I really hated breaking the flow when I was listening to Japanese podcasts. I wanted an app that let me tap on words I didn’t understand during these sessions without switching context. This led me to create [**Toku Reader**](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/toku-reader-%E8%AA%AD/id6761078304)**, an iOS app that helps learners tap on words during podcasts, YouTube videos and on any website during the study flow**. 

You can look up almost all podcasts and YouTube videos, and the app will prioritize the creator’s transcript (if available) or auto-generate one on your phone. In most cases, the transcripts and word look ups are mostly correct, but given the complexity of Japanese, there will always be an effort to improve parsing. Also, everything stays on your app, you’re never sharing sensitive information or what you’re reading with anyone, and all processing happens on your phone so it is **100% offline (and therefore fast!) - no API calls, no AI wrappers**.

And for those who like **shadowing practice, the app can also pause at each sentence, replay in again and again, and allow you to record yourself to compare your practice with the native speech**. This combined with the ability to import your own texts (PDFs, eBooks, etc.), a dictionary and revise words sections are all my effort to ensure that your flow is never interrupted!

I did this because I really wanted an app that was intentional and private. In any case, this app has really helped me in my language studies, so I wanted to share it again here. I made an earlier post about this. The app has improved a ton since then - new UI/UX, a more streamliend podcast experience, a new mascot called Damo based on the Daruma, etc.  I hope this helps you in your language study! You can see how it works here on a Japanese Podcast and on the Japanese version of the Walk Street Journal!

https://preview.redd.it/iyy9i8pfp0fh1.png?width=810&format=png&auto=webp&s=94ab1ea17a1f04a52c06c3742683d302340361de

Japanese podcast and web app to let you stay in flow during study sessions