Lark: Language Shadowing

Lark is a shadowing app for learning a language by ear. Bring a podcast or a video you enjoy and practice it one sentence at a time: listen, say it back, hear yourself, and go again. No subscription, no account, no ads.

LANGUAGES

Transcripts and practice are available in: • English • Spanish • French • German • Italian • Portuguese • Japanese • Korean • Chinese (Mandarin) • Cantonese

ONE SENTENCE AT A TIME

Lark plays a sentence, then waits while you say it. It records your attempt, plays it back to you, and plays the sentence again, so you can compare and try once more. Move on when you're ready, go back, or tap any line in the transcript to practice that one instead.

Set the speed from 0.5× to 2×, how long you get to speak, whether you hear each sentence once or twice, and whether the text stays on screen during your turn. On iPhone, a light tap lets you know when it's your turn.

BRING YOUR OWN MATERIAL

Search for podcasts and add episodes, paste a video link, import a video from Photos, or a video or audio file from Files. Anything you like listening to can become a lesson.

TRANSCRIPTS

Lark can use a video's own captions, bring in subtitles you already have (SRT or WebVTT) from Files, or transcribe an episode or video with AI on your device. The transcript follows along as it plays, and tapping a line jumps to it. Three AI transcripts a week are free; captions and subtitles are never counted.

UNDERSTAND EACH SENTENCE

On devices with Apple Intelligence, tap the bubble beside a sentence to see what it means in your own language, with a short note on anything a word-for-word reading would get wrong. It is worked out on your iPhone or iPad, not sent to a server.

KEEP A STREAK

Practicing one sentence marks the day. A calendar shows the days you've practiced, your current streak, and your longest. Material you mark as done moves to a list of its own, with the time you spent on it.

PRIVATE BY DEFAULT

Transcripts, recordings of your voice, and explanations are made on your device. There is no Lark account and no Lark server. With iCloud, your library and practice record follow you to your other devices; media and transcripts stay on the device that has them.

IPHONE AND IPAD

Lark works upright or on its side, and puts the transcript beside the player whenever there's room.

ONE PURCHASE, NO SUBSCRIPTION

Lark is free to download, with no ads and no account. Practice, explanations, captions, subtitles, and your streak are free for everyone. Lark Pro is a single purchase that removes the weekly limit on AI transcripts and unlocks all 15 accent colors. With Family Sharing, up to five family members get it too.