About DictaBooth
Learn a language from any YouTube video. Read at your level, type what you hear, retell it in your own words and say it aloud, with feedback at every step. Free, with no sign-up.
Type and check in all 34. The blue ones can also be spoken and scored.
Why it exists
Many learners hit a plateau around B1–B2: they follow videos and articles, but struggle to put their own thoughts together. DictaBooth combines real YouTube audio with Krashen's comprehensible-input idea (i+1) and then asks you to produce language yourself, which is the part watching alone never trains.
One loop, five steps
- ReadStories at your level, from A1 to C2, with any word a click from its meaning.
- DictateType native audio word for word; every word is marked, so weak forms and fast endings show.
- ParaphraseSay a part in your own words. A guide map shows how it is built, and each part turns green, yellow or red.
- ShadowSpeak along and get pronunciation and intonation scored, word by word, with your pitch drawn against the speaker's.
- ReviewThe words you saved come back as short drills until you know them, then back to reading.
See each screen on How it works.
How it differs
| A fixed-library dictation or shadowing site | A flashcard app | DictaBooth | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Content | Its own clips | Prompts it writes | Any YouTube video you choose |
| Dictation | Sometimes | Rarely | Word by word, with the answer marked |
| Active production | Repeat and compare | Limited | Retell in your own words, checked part by part |
| Pronunciation | Basic | Limited | Speech scoring: sounds and intonation |
| Cost and sign-up | Often a subscription | Often a subscription | Free, no account |
A general picture of the kinds of tool, not a review of any one product.
Trust
Automatic captions go wrong on fast speech, so transcripts are corrected against the audio before you practice, and each video says where its words came from (the science). Nothing needs an account (connecting devices only shares your progress between them): your progress stays on your device (privacy).
Teachers and creators
Language teachers and YouTube creators can ask us to check a video's transcript, free. Automatic captions often go wrong on fast speech, names and technical terms; we correct them against the audio. There is no form: you write to us, we write back.
Language teachers
- Hours back. A checked transcript instead of typing one out.
- Ready for class. Text for a gap-fill, a dictation or a word list.
- Practice that follows. Students paste the same video into DictaBooth, no account needed.
YouTube creators
- Captions you can trust. A corrected transcript as SRT or VTT to upload.
- Reach learners. People studying your language can practice your video word by word.
- Your content, your say. We work from your link and do not republish the video.
- Send the link. The video, its language, the format you want (SRT, VTT or plain text) and what it is for.
- We check it. The transcript is read against the audio and corrected where it went wrong.
- You get the files. We aim to reply within two days.
We use your address and links only to answer you, and never add anyone to a mailing list.
Contact
- Questions and feedbacksupport@dictabooth.com
- Privacyprivacy@dictabooth.com