New in Spelly: a second voice, and where to start

Two things landed in Spelly today, and both are for the same family: the one where a kid is spelling in a language that isn't yet their strongest one. Second Voice adds a button that speaks any word in a second language. Everyday Words adds a ready-made starting point — the vocabulary you'd actually want first.

Hear it in a second language, too

Spelly already let you practice in one language while reading definitions in another — a Spanish word list, explained in English, is a setup a lot of bilingual families already use. Second Voice adds one more layer: a button that speaks the word itself in a second language, right on the result screen.

After any answer — right, wrong, or skipped — a small button sits next to the existing "Hear it" control. Tap it, and the word plays translated into whichever language you've chosen. It's off by default: nothing changes for anyone unless they turn it on.

Turning it on takes one trip through the same Languages popup that already holds practice and definition language: open it, tap Second voice, and pick from the same set of languages Spelly already speaks. Pick a different one any time — there's an Off option right at the top if it's not for you.

A place to actually start

The second change is smaller but was missing for a specific kind of family: someone genuinely learning a new language, not just practicing their own. Spelly's curated lists have always leaned toward classroom topics — animals, space, sight words — which is exactly right for a kid doing homework, and not quite right for someone building their first vocabulary in a language they're new to.

Everyday Words is four short lists built for that: Getting By (hello, please, thank you, help), Eating (food, water, more, the bill), Getting Around (left, right, here, the airport), and Numbers and Money. Twenty words each — enough to make real progress without the list dragging on.

They're grouped under one "First Words" folder on the home screen, and where that folder sits depends on who's using it. Actually learning a new language — practice and definition language set to different things — and it leads, right above your own lists. Practicing your own language like everyone else, and it quietly sits below them instead, out of the way of a kid who's just there to do homework.

Why these two together

Neither feature is really about vocabulary drills. Both are about the same underlying audience: households where more than one language is already in play, or where someone in the family is deliberately picking up a new one. A word list that speaks two languages and starts with the words you'd actually reach for first — that's the same idea, shipped as two small features instead of one big one.

Both are live now, no update to install — just open Spelly.