The basics
What is this site?
A vocabulary quiz you use in the browser. You pick two languages, a level and an exercise; the Site asks a word in one language and you answer in the other — by choosing from a list, by typing it, or, on a flashcard, by saying whether you knew it. It works in both directions, and it can read the words aloud.
Is it free? Do I have to sign up?
It is free at present, and there is nothing to sign up for: no account, no name, no email address, no password and no payment. That describes the Site as it is run today — by one person, as a personal project, with no advertising and no income from it. It is not a promise about the future: the terms allow the service to be changed, suspended or discontinued at any time, and nothing here undertakes that it will always be free. See clause 2 of the terms and clause 11 of the terms.
Which languages can I practise?
Seventy-three, and you may pair any two of them in either direction. English does not have to be one of them: French with Spanish, or Arabic with Hebrew, works in exactly the same way.
What do Level 1, 2, 3 and Mix mean?
Only a way of sorting the words for practice — everyday words first, less common ones later — and Mix draws on all of them. The sorting was done by AI, not by a person. They are not a test of your level, they do not line up with the Common European Framework or any other scale, and a score here is not a qualification you can show anyone. See clause 2b of the disclaimer. The quick vocabulary check on the home screen suggests one of them to start at; the next answer says what that suggestion is worth.
What does the quick vocabulary check tell me?
Which of the three levels might be a sensible place to start practising, and nothing more. It asks twenty-one multiple-choice questions — seven from each level, easiest first, with no clock and an "I don't know" button that counts as wrong — and then shows how many you knew at each level and suggests a level; one button sets that level and starts an ordinary round, and you can change the level on the Customize screen whenever you like. It looks at single written words only: no grammar, reading, writing, listening or speaking. The words were sorted into levels and translated by AI and nobody has reviewed them, twenty-one words are few, and a lucky guess moves the result, so it can differ from one try to the next. It is given free and without any commitment: it is not a test of how well you know a language, it does not line up with the Common European Framework or any other scale, nobody promises that it is right, and it is not something you can show a school, an employer or anyone else. Your answers and the result stay in the page's memory: they are not saved and not sent. If you would rather not see the band that opens it, the Customize screen can switch it off. See clause 2c of the disclaimer, clause 8 of the terms of use and clause 3a of the privacy policy.
What is the daily quiz?
On some days the operator offers a quiz of up to fifty words, chosen from the Site's own word list for that date, behind a "Today's quiz" button on the home screen. Each word comes with four answers and no clock, and "I don't know" counts as wrong; at the end you see your score and every word with its answer. The quiz follows the date on your own device, so it changes at midnight where you are, wherever you are, and a quiz you started before midnight can still be finished. To fetch it, the app sends the date shown by your device's clock and your pair of languages — not the time and not your time zone — and the Site answers only for a date that is already today somewhere in the world. Your answers and your score stay in the page's memory: they are not saved and not sent, and nothing about the quiz is kept on your device; the anonymous count learns only that a page load answered the quiz and that it reached the result. Its button is one of the home screen's buttons, so on a device that has not yet agreed to the terms of use, pressing it is the agreement. The quiz is given free and without any commitment — on some days there may be none — and its score is not a test, a grade or evidence of a level. See clause 2 of the terms of use, clause 2d of the disclaimer and clause 3a of the privacy policy.
Why did a message pop up on the site?
Now and then the operator publishes a short message for everyone — news about the Site, a change, or a planned break — and the app shows it once, in a window over the home screen, never over a question or a game. A page that is already open on the home screen hears of it within seconds; anyone who opens the Site afterwards sees it straight away, until the operator deletes it. It is the operator's own text, in plain words without links, and it appears in the language it was written in, without translation. It is information given free and without any commitment: it is not advice or a promise, and it does not change the terms of use — a change to them is made only on the page of legal documents. A message never asks for a password, a payment or personal details. The operator may choose its colour, a larger or bold text, and a number of seconds after which it closes by itself; the window then shows the time left, "Keep open" stops the countdown, and resting the mouse pointer on the window pauses it. Closing it, or its closing by itself, is not agreeing to the terms of use, and nothing about reading or closing it is sent or counted; your device keeps only the code of the message you closed, so that you do not see the same one twice. To learn of a new message, a page left open on the home screen asks the Site every few seconds, sending nothing about you. See clause 2 of the terms of use, clause 2e of the disclaimer and clause 3a of the privacy policy.
