Frequently asked questions

Glotsmith is one place for everything from your language course. Upload the files you're given and keep them together, then study your PDFs right on the page: translate a word, hear it read aloud, take notes, and build one word list for the whole course.

Adults taking a language course, whether online, at a language school or at university, who get their study material as files. It also works if you're studying from material you already have, like a coursebook you own and its audio. If you're starting from scratch with nothing to read or listen to, an app with built-in lessons will suit you better.

A language-learning app teaches you from its own lessons. Glotsmith doesn't teach: your course does. It's where you keep the materials your course gives you, or material you own, and study them with translation, read-aloud, transcripts and one word list.

No. Glotsmith runs in your web browser on a computer, tablet or phone. There's nothing to download or install, and your work stays in sync across your devices.

Not yet. Glotsmith needs an internet connection to translate, read text from scanned pages and make transcripts, and to save and sync your work across your devices.

Yes. You can start for free with no credit card. The Free plan lets you read your own PDFs, translate, build a word list, take notes and more, with a monthly allowance for translating, listening, transcripts and scanning. Paid plans include more. See the Pricing page for details.

With a one-time code sent to your email, or with your Google account. There's no password to remember.

PDFs, Word documents, text files, photos (JPG, PNG or WebP), and audio and video. PDFs and photos open in Glotsmith, so you can read them and mark them up. Word and text files are stored with the rest of your course but don't open inside Glotsmith, so if you want to study a Word document on the page, save it as a PDF first.

Yes. Open a PDF and read it right in Glotsmith. Pages that already contain text read free and unlimited on every plan, including Free, and you can translate, listen and save words as you go. A page without text can be scanned instead.

Glotsmith can read the text in scanned pages and photos, so you can study them like any other page. Nothing is scanned automatically: a page that can't be read for free offers to be scanned, tells you it will use one page of your monthly allowance, and waits for you to press it. Only pages you scan count toward that allowance, so pages that already contain text stay free on every plan.

Select any word or phrase on a page, in a transcript or in your notes, and a small toolbar lets you translate it, hear it read aloud, or add it to your word list with its meaning, all without leaving the page.

Yes. Each document has a pen, a highlighter, and check and cross stamps, with adjustable size and color, and you can type your own notes onto the page. Everything you add is saved with the workbook, so it's there the next time you open it.

Yes. Documents scroll continuously, and you can zoom in and out with the buttons, with Ctrl or ⌘ and your scroll wheel, or with a pinch on a touch screen. You can switch between one page and two pages side by side, and jump to any page. Glotsmith remembers your zoom level and your last page for each document.

Yes. Add an audio or video file, or paste a YouTube link. Either way you can add notes at a moment in the recording and click a note's time to jump straight back to it. Transcripts work only for audio and video files you upload: a YouTube video plays inside Glotsmith, but it can't be transcribed.

Eight today: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese and Korean, in any combination, for translation, your word list and read-aloud.

A translation section keeps the original text on one side and its translation on the other, line by line. Translate a line with one click, or turn on automatic translation, and see at a glance when a line has changed since it was translated.

Glotsmith remembers the text it last translated. If you change either side, that line is marked as out of date, and you can translate it again with one click. Lines that are already up to date are left alone, so you never use your allowance on a translation you don't need.

Yes. Speaker buttons read both sides of a translation line and the words in your word list aloud, each in its own language, and you can also hear text you select on a page, in your notes or in a transcript. Read-aloud uses your monthly word allowance.

Yes. Select any word while you read, or in a translation, and add it to your word list with its meaning. There's one list for the whole course, and a word links back to the place you saved it from.

In an audio or video section, whether it's a file you uploaded or a YouTube video, add a note while it plays and it's stamped with that moment. Click the time on a note to jump the player straight back there.

Yes. For an audio or video file you upload, up to six minutes long, make a transcript with timings in the language you choose, then study it like any other text: highlight words to translate them, hear them, or save them. You can make it again in a different language if you need to.

Translation, transcription, text-to-speech and OCR features use automated cloud services to process inputs and generate results. Outputs may contain errors and should be reviewed before reliance. They're meant to help you study from your own material, not to serve as a professional translation or an official transcript. Translations sit in lines you can edit, so where one reads wrong you can correct it and keep studying.

Each course has its own language pair and holds your uploaded files, your workbooks and one word list. Inside a workbook you combine sections: documents, translations, vocabulary, notes, tables, video and audio.

Yes. Share any workbook with a link. Anyone who opens it sees a read-only version and can copy it into their own account to build on. Search engines won't list a shared workbook unless you choose to publish it, and you can turn off copying, or the whole link, whenever you like.

The Free plan covers everyday study with monthly allowances. The paid Scholar and Master plans raise the allowances for translation, read-aloud, transcripts and scanning, add more storage, and remove the limits on courses and workbooks. See the Pricing page for the current numbers.

There's a Free plan and two paid plans, Scholar and Master, billed monthly or yearly (yearly costs less). See the Pricing page for current prices.

Nothing you've made is lost. You can keep reading and editing, and only the tools that use a monthly allowance pause: translation, read-aloud, transcripts and scanning. When translation is used up, saving a highlighted word pauses too, because its meaning comes from a translation. You can still add words to your word list by typing them in. Everything is available again when your allowance resets or when you upgrade.

Payments go through Paddle, our payment provider and merchant of record, which also handles any sales tax or VAT due.

Payments are handled by Paddle, which meets the card industry's security standards. You enter your card details on Paddle's secure checkout, and Glotsmith never stores them.

Yes. You can cancel from the billing page at any time. Your plan normally stays active until the end of the period you've paid for, and then your account moves to the Free plan. If you're a consumer in the EU or EEA, you can also withdraw within 14 days of subscribing: your paid plan ends straight away and the amount you paid is refunded in full. See our Terms for details.

Plans are billed up front. Except where a refund or withdrawal right is required by applicable law or available under the Paddle Buyer Terms, charges are non-refundable. You can cancel anytime to stop future charges and keep access until your paid period ends.

Your courses, workbooks and files stay in your account. If you're over the Free storage limit, you won't be able to upload anything new until you're back under it, but nothing is deleted automatically.

Your content is not made public by default. Only you, and anyone you share a link with, can open it, and search engines won't list anything you share unless you choose to publish it. We don't use your content to train AI, and we only send what a feature needs: the text you select to translate or read aloud, the audio you choose to transcribe, and the pages you ask us to read text from. Everything you keep in Glotsmith is stored on servers in the US and sent over encrypted connections. We don't sell your data, and there are no ads. See our Privacy Policy for details.

Yes. You can download everything you've made, including your notes, word lists and files, in one go. You can also delete your account from your settings at any time. Our Privacy Policy explains what we keep afterwards and why.

Email us at contact@glotsmith.com and we'll help.