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Riima

An iPhone app for beginners. Everything stays on your device.

Learn a language by listening and reading along.Word for word.

You listen to a short text in the new language and read along. Under every word is what it literally means. And to be honest up front: you will listen to the same episode many times — everything is built on that.

For iPhone, iOS 18 or later. The app is currently available as a beta through TestFlight, the link takes you to Apple.

The app’s player: at the top the episode’s text in the new language, under every word its literal English translation, below that the sentence in natural English.
  1. OgniEvery
  2. mattinamorning
  3. ilthe
  4. mercatomarket
  5. apreopens
  6. moltovery
  7. prestoearly

Every morning the market opens very early.

How it works

  1. The new language above, English below.

    Under every word is what it literally means. Not polished English, but exact — that way you see how the sentence is built. The text follows the audio, word for word.

    The player: the episode’s text in the new language, under it the English word for word, the word being spoken right now is highlighted.
  2. Tap what you already know.

    A tap on a word means: I know this one. The English underneath disappears, and the app knows when you can move on to the next episode.

    The same text after some words have been tapped: under those the English line is gone, the others still carry it.
  3. The English is allowed to disappear.

    With three switches you take the help away — first the whole sentence, then word for word. In the end, the new language and the audio remain, and that is exactly where this is going.

    The three switches for the text layers: literal English, the new language and the plain-English line can be hidden one by one.

What it looks like

An Italian sentence as the app shows it. At the top, the word you hear. Underneath, what it literally means — not polished English, but exact. That way you see how the sentence is built instead of translating it for yourself. The third line says it the way you would say it in English.

Every morning the market opens very early.

The courses

Four languages, each with its own episodes. What is already audible is listed with each course.

What is not included

These are missing on purpose.

How the episodes are made

The voices in this app are AI-generated — no human is speaking. The texts and the images were made with AI as well. Every episode was proofread by hand and checked for accuracy before recording.

Every course begins with real places. After that, the episodes tell a story, with characters who return from one episode to the next.

Listen to an episode

Riima is currently available as a beta through TestFlight. Start with one episode, and listen to it until the English underneath is no longer needed.

Try it free — Opens TestFlight at Apple

For iPhone, iOS 18 or later. The app is currently available as a beta through TestFlight, the link takes you to Apple.