How are the points worked out?
A correct answer earns 10, 20 or 30 points according to the level of the word, and half as much again if you typed it rather than picked it from a list. Pressing the hint halves what that one question earns, however many times you press it. A wrong answer takes off 5, whatever the level. "I don't know" and the clock running out take off nothing — admitting a word is not known yet should never cost more than guessing at it. A round can end below zero, but your running total for a pair never falls below it. The points are counted in this browser, are kept for each level of each pair of languages, and are deleted together with the statistics.
What does "days in a row" on the results screen mean?
How many days in a row, ending today, you finished at least one round on this device. It appears only when saving on this device is switched on, and it is counted in your browser from the round history already kept there — nothing more is stored for it and it is sent nowhere. Another device or browser, a changed date on the device, or deleting the statistics changes or ends it. It is an encouragement, not a record or an assessment, and it is offered without any commitment. See clause 2 of the terms and clause 2 of the privacy policy.
Does it work offline?
No. A connection is needed each time, because the words of every round are fetched from the Site as you practise.
What does "Install app on this device" do?
It asks your browser to add an icon for this same Site to your home screen or app launcher. It is a shortcut — not an app-store app and not an offline copy — and the Site works just as well in an ordinary tab. On iPhone and iPad that icon can have a storage area of its own, separate from the browser tab, so progress saved in one may not appear in the other. After a round with at least seven answers in ten right, the results screen may offer the same install once per visit; before it does, the page asks your browser whether the Site is already installed, and nothing is sent to the Site. A press of that offer is not counted. See clause 2 of the terms and clause 2a of the privacy policy.
Practising
How do I answer a question?
Multiple choice offers between two and five answers to press. "Type the answer" asks you to write the word yourself; what you type is checked on your device and is not sent anywhere. Flashcards show you a word and ask only whether you knew it — press "I knew it" or swipe the card right, press "Show me" or swipe it left when you did not — and the translation appears either way before the next card. Nobody but you marks a flashcard, so one is worth half the points of an answer the app checked, and saying you did not know a word costs nothing.
My answer looks right, but it was marked wrong. Why?
Spacing, hyphens and apostrophes are forgiven, and so is a missing accent where nothing depends on it. What is not forgiven is a mark that tells two different words apart — in Portuguese avô (grandfather) and avó (grandmother) are separate words, so answering one when the other was asked is counted wrong. The other possibility is that the entry itself is at fault: the translation was generated by AI and no person has checked it, so if you believe the word is simply wrong, please report it.
Can I change how a round works?
Yes, on the Customize screen: which way round the words are asked, whether you choose, type or turn a flashcard, how many words a round holds, how many answers each question offers, how quickly the next word arrives, an optional time limit, the speech speed, and a voice for each of the two languages.
What are Favourites and the words-to-improve list?
Favourites (★) is the list you add words to yourself. Words to improve (🎯) collects the ones you get wrong, so that you can practise those alone. Both are kept on your device, and both need saving to be switched on; collecting words to improve starts switched off.
Can I add my own words?
Yes, on "My words" — up to 300 words across all the pairs together, 60 characters in each field. They stay in your browser, are not sent to the operator, are seen by nobody else and form no part of the Site's word list. Because they exist only on your device, use "Download my words as a text file" to keep a copy. They are asked in one place only: the "Practise them" button on that page. When such a round offers multiple-choice answers, the app asks the word service for a few ordinary words at the same level to use as wrong answers; that request carries nothing of your own words, neither their text nor their identifiers. They do not join the level rounds or the mix, they cannot be starred, they never join the words to improve or the hardest words, and they are not counted in your statistics or your points — a round of them scores while you play it and leaves nothing behind. Nobody else is affected either way: no other player's quizzes, lists or statistics change. See clause 3 of the terms.
