AI Shadowing

Turn any YouTube video into a language shadowing lesson

63 followers

Turn any YouTube video into a language shadowing lesson

63 followers

Shadow any YouTube video without scrubbing the progress bar or switching to a dictionary. Click any sentence to loop, click any word for AI grammar explanation. Free, no signup, browser + Android. Built by a self-taught German learner (A0→A2 in 3-4 months).

Free

Launch tags:Languages

Launch Team / Built With

Viktor.comAn AI coworker that actually does the work

Promoted

AI Shadowing

Maker

📌

Hey Product Hunt 👋 I'm Zero, the maker. AI Shadowing is the tool I built for myself — a way to use YouTube for language learning without the friction that nearly made me quit twice. Quick context: I went from German A0 to A2 in about 3-4 months by shadowing native YouTube videos, 30-45 min a day. The technique works — I got to where I could follow casual dinner chitchat with my friend's parents (not the jokes or fast bits, but enough to nod along and ask follow-ups). But the *process* was brutal: 1. To replay one sentence: drag YouTube scrubber → overshoot → drag again → wait for buffer. Rhythm dies every time. 2. Unknown word? Switch to dictionary app, come back, scrub to where you were. Five seconds of friction every minute, for an hour straight. 3. YouTube's own captions are built for reading along, not practicing — auto-generated on most videos, no punctuation, split mid-sentence every ~3 seconds, no way to loop, no inline lookup. AI Shadowing fixes all three: 🎯 Paste any YouTube URL → sentence-by-sentence transcript with proper punctuation (AI cleans up the raw captions) 🔁 Click any sentence to loop it instantly — no scrubbing 📖 Click any word for an instant AI grammar explanation that actually answers the follow-up questions I'd save for my teacher ⏱️ Configurable pause between sentences for shadowing practice 📁 Also: upload your own audio (MP3 / MP4 / ZIP), same shadowing UI, syncs across browser + phone Some honest scope so you don't have to ask: - Not for absolute beginners (A0). Start with a textbook + basic vocab first; shadowing is the next layer. - Won't replace conversation practice. This is the missing piece for the lonely middle of self-study, not a full program. - I personally use the **Android version** way more — phone in pocket means I practice on the bus, walking, waiting in line. It's not on Play Store yet (web is what's live). If today's launch shows interest, I'll push the Android build through. Tech (since this crowd cares): Flutter (Web + Android), Gemini for caption cleanup + the click-to-explain feature, Google Cloud TTS for pronunciation. Built solo over ~3 months, evenings + weekends. Free, no signup. 11 languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified + Traditional Chinese. Monetization: nothing yet. Server-side AI + TTS isn't free, so likely freemium later — but I want to see what people actually use first. Would love brutal feedback, specifically: - What language are you learning, and is the workflow missing something for that language? - Which feature is the "I'd come back for this" hook, and which feels like noise? - What would make you switch from whatever you currently use (or what stops you from shadowing at all)? Thanks for taking a look 🙏

Report

3mo ago

Alconost Localization Lab

Oh, I recall using a chrome extension with a similar idea (years ago) - but just for texts, not for video. I love using videos for learning languages too! Thanks for this tool!

Report

3mo ago

AI Shadowing

Maker

@margarita_s88 Thanks so much! This is genuinely encouraging — I use the Android version myself daily (so I can learn whenever I have time), but I'd been hesitant to make it public because I had no real way of knowing whether it would be useful to anyone else. Hearing this means a lot to me!

Report

3mo ago

no signup, free, works in browser. the tool respects that someone trying to learn a language at A0 level doesn't need another account to manage. that friction point kills a lot of language tools before the user even sees what they built

Report

3mo ago

Alconost Localization Lab

Also, respect for reaching A2 in three months, great result!

Report

3mo ago

AI Shadowing

Maker

@margarita_s88 Many thanks! Yes, still took a huge amount of effort, even with all

the modern tech and materials we have today.

Report

3mo ago

Reviews