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Learn a language by reading
Short stories in nine languages, a meaning for every word one tap away, and no streak counting your days. Just reading, at your speed.
Try the thing itself. This is the first Spanish story, live — tap any word and see what happens. Every language below starts exactly the same way.
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That was your first article — read free.
Sign in free to keep going: tap any word in any story, save the words you meet, and pick them up again next time.
Marginota is built on a simple observation: people learn languages by reading them. Not by drilling flashcards of words they have never met in the wild, but by following a story — guessing from context, checking a word here and there, and discovering at the end of a page that they understood more than they expected to.
So the app is a small, quiet reading room. Every language starts with a tiny story written for a first-time reader, then short graded stories that grow gently longer, then longer reading when you are ready for it — including, for German, a hand-picked path toward real books. Wherever you are reading, every word can be tapped for its meaning in that sentence. The words you look up are remembered, and they come back later so they can settle in.
There is no streak to keep and no league table to fall down. Open it when you want to read; close it when you are done. The story will be where you left it.
Read first
You start with a real little story, not a placement test or a settings tour. The first story in every language is free and needs no account — the fastest way to know whether this suits you is to read a page of it.
Tap any word
Stuck is not a dead end here. Tap a word and its meaning appears, in the context of the sentence you are reading. No dictionary tab, no losing your place, no homework feeling.
Words come back
Words you have looked up are kept, and they resurface later — in review, and in later reading — spaced out the way memory likes. Signing up is free; that is what makes the remembering follow you between devices.
Your speed, honestly
Some days you will read three stories; some weeks, none. Marginota does not mind, and it will not guilt you about it. Progress here is pages you enjoyed, not days you obeyed.
Pick a language, start a story
Eight languages have a full starter shelf — a guided first story and a shelf of graded stories after it. (Dutch is in the app too, with a smaller shelf for now.) Pick the one you have always meant to read.
- Learn Spanish by reading · 10 stories · starts with El tren de la mañana
- Learn French by reading · 10 stories · starts with Le chat et la chaise
- Learn German by reading · 9 stories · starts with Die Katze und der Stuhl
- Learn Italian by reading · 9 stories · starts with Il gatto e la sedia
- Learn Portuguese by reading · 9 stories · starts with O gato e a cadeira
- Learn Mandarin Chinese by reading · 9 stories · starts with 猫和椅子
- Learn Korean by reading · 9 stories · starts with 고양이와 의자
- Learn Arabic by reading · 9 stories · starts with القطة والكرسي
Bring your own reading
Once the starter stories feel small, the reading does not have to stop at our shelf. Signed in, you can import articles and pages of your own — a news story, an essay, a blog post in the language you are learning — and read them with the same tap-for-meaning help. Your interests set the syllabus; Marginota just keeps the words.
Questions, answered plainly
Is Marginota free?
Yes. The first story in every language is free with no account at all, and signing up is free too — that is what saves your words and your place. There is no paywall on the starter shelves.
Do I need an account to start reading?
No. Open any language above and read its first story right away, tapping words as you go. An account only matters when you want your looked-up words and your place kept between visits and devices.
I am a complete beginner. Is this for me?
That is who the first stories are written for. Each language opens with a tiny guided story whose words are introduced gently, and the graded stories after it grow slowly. If you can read this page, you can read the first story.
I already know some of the language. Where do I start?
Anywhere on the shelf — the stories are listed with their levels, and nothing forces you through the beginner ones. Or import something of your own and start there.
Can I read my own articles?
Yes. Once you are signed in, you can bring in articles and pages in your language and read them with the same tap-any-word help as the built-in stories.
Which languages can I learn?
Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean and Arabic have full starter shelves, and Dutch is in the app with a smaller shelf. Each language page above lists its stories.