Lantern is a mobile companion for anyone building a life in a second language. Type in the words you actually see—a sign, a text, something someone said—and get a clear, structured explanation. No lessons, no streaks. Just the meaning, when you need it.
Type in the words you actually see. No lessons, no streaks. Just the meaning, when you need it.
Free while in beta · Built by learners in Germany · No spam
Most apps hand you a curriculum and hope your life fits it. Lantern works the other way around: your life sets the syllabus. The word on the train platform, the phrase in the group chat, the reply at the bakery counter—that’s what you learn, because that’s what you met.
“Expresses regret—something you now think you should have done.”
“Great job! 🎉 Ready for today’s lesson on the subjunctive mood?!”
Every explanation leads with the natural English meaning, then the grammar that actually matters, in plain language—with the register so you know how it lands.
Start from what you mean in English and get real phrasings in your target language—each tagged formal, neutral, or colloquial, so you can match the moment instead of guessing.
Save any word or phrase straight from an explanation. Lantern turns it into spaced-repetition review—both directions, no decks to build, no pile-ups when you skip a day.
For anything that refuses to stick, Lantern builds you one vivid—often faintly ridiculous—mental image that ties the word to its meaning. You don’t memorise it. You just remember the picture, and the word comes with it.
Der nouns live in a castle, die nouns in a garden, das nouns in a lab. Gender stops being an arbitrary label and becomes somewhere you’ve been—so recall comes from place, not from a table.
A widget keeps the word that’s due right where you look forty times a day. Micro-reviews in the queue, in the lift, waiting for the kettle—no app to open, no session to start.
Lantern is a mobile companion for anyone building a life in a second language. Type in the words you actually see—a sign, a text, something someone said—and get a clear, structured explanation. No lessons, no streaks. Just the meaning, when you need it.
Type in the words you actually see. No lessons, no streaks. Just the meaning, when you need it.
Free while in beta · Built by learners in Germany · No spam
Most apps hand you a curriculum and hope your life fits it. Lantern works the other way around: your life sets the syllabus. The word on the train platform, the phrase in the group chat, the reply at the bakery counter—that’s what you learn, because that’s what you met.
“Expresses regret—something you now think you should have done.”
“Great job! 🎉 Ready for today’s lesson on the subjunctive mood?!”
Every explanation leads with the natural English meaning, then the grammar that actually matters, in plain language—with the register so you know how it lands.
Start from what you mean in English and get real phrasings in your target language—each tagged formal, neutral, or colloquial, so you can match the moment instead of guessing.
Save any word or phrase straight from an explanation. Lantern turns it into spaced-repetition review—both directions, no decks to build, no pile-ups when you skip a day.
For anything that refuses to stick, Lantern builds you one vivid—often faintly ridiculous—mental image that ties the word to its meaning. You don’t memorise it. You just remember the picture, and the word comes with it.
Der nouns live in a castle, die nouns in a garden, das nouns in a lab. Gender stops being an arbitrary label and becomes somewhere you’ve been—so recall comes from place, not from a table.
A widget keeps the word that’s due right where you look forty times a day. Micro-reviews in the queue, in the lift, waiting for the kettle—no app to open, no session to start.
“I moved to the Allgäu with holiday German and a school-level grade I’d rather forget. I could order a coffee—but breaking past that, as an adult, felt impossible. Lantern is the app I needed: it explains the language you actually meet, dialect and all.”
Lantern is in private beta. Leave your email and we’ll invite you as spots open — no course to sign up for, nothing to keep up with.