Vote
Two buttons on every picture: helps me remember, or doesn't. One vote per picture, change it any time.
Vote with the eventual winner and your reputation rises. Your next vote weighs more.
Spanish, one picture per word
Spanish that sticks because it sounds like something you already know.
Casa is a house that is a casserole. Perro is a dog rowing a boat carved from a pear. Every word gets a picture of its English sound-alike, drawn and voted on by the people learning it. Free, and it stays free.
The app is free. The word list is free. The pictures are the community's. Paid plans only pay for pictures drawn to order.
casacasserole
house · the picture hooks the sound, not the meaning
feminine, so the ground is coral
perropear oar
dog · a dog rowing a boat carved from a pear
masculine, so the ground is teal
gatogateau
cat · a cat on a cake
masculine, so the ground is teal
azoteazoo tea
rooftop · a zoo having tea on the roof
feminine, so the ground is coral
How a word sticks
Hear the Spanish. Catch the English hiding inside it. Let the picture glue them.
The trick is old and it works: a strange, vivid image is easier to keep than a bare word. We just make the image for you, and we make it about the sound.
Say the word out loud
Cerradura, the lock. Seh-rrah-DOO-rah. Somewhere in there is English.
Find the sound-alike
"Cereal door." Not the meaning, the sound. A member suggested it; the community voted it the best fit.
See the picture
A door made of a cereal box, padlocked shut. Next time you hear cerradura, the door is already there.
cerraduracereal door
lock
taladrotally drawer
drillazoteazoo tea
rooftopThe ground colour is doing a job too: coral means the word is feminine, teal means masculine. You learn the gender without ever being asked to memorise it. And no picture ever contains writing, so the word has to come from you.
Free, and built by the people using it
Nothing you learn from is behind a paywall.
The app costs nothing. Every word in the list is there for everyone. The pictures are drawn by members and chosen by vote, then they belong to everyone too.
The app is free
Sign in, learn the whole list, keep your own progress. No trial, no clock. Spoken sentences are being added word by word.
The pictures are the community's
Members on a plan submit them. Everyone votes. The winner ships to every phone. Your vote decides what the next learner sees.
Paid plans pay for drawing
Plus and Studio exist for people who want pictures drawn to order for their own words. That costs real money per picture, so those plans cover it. What each plan includes.
No black boxes
How votes are weighed, how reputation moves, when a word settles, how a penalty lifts: every rule is written down here, with the numbers. Read them.
Help out
Five ways to make the next word better, none of them a job.
The community runs on people being right, not on people being busy. Every one of these earns standing when it turns out well, and none of them earn anything for volume.
Submit a picture
On a plan, type a sound-alike and let the house draw it in the app's style, or upload your own. It's checked, then released for voting.
A picture chosen for the app is a badge on your name, permanently.
Suggest a word
Missing a word you needed this week? Propose it. Words start as candidates and earn their place.
Accepted words carry your handle in the history.
Comment
Say why a picture works or doesn't. Helpful comments float up; the picture's author sees them.
Helpful votes on your comments count toward your standing.
Report
Something that shouldn't be there? Report it with a reason. It goes back behind the gate until a person or the rules decide.
A report that stands up pays a picture credit. One that doesn't, costs.
Other languages
Spanish first. The method doesn't care which language.
Every language gets its own community, its own word list and its own pictures. The voting, the reputation and the safety rules are the same everywhere. When Spanish is running well, the next one opens.
Spanish, open nowPortugueseFrenchTagalogItalianGerman…yours?
Want to start one for your language? Say so in the community and tell us how many words you'd bring.
Guides
Everything, explained properly.
Long enough to answer the question you actually have. Every number in them is the number the site runs on.
The appHow learning worksSound-alikes, the gender colours, three pictures per word, and why you set your own review dates.
ContributingSubmitting a pictureUpload or generate, the house rules, the safety check, what happens after you press the button.
The communityHow voting worksWhat one vote weighs, when a word settles, and how a winner reaches the app.
The communityReputation, credits and badgesWhat moves your standing, what pays a picture credit, what is deliberately not rewarded.
The rulesReports, penalties and how they liftEvery penalty has a way back the system checks on its own. What still needs a person.
MoneyWhat's free, and what the plans are forFree, Plus and Studio, and why the paid tiers exist at all.
ContributingSuggesting words and topicsHow the word list grows, and what makes a good sound-alike.
QuestionsQuestions people askShort answers, with links to the long ones.