LelaAI
Learn languages by reading real articles
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Worathiti Pung

LelaAI - Learn languages by reading real articles

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LaterAI
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I built Lela because Duolingo didn't work for me. 400+ days of streaks and I still couldn't read a news article. Lela takes a different approach: learn by reading real content. 1. Browse articles from top news sources or share any webpage 2. Every word shows its translation inline — just read naturally 3. Tap words you know to build your vocabulary 4. Quiz yourself with flashcards made from your words No streaks. No cartoon owls. Just reading — the way languages were always meant to be learned.

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Worathiti Pung
Maker
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Hey PH! 👋 I'm Pung, the solo dev behind LelaAI. Quick backstory: I had a 400+ day Duolingo streak and still couldn't read a German newspaper. That bugged me. Research backs this up, extensive reading is one of the most effective ways to acquire a language, yet most apps ignore it completely. So I built LelaAI. The idea is dead simple: read things you actually care about, in the language you're learning, with translations right there when you need them. Over time, you tap fewer and fewer words. That's real progress not XP points. A few things I'm proud of: - Explore tab — fresh articles daily from real news sources (Tagesschau, BBC Mundo, Le Monde, and more) so you always have something to read - Flashcard quizzes — test yourself on words you've actually learned from reading, not random vocabulary lists - Zero cloud dependency for translations — everything runs through Apple's on-device Translation framework, so it's fast and private - Share extension — see an interesting article in Safari? Share it to Lela and start reading with translations instantly - No engagement tricks — no streaks, no lives, no ads. Just reading. Would love your feedback. What languages are you learning? What kind of content would you want to read?
Nika

My level of learning is the same. Using DuoLingo for 1100+ days and not able to create some reasonable sentence :D

Worathiti Pung
Maker

@busmark_w_nika oh wow, 1100+ days in impressive non-the-less! 😅

But yeah… that’s exactly the problem we’re trying to solve. Many apps optimize for streaks, not real language output.

Denis Yaremenko

@pungme love the real-content approach, but how does it handle difficulty levels? Can beginners jump straight to news articles, or do you recommend starting with simpler sources? And does it suggest articles based on vocabulary level? Thanks)

Worathiti Pung
Maker

@denious Thanks for the feedback! Right now, you can tap the word you know, and that word will never show up again in any future article. So, in the beginning, you might need to tap a few words until you reach the point where you don’t understand those words anymore.

In the future, I will let users decide the level of vocab. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Viktoriia

Another owl victim here 🦉 Had 200+ days streak and realized I was opening the app for the streak, not for English. The moment I missed one day - zero motivation to come back.

Learning through real articles is double useful - you actually learn the language AND stay informed. That's smart.

Worathiti Pung
Maker

@virtualviki “Another owl victim” should be an official support group at this point 🦉😂

Totally agree though once the streak breaks, the illusion kind of breaks with it too.

Real-world content just works better imo. You’re learning and getting something genuinely interesting out of it.

Nafis Amiri

Congrats, everything is so cute, i love it.

Worathiti Pung
Maker
@nafis_amiri thanks! 🙇🏻‍♂️🙏🏻