I built an app so I could read the 3 Body-Problem in Chinese
Hey HN! I’m Alex, and one of my favorite ways to learn languages is by reading novels. Currently I’m reading 三体 (3 body problem), but one problem I've always had is it takes ages to look up words, and add them to Anki flashcards so I can remember them. 三体 is especially brutal with so much sci-fi vocab. That’s why I built Readly. I snap a pic of the page I’m reading, it loads the text in-app and lets me lookup words, add to Anki-style flashcards, or ask AI questions about the text, all in a single tap. It's a huge time saver. My specific learning strategy, if anyone wants to replicate it: 1.…
I built an app so I could read the 3 Body-Problem in Chinese launched on April 22, 2025 with 29 votes, #739 of 7,818 launches that month and more than 90% of that year's launches.
In plain words
Readly is a language learning app designed for readers tackling foreign language novels. Users photograph pages they're reading, and the app extracts the text, allowing them to look up unfamiliar words, create flashcard-style notes, and ask AI questions about passages—all with a single tap. The tool targets language learners using novel-reading as their learning method, significantly reducing the time spent switching between reading and studying materials like Anki flashcards.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hey HN! I’m Alex, and one of my favorite ways to learn languages is by reading novels. Currently I’m reading 三体 (3 body problem), but one problem I've always had is it takes ages to look up words, and add them to Anki flashcards so I can remember them. 三体 is especially brutal with so much sci-fi vocab. That’s why I…
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