Premium

Newspapers and sites, chosen by theme

Read the day's news in the language you're learning, from sources picked for each language.

  • Sources grouped by theme: easy reading, world news, science, technology.
  • Add any site with an RSS feed and follow it like your own newspaper.
  • Add a single article from its link.
  • Articles open on the original site, and you tap any word just as you would in Glossy.
Screenshot of Glossy: Newspapers and sites, chosen by theme

Video Premium

YouTube with a transcript you can tap

Follow your channels inside Glossy and watch every video with the full transcript beside it.

  • The line being spoken lights up as the video plays.
  • Tap a line to jump to it. Tap a word to understand it.
  • Bring your own audio and video files: Glossy transcribes them.
Screenshot of Glossy: YouTube with a transcript you can tap

Podcasts Premium

Podcasts in the language you're learning, with the text in front of you

A directory with only podcasts in the language you're learning: search, follow the ones you like and listen to every episode with its transcript.

  • Shelves by topic, plus one of podcasts made for learners.
  • The transcript follows along with the audio: tap a word to understand it.
  • Speed from 0.5× to 1.5×, and it keeps playing with the screen off.
Screenshot of Glossy: Podcasts in the language you're learning, with the text in front of you

Browser Premium

The same tap on any website, with the Chrome extension

Double-click any word on any page, or in the subtitles of YouTube and Netflix, full screen included.

  • A transcript panel beside the video, showing how much of it you already understand.
  • The video waits while you look up a word and carries on when you close the sheet.
  • Every word you save goes to your Glossys, in the app too.
Screenshot of Glossy: The same tap on any website, with the Chrome extension

Keep what you learn

Lessons give you the most frequent words, and review brings every word back before you forget it.

Lessons Free

The words that come up most

Lessons teach a language's most frequent vocabulary, so you understand more of everything you read and watch.

  • 5,000 words per language, in order of frequency.
  • Expressions too, and phrasal verbs in English.
  • Each word comes with its audio and an example sentence, followed by short exercises.
  • In Japanese, a hiragana and katakana course to learn to read from scratch.
Screenshot of Glossy: The words that come up most

Review Free

Review as little games

Spaced repetition brings each word back when you're about to forget it, always in a sentence.

  • Pick the translation, listen and pick, or match the pairs.
  • Flashcards instead, if you prefer them.
  • Four levels per word, from new to acquired, so you see what's sticking.
  • Export your words to CSV or Anki, or import your own list.
Screenshot of Glossy: Review as little games

Your companion Free

A daily goal you choose

Iris greets you with your own numbers and tells you what's left for the day.

  • Four goals, from calm to intense: everything you do earns points.
  • A streak, and a way to repair it if you miss a day.
  • Statistics with your hours of input, including what you do outside Glossy, and milestones to see how far you've come.
  • One reminder a day, at your usual time, when your streak is on the line or review is waiting.
Screenshot of Glossy: A daily goal you choose

Put it to use

Chatting, writing, translating and pronouncing, always with your own vocabulary.

Conversation Premium

Conversations in everyday scenes

You get a scene and a role, and you chat in writing with someone who answers in the language, using words you're learning.

  • Short conversations, up to seven turns.
  • At the end, every mistake corrected, with the reason, in your language.
  • Your past conversations stay saved, corrections included.
  • Drawing a blank? "What do I say?" suggests how to carry on.
  • You choose how strict the correction is: gentle, normal or strict, in the journal and translation too.
Screenshot of Glossy: Conversations in everyday scenes

Pronunciation Premium

Say your words out loud

Iris says each word you're learning, and you repeat it while holding down the mic button.

  • The word changes color based on how you said it, and anything that needs polishing is marked.
  • Hear it at normal speed or slowly, as many times as you like.
  • Try again until it's all green: your best attempt is the one that counts.
  • Practice a round with your vocabulary, or a single word from your Glossys.
Screenshot of Glossy: Say your words out loud

Journal Premium

A journal that comes back corrected

Write a few lines about your day in the language you're learning and get them back corrected.

  • More natural ways to say it, with the why behind every change.
  • Your entries are kept, with a calendar to go back to any day.
  • You choose how strict the correction is: gentle, normal or strict.
Screenshot of Glossy: A journal that comes back corrected

Translation Premium

Translate texts built from your words

A short text at your level, built from the vocabulary you're learning. You translate it and see what you nailed and what you missed.

  • The other way round too: a text in your language to put into the one you're learning.
  • The correction explains what you got wrong and why.
  • The correction checks the meaning first, then the details.
  • Your translations are kept in a history.
Screenshot of Glossy: Translate texts built from your words

Where Glossy works

Be there on day one

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