Alternative guide
Readlang overlays click-to-translate on native-difficulty web content. Lectura adapts the article itself to your reading level. Both tools help you read in Spanish and French — but they serve different stages.
Honest criteria
| Criteria | Lectura | Readlang |
|---|---|---|
| Reading authenticity | Real news articles from public sources adapted to A1, A2, or B1 — same story, same facts, adjusted language complexity. | Any webpage in the target language at native difficulty. The content is fully authentic; the support is click-to-translate pop-ups on top of native text. |
| CEFR control | Every article at A1, A2, and B1. Switch levels instantly without changing the topic — only the language difficulty changes. | No level control on the text itself. Readlang works on native-difficulty content; the learner chooses their source material and manages difficulty by selecting simpler or more complex web pages. |
| Personalization | Choose language, level, and topic. Import any article URL to get three CEFR-adapted reading levels. | Works on any web page the learner navigates to. Complete flexibility on content choice; no built-in content discovery or level filtering. |
| Vocabulary repetition | Vocabulary builds through topically related articles and recurring stories over time. | Words clicked for translation are saved and can be reviewed through a flashcard system with spaced repetition. |
| Progress tracking | Tracks words read, articles completed, and daily reading streaks. | Tracks words looked up and flashcard review history. No reading-volume metric. |
| Price | Free entry point with a paid subscription for full article access. | Free for basic use; a premium subscription unlocks unlimited translations and advanced flashcard features at a low monthly price. |
Readlang and Lectura both help learners read in a target language — but they solve the problem differently. Readlang takes native-difficulty text and adds a translation layer on top: click any word and get an instant definition, which is saved for later review. The text itself remains at native difficulty throughout.
Lectura adapts the text itself. A BBC Mundo article about a political event is rewritten at A1, A2, and B1 — the same story, the same facts, but with shorter sentences, more frequent vocabulary, and reduced grammatical complexity at lower levels. The support is built into the language, not overlaid on top of it.
Comprehensible input research is consistent on one point: reading material needs to be roughly 95–98% comprehensible for incidental vocabulary acquisition to work. Below that threshold, the cognitive load of constant lookups disrupts the reading experience and prevents the kind of fluent processing that builds real skill.
For A1–B1 learners, native-difficulty Spanish or French text is typically well below that comprehension threshold. Even with Readlang's pop-up support, looking up every third or fourth sentence disrupts reading flow and trains a lookup habit rather than fluent comprehension. Adapted text removes this problem by bringing comprehensibility to the text itself, not as an overlay.
For B2+ learners who can read a native Spanish or French article with only occasional lookups, Readlang is a powerful tool. The browser extension works on any webpage — not just news articles but blogs, opinion pieces, social media, niche forums, or whatever the learner already follows in their target language. That flexibility is hard to replicate with a curated or adapted reading tool.
The vocabulary tracking is also genuinely useful at advanced levels, where a learner's goal is to reduce the 5–10% of unknown words rather than build basic comprehension. Watching your unknown-word lookups decline over weeks is concrete evidence of vocabulary growth that adapted reading tools do not easily quantify.
Many learners use both tools at different stages. At A1–B1, adapted reading practice through Lectura builds the vocabulary base and reading habits that make native-difficulty text usable. At B1–B2, as comprehension improves, Readlang becomes viable — the gap between adapted and native text narrows until annotation support is sufficient on its own.
A useful transition signal: when you read a Lectura B1 article and find it easy — when you finish the article without any comprehension gaps and no unfamiliar vocabulary slows you down — you are probably ready to try native-difficulty text with Readlang support. The switch does not need to be abrupt; using both in parallel during the B1 stage is a natural way to calibrate.
Both tools share an underlying assumption: that reading volume builds fluency. The more comprehensible text you read in your target language, the faster vocabulary, grammar patterns, and reading speed improve. The difference is in what counts as comprehensible at each stage.
For most learners below B2, adapted text is more comprehensible than native text with annotation support — and comprehensible text produces more acquisition per hour of reading than text you frequently struggle with. The goal in both cases is the same: maximise fluent reading time in the target language.
Common questions
Readlang is a browser extension and web reader that lets you click on any word in a foreign-language web page to get an instant translation. Words you look up are saved and can be reviewed through a built-in flashcard system. It works with any web content in the target language, which gives it broad flexibility. It does not adapt the text itself — the content remains at native difficulty throughout.
Readlang works best when you can already understand most of the text and only need occasional support. That typically means B2 or strong B1 level. Below that, the frequency of lookups disrupts reading flow significantly and can make the experience more frustrating than productive. For A1–B1 learners, adapted text — where the difficulty is controlled at the source — tends to produce better reading outcomes.
Lectura is designed for A1–B1 learners who need the text itself adapted to their level, not just annotated with translations. Rather than presenting native-difficulty text with a lookup overlay, Lectura provides real news articles rewritten at A1, A2, or B1 — the same story, adjusted language. This approach is more effective for learners below B2, where native-difficulty text has too many unknown words for fluent reading.
Yes, and they serve different purposes. Lectura works well for daily reading practice at A1–B1, where adapted text provides comprehensible input without constant lookups. Readlang is useful for experimenting with native-difficulty text — trying El País or Le Monde directly — alongside or after Lectura reading. Using Readlang occasionally as a challenge at B1 helps you track progress toward native-level reading.
Readlang supports a wide range of languages including Spanish and French. It works on any web page in those languages — French news sites like Le Monde or France 24, Spanish sites like El País or BBC Mundo — as long as you navigate to them in your browser. The click-to-translate function works on any text the browser renders.
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