Build a vocabulary app with spaced review and spoken words
Anticode can build a focused language learning app: vocabulary from your own lists, drills that mix recognition and recall, spaced review that brings back what's slipping, and words read aloud by the device's built-in voices. It can't hold a conversation, mark pronunciation or explain grammar on demand, because the app has no network, no AI and no microphone access.
What a vocabulary app is good for
Big commercial language apps do many things; a self-built one is best at one thing done for a specific learner. A teacher's app for this term's word lists. A trip-preparation app with the 300 words a traveller actually needs. A heritage-language app with family words no textbook includes. Being specific is the advantage: the words are the right ones, in the right order, with the example sentences you'd use.
Spaced review, simply
Spaced repetition schedules each word for review just before you'd forget it. Get it right and the gap grows (one day, three days, a week, three weeks); get it wrong and it comes back soon. The simplest dependable version is the Leitner system: words move along a row of boxes when answered correctly and drop back to the first box when missed, and each box is reviewed less often than the one before. More elaborate schedulers adjust the interval per word based on how hard it felt.
Whichever you choose, the app's front screen should answer one question: what's due today? A count ("18 words to review, 5 new") and one button to start makes a daily habit easier than a menu of options.
Drill types, from easy to hard
| Drill | What it trains | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Picture or translation to word, multiple choice | Recognition | Good for new words |
| Word to translation, multiple choice | Recognition in reverse | Pick distractors from the same topic |
| Type the word from its translation | Recall and spelling | Accept accents typed or not, but show the correct form |
| Listen and choose | Listening | Uses the device's speech voice |
| Fill the gap in a sentence | Use in context | Needs an example sentence per word |
| Gender or article drill | Grammar tied to vocabulary | For languages with grammatical gender |
Mixing two or three types per session works better than one, and recall (typing the word) should appear once recognition is secure.
Listening with the browser's voices
Browsers can read text aloud with the speech voices installed on the device, and because that doesn't load anything from the web it should work inside an Anticode app; ask for it and test it. Many phones and computers include voices for major languages. The quality and the list of languages vary by device, though, and some languages may have no voice at all. Ask for a speaker button that hides itself when no suitable voice is found, and a speed control for slower playback. If you need a specific accent, test on the devices your learners use.
Recording the learner's own voice for comparison isn't possible, since apps can't ask for microphone access, so listening practice goes one way: the device speaks, the learner chooses or types.
Building it with Anticode
Give the language, the learner and the lists: "A language learning app for adult beginners in Portuguese, preparing for a trip to Lisbon. 12 topics of 25 words each (I'll paste them), with an English translation and one example sentence each. Leitner boxes with a daily review count, three drill types, a speaker button using the device's Portuguese voice, and a streak. Saved on this device." The model writes it as one HTML document with your word lists as data, so the whole app works without a connection once loaded.
Check the lists yourself or with a fluent speaker. If you ask the model to write example sentences, read every one: a wrong sentence drilled fifty times is worse than none.
Why there's no AI tutor inside
Anticode's app sandbox blocks all network access, and AI features need a call to a model on a server. So an app can't chat with the learner, correct free writing, explain why an answer is wrong beyond what you've written, or generate new exercises on the fly. Everything the learner sees was written in advance. Pre-written explanations for common mistakes cover a surprising amount; for conversation practice, pair the app with a tutor, a class or a conversation tool.
- No pronunciation scoring or speaking exercises.
- No progress synced between phone and laptop; review history lives in one browser.
- No teacher dashboard for a class.
- The builder is in English; the app's content can be in any language you provide.
For simpler two-sided cards see the flashcard app; for spelling in your own language, spelling practice. The memory game maker is a lighter way to practise vocabulary with children.
Questions people ask
Can the app work in a non-Latin script?
Yes. Give the words in their own script; ask for a typing drill that accepts input from the device's keyboard for that language, or use multiple choice instead.
Can I add new word lists each week?
Ask for the change with the new list. Learners' review history for existing words stays in their browser.
Can I sell access to it?
The app itself can't check payments or logins, so anyone with the link can use it. A payment link can sell something else, but it won't lock the app.