saved words: a vocab notes app that turns into lessons
Save words from anywhere, add up to six translations, filter them, and turn up to 20 of them into a chapter.
Almost everyone learning a language has a note somewhere. “Spanish words”, last edited three months ago, 47 entries, never looked at again.
LingFit’s “Saved Words” is basically that same note. Except it actually does something with the words. Here’s how to set it up so it’s worth it.
what saved words is
Its own tab in the nav bar. Your personal vocab shelf. Room for 2,000 words per person. The list is stored on the device, so it works offline too.
step 1: collect words
There are three ways to get words onto the list.
From the app itself. Anywhere a foreign word appears, you can open it. In lessons by long-pressing, in articles, grammar classes and video subtitles by tapping. The window that pops up has a bookmark. One tap and the word is saved.
By hand. The plus button lets you add any word you like, with up to six translations. Handy for words you’ve heard out in the real world.
From other apps. Highlight text in your browser, an e-book or a chat and choose “Share → LingFit”. On Android that’s via the share menu and the text selection menu, on iOS via a share extension. LingFit asks for the language and translation and files the word away.
step 2: tidy up without noticing
One detail that keeps the list in order: it saves the base form. If you save “gehst”, it stores “gehen”. If you save “Häuser”, it stores “das Haus”, with the article. So you don’t end up with five versions of the same verb.
Then there are favourites. A star marks the words that really matter, and you can filter between “All” and “Favourites”.
Rule of thumb, if you want one: a favourite is anything you actually want to use this week. The rest can just sit there.
step 3: practise
Right on the shelf you can run the words as flashcards. Swipe, know it, don’t know it. Missed cards come back.
For words where one translation isn’t enough, there’s the AI explanation. You can also pull it up from the list later. It explains what the word means, how to use it and what to watch out for.
step 4: turn it into a chapter
This is the real reason for the tab. You pick up to 20 saved words and LingFit builds a full chapter of exercises from them. With the same formats as the course: listening, sentence building, fill-in-the-blank, speaking.
So a note becomes a lesson. Words you picked up in a video, an article and a group chat end up side by side in one chapter.
why it’s lowkey good
Because it picks up a habit you already have. Lots of people write words down. Very few come back to them. Here the gap between the two is just a few taps.
And because the list stays tidy. Base forms, favourites, available offline. It’s unspectacular, but that’s exactly what most notes apps are missing.
the catch
Saved words are also one of the ways to build your own pack. And packs cost a credit. Every new account gets one free, after that credits are bought on top of the subscription. They don’t expire, but they do cost. Best to check in the app first whether your chapter uses a credit.
So if you want to be careful with them, practise with the cards on the shelf first and only turn the 20 words that really matter into a chapter.
2,000 words sounds like a lot. It is. But save everything indiscriminately and you’ll soon have a shelf as dusty as the old note. Less is more here.
And LingFit is a subscription service. There’s a 7-day trial on the annual plan, no permanent free version.
who it’s for
For anyone who likes collecting but rarely revisits. For people who read a lot in their target language. For anyone whose screenshots folder is full of half-understood sentences.
The app is at lingfit.app.
a note that writes back.