I cannot stand losing my reading flow in English

Poplingo started as a translation tool I built for myself. Then I thought maybe you need it too.

Once I was deep into a long English product essay, finally in the zone, when I hit a phrase I was not sure about. I copied it, switched tabs, pasted, waited for the translation, switched back. I had forgotten which paragraph I was on. It took a few seconds just to find my place again.

That happens almost every day. Docs, papers, news, product writing. Most of what I read is in English. But what I actually want is not translation. I want to stay on the line I am reading.

Plenty of translation tools already exist. I have tried many of them. They kept feeling like they were built for translation, while I was trying to read. That small difference changes everything. So I built Poplingo.

They were built for translation. I was trying to read.

Reading in English used to annoy me in very specific ways

A lot of extensions can translate fine. They just make you work around the tool first.

  1. 1

    So many features, setup feels like reading a manual

    After trying a few translation extensions, I felt like I was configuring software instead of reading. Settings go on for screens. Selection, full page, study modes, word lists, each with its own switches, and some ship with half of it turned on by default. I just wanted to understand the paragraph in front of me, not spend half an hour learning how to tame the extension.

  2. 2

    Full-page translation turns the page into a different article

    Some tools flatten headings, lists, and code blocks until the page becomes harder to read in the target language than the original was in English.

  3. 3

    A two- or three-second wait is enough to lose focus

    A loading spinner appears. You wait for the whole paragraph even though only the last few words are missing. Those seconds are enough to check your phone. Then the article is gone.

Why Poplingo

Poplingo is Pop plus Lingo. Lingo is the foreign bit that trips you up, a phrase or usage that does not quite land. Pop is how I want the help to show up: quick and light, right beside the line you are reading, then you keep going.

Easy to say, two syllables, sticks in your head. When a bit of lingo blocks you, pop it open right there.

Who is behind this

Poplingo is mostly a one-person project for now.

Portrait of LeoKu

LeoKu

Frontend developer · Creator of Poplingo

I am based in Dongguan and have spent more than a decade on frontend work, obsessed with making complex things simple to use. Before Poplingo, I built smaller products like vue-color-avatar and V2EX Polish.

I write code during the day and read a lot of English content the rest of the time. Poplingo started as a tool for my own reading habits, and I only cleaned it up to share once it felt genuinely useful. If something is still not good enough, tell me directly.

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A few things I will not compromise on

I will

  • Put translation where you are already reading
  • Make it work right after install, and stay configurable when needed
  • Say plainly when something is not good enough yet
  • Use every feature myself before deciding it stays

I will not

  • Pad the feature list just to look comprehensive
  • Interrupt your reading rhythm by default
  • Hide gaps behind marketing language
  • Build differentiation for features you will never use

If you also read a lot in English and hate being interrupted, try Poplingo.

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