Guide

How to start with Airlingo, install the Chrome extension, use Deep Read, and understand credits.

Who Airlingo is for

Airlingo is for second-language readers who already want to read real pages in the source language: articles, research notes, product docs, essays, and screenshots with text. It is not designed as a full-page translation replacement.

The extension helps when comprehension breaks. It can simplify a difficult source-language phrase, pick the right dictionary sense, link mentioned people, places, and organizations, translate a sentence with word matching, speak the active sentence, and read text from images.

Getting started

1. Sign up for an Airlingo account.
2. Check your dashboard for access. If a Bonus Credit campaign was active and your grant passes its eligibility and capacity checks, Airlingo grants it automatically after signup. Otherwise, subscribe or add credits.
3. Install the Chrome extension and sign in with the same account.
4. Open a page in a supported language pair.
5. Hover, click the Airlingo mark, or use Deep Read controls when you need help.

After installation, Airlingo stays available in the browser and serves the page you are already reading. The original page remains the primary reading surface.

Deep Read behavior

Deep Read has active and standby states. In active mode, hover can open the preview card immediately. In standby mode, Airlingo stays quiet until you use the mark, hold gesture, context menu, or extension popup to activate it.

The preview card follows the active sentence rather than replacing the page. The tab content changes based on the reading problem: simplification, translation, sentence speech, knowledge linking, or settings.

Reading features

Lexical simplification

Simplification replaces a difficult source-language word or phrase with an easier source-language substitute. It keeps you reading in the target language instead of turning every sentence into a translation task.

Context dictionary

The dictionary feature selects the sense that fits the sentence. This avoids the traditional dictionary problem where several meanings are shown and the reader still has to guess.

Knowledge linking

Entity linking recognizes people, places, organizations, and other knowledge references. When a named entity matters to the story, Airlingo can surface the relevant page-level context.

Context translation

Translation is available when simplification is not enough. Airlingo translates the active sentence and highlights aligned source and target tokens so the original sentence and native-language meaning stay connected.

Sentence speech

Sentence speech plays the active sentence and follows the token timing. It helps you hear the sentence rhythm while keeping your attention on the source text.

Image text reading

OCR reads selectable text from images and screenshots so Airlingo can assist text that is visible on the page but not directly selectable. PDF reading is not currently supported.

Read modes

Airlingo exposes Standard, Fast, and Pro modes instead of asking users to choose individual model names.

• Standard: balanced everyday reading.
• Fast: low-latency help when speed matters.
• Pro: highest context fidelity for more demanding reading.

Airlingo handles model routing behind the mode. Credits are required because the best reading routes depend on paid compute and model calls.

Credits and access

Credits are used when Airlingo runs AI-backed reading work such as translation, simplification, dictionary sense selection, knowledge linking, sentence speech, and OCR. This keeps the extension sustainable while allowing heavier readers to use more capability.

The homepage calls the $0 introductory option Free Trial because that is the familiar user journey, but its billing mechanism is a limited Bonus Credit grant rather than a subscription trial. It does not automatically convert to a paid plan. Eligibility and remaining campaign capacity are checked again when the grant is issued, so displaying the offer does not reserve a grant. No payment card or recurring charge is created by receiving Bonus Credit. The applicable Service Credit Terms remain available on the signup and extension notices and in the site footer.

Airlingo uses active Bonus Credit before included or purchased credit. Bonus Credit can expire; your dashboard and extension show the current balance and access state. Paid Pro always takes precedence over Bonus access and is never downgraded by a later promotional grant.

If a cached result is available for the same sentence, mode, and language context, the extension can reuse it instead of sending a new request.

Support

For support, billing, privacy, or product questions, email support@airlingo.ai.