Shadowing Language Practice vs English Intensive Reading

Shadowing is a focused, no-frills audio player for language-shadowing practice — the technique of listening to native speech and repeating it out loud to build pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation. The app is built around three things: • Use your own MP3s. Drop a folder of audio into iCloud Drive on your computer; the app reads it directly on your iPhone. No uploads, no accounts, no servers. • Practice at your pace. Choose playback speeds from 0.5× to 2.0×. Loop a track or a whole playlist. Skip back 15 seconds with one tap. • Stay focused. The app does one thing — play audio for shadowing — without distractions. No ads, no analytics, no social features. WHAT'S INCLUDED • Bundled sample audio in three languages (English, Spanish, French) so you can try the app immediately without setup. All public-domain recordings from LibriVox. • Playlists you can reorder, rename, and add to with a swipe. • Resume playback exactly where you left off, on every track. • Background audio with full lock-screen and Control Center support. • Two home-screen widgets: a 4-tile recent-playlists view and a small one-tap favorite-playlist tile. PRIVACY The app does not collect, track, or transmit any user data. All playlists, preferences, and playback state are stored on your device. Audio content from your folders stays in your iCloud Drive — the app never uploads it. See the privacy policy at: https://yudataguy.github.io/shadowing-app/privacy-policy WHO IT'S FOR Language learners practicing shadowing. Anyone who wants a clean, fast way to play a focused set of MP3s — podcasts, audiobook excerpts, pronunciation drills, dialogue clips — without an algorithmic library shoving content at them.

Don't let a sentence's meaning stay a guess. Paste in the English you want to read, and on-device AI analyzes its structure — subject, verb, object, modifiers, and clause connections — then prepares a translation, pronunciation practice, a vocabulary list, and a comprehension check. Unlike a translation app that just hands you a Japanese sentence, this app helps you understand why it means what it means, from grammatical structure. Close reading is one of the most effective ways to learn a language, but it's painstaking work, normally spread across separate apps for parsing, translation, pronunciation, and vocabulary. This app brings reading, vocabulary, pronunciation, listening, and output into one flow. ■ Everything close reading requires, in one app - Syntax parsing: visualize a sentence's subject, verb, object, modifiers, and clause relationships - Sentence simplification: break complex sentences into simpler ones, grouped by meaning - Sentence-by-sentence translation: an accurate Japanese translation for each sentence - Read-aloud: take in the sentence by ear, in a native voice - Shadowing and pronunciation practice: record yourself viewing each word's IPA, then compare with the target IPA - Vocabulary list: save unfamiliar words with one tap, linked to the Apple Dictionary - Comprehension check via conversation: talk with AI about what you read, confirming you truly understood it *Sentence simplification and the comprehension-check conversation require an Apple Intelligence-compatible device. ■ Built to stop "I sort of got it" from being good enough Translation is tied directly to the syntax analysis, not a loose whole-sentence rendering, so you see exactly which Japanese corresponds to which English at a glance. Afterward, explain what you learned in your own words to AI, instead of just feeling like you understood it. ■ Pronunciation coaching that doesn't rely on your ear alone Each word shows its IPA transcription from a custom pronunciation dictionary built on the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Tap a word for a model pronunciation, then record your voice and compare it with the target IPA to pinpoint which sounds differ. ■ Multiple on-device AIs, each doing what it does best Syntax parsing uses a custom-trained Core ML model, translation uses Apple's Translation framework, and simplification and comprehension-check conversations use Apple Intelligence on compatible devices. These AIs work together to turn one sentence into structure, meaning, sound, and dialogue — all locally, so you can learn offline. Your text and recordings never reach a server, and there's no account or AI service to sign up for. ■ Turn anything you want to read into your own study material Textbooks, news, novels, work documents — turn any English text into close-reading material. Paste text, or import TXT, Markdown, HTML, EPUB, PDF, and web pages. On iPhone/iPad, scan documents with your camera. Imports are saved for you to revisit anytime. ■ Seamless across Mac, iPad, and iPhone Pick up right where you left off on another device — progress syncs via iCloud. Layout and dark mode suit long study sessions. ■ Who it's for - Readers of novels or foreign news who want accuracy, dictionary in hand - Students preparing for entrance exams or TOEIC needing precise sentence analysis - Professionals and researchers who read English papers or documents - Anyone building reading skills for studying or working abroad - Anyone practicing pronunciation and shadowing at their own pace, without sending study data anywhere ■ Free, and enough for everyday high-school-level study Core features are free — reading textbooks aloud, shadowing, and comprehension for quizzes and exams are fully covered. A one-time "Pro" purchase only adds room for more imports, recent texts, saved passages, saved words, or conversation history. No subscription — ever. Start close reading with the sentence you want to understand today.