Translating as you listen
You do not have to leave the transcript to find out what a word means. Tap, hold, or double-tap directly on the text, and E-clair answers without touching the audio.
Getting a translation
Tap a word
A single tap on any word opens a translation card for that word alone. The audio keeps playing and the transcript keeps scrolling underneath it — the card sits on top, not in the way.
Hold a word for the whole phrase
Press and hold instead of tapping, and the card covers the entire line the word belongs to, translated as one phrase rather than word by word. Use this when a word only makes sense with what is around it.
Double-tap to jump the audio
A double-tap is a different action entirely: it seeks playback to the start of that phrase rather than opening a card. It is the fastest way to replay a line you just heard.
What a translation card shows
- A header naming what you are looking at — word or phrase — with the timestamp and, once translated, the detected source language next to your target language.
- The original text, tappable to copy it.
- The translation itself, in its own panel, also tappable to copy — with a small globe button that opens the language switcher without leaving the card.
- On a phrase card, chevrons on either side of the header step to the previous or next line, so you can work through a passage without closing the card each time.
The dictionary entry
- Below the translation, a word card adds a Dictionary section: the lemma (the word's base form) and its part of speech, plus the specific grammatical tags of the form you tapped — for example which tense and person it was.
- A "Forms" toggle reveals the fuller conjugation or declension table, grouped by tense or mood, with person, number, and gender marked on each row.
- That table starts collapsed. E-clair remembers whichever way you leave it, so if you open it once to study the paradigm it stays open on later cards; if you only ever want the meaning, it stays out of the way.
- Phrase cards do not have a dictionary section — grammar tables only make sense anchored to one word.
Caching and offline lookups
- Both translations and dictionary entries are cached on your device the first time you look them up. A repeat lookup of the same word or phrase returns instantly, without waiting on the network — including when you are offline.
- The translation cache also remembers the target language you asked in, so it stays correct if you switch languages and back again.
Setting your translation language
- Translation language
- On the Me tab, this sets the language every translation card answers in. There are 16 to choose from: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Turkish, Dutch, Polish, and Swedish.
- Clear translation cache
- Also on the Me tab, just below the language setting — empties the cached translations on this device if you want a lookup re-fetched from scratch.
Coverage and limits
- Translation, powered by DeepL, covers whatever language you set as your target and works on anything the app can transcribe.
- The dictionary and grammar tables are a separate, smaller reference layer built for specific languages, not every language E-clair can transcribe or translate. If a word has no entry, the card simply shows the translation on its own and leaves the Dictionary section out — that is expected, not a bug.
- Translation is not metered against you while E-clair is in early access — there is currently no daily cap. It is a paid service on our side, so a fair-use limit is expected as the product matures; nothing about the free plan changes without a heads-up.
Dictionary and grammar tables are seeded per language, separately from translation. Not finding one for a word or language does not mean anything is wrong.