Learn a language by reading it
Read95 takes books and articles worth reading and presents each one so that you already know about 95% of the words, fitted to your own vocabulary. The remaining 5% is what you learn.
Reading puts each word in context, again and again, inside sentences that show how it is used. Studies of extensive reading find that learners gain vocabulary this way, and come to read faster and with better comprehension. Read95 is built around that: a quiet reading app rather than a game, where nothing nags, celebrates, or interrupts.
It is our own product, designed and built by Soulthread for iPhone, iPad, and Android.
- 95% knownevery text fitted to your vocabulary
- 5% newpress and hold any word for its meaning
- Eight languagesFrench, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Finnish, Arabic, English
A page, a library, and a measure of progress
Three screens from the app, here reading in French.
Reading. A page of a 10th-century travelogue, with one word held down and its meaning shown below. 
The library. Curated books, each presented at your level, a passage at a time. 
Progress. Words known, reading level, and the week, stated plainly.
Real works, at your level
A book, one passage at a time
Long works are read in parts, in order. The first passage is a taster from inside the book; if you want more, you start it properly, and the app picks up where you left off.
The 5%, one press away
Press and hold a word you don't know to see what it means in that sentence. The words you look up come back for review at widening intervals, until you know them.
Real works, rewritten at your level
Fiction, essays, history, and travel writing, from a curated library. Each passage is rewritten to your vocabulary, then checked for accuracy to the source and for how naturally it reads.
A level that moves as you read
A short calibration at the start gives a first estimate of your vocabulary. Every text you read and every word you look up refines it, in both directions, and each new text is chosen by your interests and written to that estimate.
Close to where reading research puts comprehension
- The research
- Laufer (1989) put the threshold for reasonable comprehension at about 95% of a text's words. Hu and Nation (2000) found that reading fiction comfortably, without help, takes about 98%.
- The 95%
- Words you have already shown you know: in your calibration, in the texts you have read, and among the words you have looked up.
- The 5%
- Words that are new to you. Press and hold any of them for its meaning.
- In practice
- A text is only served when you know at least 80% of its words. Rate a text too hard or too easy and the next ones adjust.
Common questions
What is Read95?
A language-learning app built on reading. It presents real books and articles so that you already know about 95% of the words, fitted to your vocabulary, and lets you look up the rest in place. It is designed and built by Soulthread.
Which languages can I learn?
French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Finnish, Arabic, and English.
How much does it cost?
Three texts a day are free, for as long as you like, with no card needed. Reader+ is a monthly subscription for one language at a time, with up to 27 texts a day and review of the words you have looked up, and you can cancel it whenever you like.
Where can I get it?
On the App Store and Google Play, for iPhone, iPad, and Android. The links are on read95.com.
Are there streaks and points?
Goals, streaks, and review counts exist, but they stay quiet and behind a tap. There are no points, and nothing celebrates or nags.
Read something you almost understand
Read95 is on iPhone, iPad, and Android. Three texts a day are free, for as long as you like, with no card needed.
Get Read95Opens read95.com, with the links to the App Store and Google Play.
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