How Word Holder Works
A vocabulary tracker with built-in spaced repetition. Look up words while reading, and the app schedules them for review so you actually remember them.
1. Read something. Click words.
Bring any text in your target language into your library — paste from an article, a book chapter, a blog post, anything — using Import text on the home screen. The text opens in a clean reader with comfortable typography.
While reading, tap any word to see its meaning:
- A short translation appears instantly, pulled from Wiktionary-based dictionaries (fast, free).
- Tap See full definition to load the AI-generated long definition when you want more depth.
- If the word has multiple possible meanings (like Italian letto — "bed" or the past participle of "to read"), you'll get a lemma picker so you can choose.
- Words you've already tapped get a subtle dotted underline when you re-open a text, so you can see what you've already covered.
Every tap saves the word and the sentence it appeared in — the sentence comes back as context when the word shows up in your daily review.
Anonymous accounts get 100 KB of text storage; signed-in accounts get 5 MB. The meter is visible on the library and import pages.
2. Or type a word in the search box
You can also look up a word directly from the home screen — useful when you're not reading a specific text. Type it in, pick your language, press Enter. If you type a conjugated form, it finds the base word automatically. Not sure about spelling? You'll get suggestions.
3. Your word list
Every word you look up — whether by tapping in the reader or typing in the search box — is added to your personal list. Click any word to expand its definition. Use the level control in the toolbar to adjust how much detail you see:
- Simple — just the English translation
- Standard — definitions and example sentences
- Immersion — full detail in the original language
4. Organize with tags
Click the + button on any word to add a tag (e.g. "Chapter 3", "Travel", "Food"). Then filter your word list by tag using the dropdown in the toolbar.
5. Daily review (spaced repetition)
Every word you look up enters a spaced-repetition schedule. The app tells you how many words are due today on the home screen, and a 2-minute review session is enough to keep words moving toward long-term memory.
Reviews are fill-in-the-blank: you see an example sentence with the word hidden, recall it in your head, then rate how well you remembered it:
- Again — I forgot. Resets the interval to 1 day.
- Hard — I struggled. Shorter next interval.
- Good — I remembered. Standard SM-2 progression.
- Easy — Too easy. Longer next interval.
Words you remember reliably get spaced further apart (1d → 6d → ~15d → …). Words you struggle with come back sooner. After ~90 days without a miss, a word is marked learned.
If you tapped the word inside a text you were reading, the review uses that same sentence for context — so you're quizzed on words in real prose you've seen before, not generic dictionary examples.
Use Extra practice on the home screen to review non-due words anytime — practice sessions don't change the schedule.
6. Quiz yourself (sentence quizzes)
A separate feature from daily review. After saving 4+ words, go to the Quizzes page and generate an AI-powered sentence quiz using your recent vocabulary. Three quiz modes are available:
- Drag & Drop — drag words into sentence blanks
- Multiple Choice — pick the right word from four options
- Type In — type the missing word yourself
Sentence quizzes are good for varied practice; daily review is the retention engine.
Browser extension
Install the Chrome extension to look up words directly on any webpage while you read. Words are saved to the same account as the website.
Your account
Word Holder works without a visible login — every visitor gets an anonymous account automatically, so lookups, reviews, and the spaced-repetition schedule all work from the first visit. Log in (Google or email) to keep your words permanently and sync across devices. Without an account, your progress is tied to this browser only.
Signing in also unlocks the larger text storage quota (5 MB vs. 100 KB anonymous) so you can keep a bigger reading library.