Earu
The most effective way to learn a language: train your ears
Practice listening with the TV shows, movies, and cartoons already on your computer or phone: open a video, and Earu reads the original subtitles built into it and adds AI-translated subtitles in your language. Listen one sentence at a time, then put the words you heard in order.
- AccountTo use the player, sign in first: enter your phone number and get a code by text. No password needed.
- BrowserOn a computer, use Google Chrome; on iPhone, Safari; on Android, the latest version of Chrome or of your phone's built-in browser.
What it does
From opening a video to hearing each sentence clearly, sorting it, and reading it aloud, it all happens in this one window.
- 1Top notesPuns, jokes, and local expressions, kept apart from the dialogue
- 2Original subtitlesThe video's own, with broken-up lines joined into full sentences
- 3Subtitles in your languageAI translation, one line per sentence
- 4Listen / SortTwo ways to practice, one sentence on loop
- 01
Open and watch
On a computer, drag an MKV or MP4 video into the window, or click “Choose a video file”; on a phone, pick one from Files. Videos play only on your own computer or phone and are never uploaded anywhere.
MKV · MP4 - 02
Reads the original subtitles built into the video
Automatically finds the text subtitles in the video and joins broken-up lines into full sentences; see the guide for supported languages. Image subtitles (PGS, VobSub) can't be read.
Built-in text subtitles - 03
AI subtitles in your language, plus top notes
Every sentence gets a line of AI-translated subtitles in your language. Puns, jokes, and local expressions go in separate notes at the top of the screen, kept apart from the dialogue. Once a set of subtitles has been translated, anyone who opens it gets the translation right away.
Every sentence translated - 04
Listen: one sentence at a time
Previous sentence, next sentence, loop one sentence; a little extra time before and after each sentence, and a half-second pause before it plays again (all adjustable). Pull up the whole bilingual transcript and click any sentence to jump to it; until you meet today's target, the text stays covered.
Single-sentence loop - 05
Sort: put the words you hear in order
Listen to a sentence and put the scrambled word tiles in order. Correct answers earn points, and there's a daily points target (100 by default); reach it and today's task turns green.
100 points / day by default - 06
Read-aloud: say the sentences you sorted
Opens once you meet the Sort target. Today's set is picked from sentences you've sorted correctly (20 by default; sentence length follows your grade). Listen to each one first (the original audio or AI reading), then read it into the microphone; the app checks how accurately you read it, and 85 points is a pass.
20 sentences / day by default - 07
Daily Words: remember the words in your sentences
Opens once you finish Read-aloud. Words are picked from sentences you sorted correctly, with new words at your grade: Primary, Middle, High, or College, based on school vocabulary levels where the language is spoken. Hear a word, then pick the word or its meaning; you're tested again a few days later, until it really sticks.
Four grades - 08
Install it, open it like an app
On Windows, it goes on the desktop and in the Start menu; on a Mac, in Launchpad, and you can keep it in the Dock; on a phone, add it to the home screen (iPhone: “Share” → “Add to Home Screen” in Safari; Android: ⋮ menu → “Install and create shortcut” in Chrome). The icon takes you straight to the player. If you install it with Chrome or Edge on a computer, you can even right-click a video file → “Open with” and choose it.
Windows · Mac · phones
How to practice
All four levels are open now. Get good at one before you move up.
Listen
First, hear a sentence clearly: replay it, loop it. Once you've met today's target, you can also check it against the subtitles in both languages.
Sort
Next, put the words you heard in order; only correct answers score. Reach your points target every day.
Read-aloud
Once you meet the Sort target, read the sentences you sorted out loud, and the app checks how accurately you read them.
Daily Words
After Read-aloud, study words: they're picked from sentences you sorted correctly, at the grade you chose.
Step by step is the best way to learn.
If a step isn't done, the next one stays locked
Until you have enough Sort points, Read-aloud stays locked; until Read-aloud is finished, Daily Words stays locked.
“Target lock” is on by default
Until you meet today's target, the original subtitles and the subtitles in your language are hidden in Listen, and in Sort you only see the sentence you just sorted. You can turn it off in “Settings”.
How Sort works: listen to a sentence, then put the scrambled word tiles in the order you heard them.
Who it's for
Practice on your own, or with your kids.
Non-native speakers who need to understand and speak a second language
Students and working adults alike: practice listening with the TV shows, movies, and cartoons you love. Real people talk faster than textbook recordings and run their words together, so it's hard to follow at first. That's why you go one sentence at a time.
Parents helping their kids learn
The grade (Primary to College), the daily points target, the daily amounts for Read-aloud and Daily Words, and the target lock are all in “Settings”. With a parental PIN set, kids can't change the points target, the amounts, or the target lock themselves (the grade, loop timing, and the like don't need the PIN). Points and settings are saved on the server: sign in with the same phone number on another computer or phone, and it's all there.
What you need
Three things, and you're ready to go.
- A computer or phoneOn a computer, use Google Chrome or Edge, on Windows or Mac (Safari on a Mac plays MP4 only, not MKV); on a phone, iPhone and Android both work. Read-aloud needs a microphone.
- A video with text subtitlesMKV or MP4, with text subtitles packed inside the video (see the guide for supported languages). If the subtitles can't be read, Earu works only as a regular video player.
- A phone numberTo use the player, sign in first: enter your phone number and get a code by text. No password needed.
- TipOn a computer, click a video in “Recently played” to open it again right away. Only Chrome and Edge can do this; in other browsers, you need to drag it in again. On a phone, choose the same video again and it picks up where you left off.
Have a video with subtitles ready, and you can start
Once it's installed, the icon takes you straight to the player, skipping this page.