WordZam

Read German books without putting them down.

Keep the mic on while you read. Say a word you don't know. Hear the meaning. The word saves itself.

Tap the mic and say Verlegenheit
5 of 5 free lookups remaining

No signup, no card. 5 free lookups, then sign up for 50/day free. Sample sentence: „Die Verlegenheit war ihm anzusehen.“

The problem with reading German books on paper

1

You hit a word you don’t know.

2

You put the book down, unlock the phone, type into DeepL.

3

By the time you’re back, you’ve lost the sentence.

What you get

Hands-free lookup

Mic stays on. Say the word. Hear the meaning. Keep reading.

Saved vocabulary

Every word you stumbled on, saved with the sentence it appeared in.

German noun details

Gender (der/die/das), plural, and an example sentence, for every noun.

Anki export

Turn your reading into Anki cards. CSV today, .apkg soon.

About the always-on mic

The mic only listens while you’re actively in a reading session and you’ve pressed the mic button. Audio is streamed to the speech-to-text provider and discarded after the word is recognized. We keep the words you save, not your raw audio. Read the privacy page for the long version.

Pricing

Free
€0 / month
  • 50 lookups per day
  • Saved vocabulary list
  • German noun details
Sign up free

Why I built this

Hi, I’m Dario. I want to get to the next level of my German understanding. To do that I want to read books that are a bit over my current level. I don’t want it to be frustrating, I want it to be a pleasant experience. So I built WordZam to help me translate words I don’t know, save them, and not have to drop the book and type into a translator every two minutes. It’s working for me. Sharing it in case it helps you too.

Dario

Questions

Does it work for languages other than German?

Yes, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Croatian, and Serbian are all supported. German is what I’m focused on right now, so it’s the most polished.

Is the mic always listening?

No. The mic only opens when you start a reading session and press the mic button. You can stop it any time. Audio is streamed to the speech-to-text service and discarded after recognition.

Do I need headphones?

No, but they help if you’re in a quiet space and don’t want the translation to be heard.

Can I export to Anki?

Yes, CSV export is in, and .apkg is coming next based on what users ask for. You get the word, the lemma, the sentence it appeared in, the translation, and the noun details (gender + plural for German).

Is there a mobile app?

Not yet. The web version works on phones in the browser. A native app comes once enough people are reading with it weekly that it makes sense to build.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. One click in your account → Stripe Customer Portal → cancel. No tricks, no “winback” emails.

What data do you store?

Your email, the words you save (text only, not your voice), and your subscription state. You can delete the whole account from your account page in one click; everything gets removed.

Why €7,99? And what does €14,99 mean?

€7,99 is the launch price while I'm still building. Regular price will be €14,99/month once the product is more complete. If you sign up now at €7,99, you don't lock in that price forever, I'll tell you well in advance if I raise it.

One more time

If reading German books on paper has been a pain, try 5 words free. No signup, no card, takes about 30 seconds to find out if it helps.

Paid plans aren't open yet, sign up free, and join the early-access list above if you want unlimited reading.