About Readlang Web Reader
Readlang Web Reader lets you read websites in the language you are learning and look up the words you do not know. Click the R button, then click a word or drag across a phrase to see a translation. Readlang then builds flashcards and vocabulary lists from what you looked up. It is made by Steve Ridout, who says on the site that he was previously a staff software engineer at Duolingo.
The extension is the front end for the Readlang service, which also has an online reader, iOS and Android apps and bookmarklets. The free plan includes unlimited single-word translations, with daily limits on phrase translations and context explanations. Flashcard practice and book export are on the paid plans, and one subscription covers every language. A right-click option sends a plain-text version of a page to the Readlang reader.
The code is closed. Its Chrome listing says the extension handles personally identifiable information and website content, and the developer declares it does not sell that data. Its Firefox permissions include access to all websites. The Chrome rating of 4.2 rests on a few hundred ratings, so there is less evidence than for the bigger tools here. For a reading-first tool that handles the flashcards, it is a reasonable pick.
Pros and cons
- Click a word or drag a phrase to translate it
- Builds flashcards and vocabulary lists for you
- Free plan with unlimited single-word translations
- In Firefox as well as Chrome, and updated recently
- Closed source, with paid plans for flashcard practice
- Free plan caps phrase translations and explanations per day
- Handles personal data and page content, per its listing
Permissions
It asks for access to the page you are on and to all websites so it can show translations in place, plus storage and a context-menu entry for importing pages.
