Introducing Podcast mode: your captured conversations, played back on a walk
A personal audio lesson built from one moment you captured, not a fixed course you'll mostly skip.
We're adding a new way to practise, and it might be our favourite yet. It takes the conversations you have already captured and turns them into something you can listen to.
Podcast mode takes one conversation you captured and turns it into a roughly 10-minute audio lesson you can do hands-free. Earbuds in, phone in your pocket, out the door. Listen and walk.
What is Podcast mode?
It's a personal audio lesson built from a single moment you spoke into Litani. Not a generic course. Each podcast is made 1:1 from one of your captures, so the lines you hear are the lines you actually need. No moment, no podcast. That constraint is the point.
If you've used your own captured phrases in the other modes, this is the same idea pointed at your ears. The conversation you had with yourself about ordering at the bakery becomes ten minutes of audio you can run on the way to work.
How do the two modes work?
There are two ways to run a podcast, and they suit different moments.
Build (Guided)
Build is hands-on. The lesson plays a line, gives you the meaning, then hands you the mic and asks you to say it back. You get real-time feedback on how you said it. This is the mode for when you can give it your attention. A quiet kitchen, a desk, a parked car.
Practice (Flow)
Practice is hands-free. It leaves gaps for you to speak into, and then the model says the line back so you can check yourself against it. You don't have to touch anything. This is the walking, commuting, dog-on-the-lead mode. You speak into the air, the voice answers, you keep moving.
Which one first
Run Build once when you have a free ten minutes, then switch to Practice for the same capture on your next walk. The recall gets easier each time, which is the whole idea.
Who is it for?
Anyone with dead time. The commute, the dog walk, the stretch of pavement between the station and the office. If you've ever thought you'd practise more if only you weren't staring at a screen, this is for you. Voice-first has always been the centre of Litani, and Podcast mode is the most literal version of that yet. If that idea is new to you, here's why we build everything around speaking rather than tapping.
How does it compare to Pimsleur?
Fair question, and we'll be straight about it. Podcast mode borrows the pedagogy that made the Pimsleur method work for decades: native voices, anticipation before you hear the answer, and recall pulled back at growing intervals so it sticks. That part is well-tested, and we didn't try to reinvent it. The spacing of recall over time is one of the most reliable findings in how memory works.
The difference is the source. Pimsleur hands you a fixed syllabus. Some of it you'll use, a lot of it you won't. Podcast mode builds the lesson from a conversation you chose to capture because it mattered to you. Same shape, your content. That's the trade we're making, and it's the same trade that runs through everything else in Litani.
What are the limits?
We'd rather you hear this from us than find it yourself.
- It's audio, by design. There's nothing to read or tap. That makes it ideal for a walk and useless for the moments you'd rather stare out of the window in silence.
- It's anchored to what you've captured. If you've only saved a couple of moments, there isn't much to build from yet. The more you capture, the better this gets.
- It's not a full course. It won't teach you grammar from scratch. It practises the language you've already brought into the app.
None of that is a dealbreaker. Used for what it is good at, turning dead time into real practice, it earns its place in your day.
How do I try it?
Capture a conversation if you haven't already. Speak a real moment for about a minute, the kind of exchange you actually expect to have. Once it's saved, open it and look for Podcast mode. Pick Build if you're sitting down, Practice if you're heading out.
Then put your earbuds in and go for a walk. Open Litani and give it a try.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the podcast content come from?
From one conversation you captured. Each podcast is built 1:1 from a single moment you spoke into Litani, so the lines are ones you actually need rather than a generic script.
What's the difference between Build and Practice?
Build (Guided) is hands-on. It plays a line and hands you the mic to say it back. Practice (Flow) is hands-free. You speak into the gaps and the model says the line back so you can check yourself.
How long is each podcast?
Roughly ten minutes. Long enough to be worth your walk, short enough to finish on a normal commute.
How is this different from Pimsleur?
Same proven shape. Native voices, anticipation, recall at growing intervals. The difference is it's built from your captured conversations instead of a fixed course you'll mostly never use.
Turn your life into practice
Capture a real moment, say it out loud, and start speaking with confidence.
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