What is Advanced Learning?
A screen that reads a round of words aloud instead of asking questions: each word in the language you are practising and then in the language you practise it against. Nothing is spoken until you press Play — and that one press hands the whole round to the speech engine, every word in both languages, repeated as many times as the screen's repeat setting asks; in some browsers that text is sent to the browser's maker to be read aloud, as privacy clause 3 explains. You can pause or leave at any time, and no round played this way is recorded as a game or changes a statistic.
Why does the pronunciation sound wrong, or not play at all?
The Site does not produce the sound: it asks your browser or your device to read the word out, so the accent and the quality depend on the voices installed there, and nothing is heard where none are present. In some browsers the text of the word is sent to the maker of the browser to be read aloud — see privacy clause 3. Treat what you hear as an illustration, and check it elsewhere if it matters.
A word I had practised has gone from my lists. Why?
The word list is updated from time to time, and the operator may also pause a word, withdraw it or move it to another level. While a word is not served it is not asked and does not appear on Favourites, Words to improve or the hardest words. Its statistics, its star and its place on the words-to-improve list are kept against the word on your device and are not deleted: they come back with the word if it is served again. Points are kept per level and per pair of languages rather than against a word, so a word leaving the list takes none of them with it. The words you added yourself are never affected. See clause 2 of the terms.
Your data
What do you know about me?
No name and no account — there is no registration, the app asks for no name, email address or age, and there is no advertising, no third-party analytics and no cross-site tracking; the only measure of use the Site keeps is an anonymous count of how many times the page opened, on how many of those page loads the home screen was scrolled, how many rounds were started from the home screen, by level, how many times twelve of its buttons were pressed, how many page loads included an answer to the home example, on how many the daily quiz was answered and finished, and how many presses were made before the terms of use were agreed to — a few numbers a day, and the same few by the hour for the last fourteen days; the daily ones are kept with no time limit, and there is nothing in them that identifies you. What does reach the operator is the technical residue any web request leaves: the hosting provider's logs can record your IP address, and the word service keeps a short-lived request count against a scrambled form of it — which the privacy policy treats as personal data, not as anonymous — and, since 16 September 2026, a second scrambled form of the address and browser type for the current hour and day only, so that the count can say how many different browsers came and how many of them pressed anything; it is treated the same way and deleted when the hour and the day end. Your answers, your scores and the words you add stay in your browser. Your lists stay there too — opening one asks us which words its saved identifiers stand for, so that it can show them. The next answer sets out exactly what is sent. See privacy clauses 3 and 3a.
What is saved on my device, and when?
Nothing is saved until you ask for something that has to be remembered — marking a favourite, adding a word, collecting words to improve. Only then does the Site ask, and only if you agree are your statistics, games, points, favourites, words to improve, added words and settings kept in this browser. If you decline you can still practise; scores simply disappear when the page closes. Six small records may exist either way: your answer to that question, your agreement to the terms of use, given by pressing "Start Learning Now" or "Agree and continue", the language pair you expressly chose, a display choice you expressly changed — with which message from the operator you last closed — the level you chose on the Customize screen or set from the quick vocabulary check — kept since 15 September 2026, so that a refresh no longer sends you back to Level 1 — and, when the operator has switched the entry code on, the time you last typed it. The field-by-field list is privacy clause 2.
The Site showed a four-digit code and asked me to type it — why?
The operator can switch on a small check: now and then — once every hour, every two hours or once a day, whichever the operator chose — the app shows a random four-digit code and asks you to type it before it does anything else. The code is made, shown and checked in your browser; nothing about it is sent to the operator, nothing is counted, and a wrong entry just shows the same code again, as often as it takes. The only thing kept is the time you last typed it correctly, on your device, so that you are not asked again before the interval has passed; the full deletion removes it, and it expires by itself after two days. Whether the check is on reaches your browser in the same answer that issues the session token, with no request of its own; while it is off, none of this happens. See terms clause 1 and privacy clause 2.
What does my browser send to the Site?
The home screen automatically asks for one example question and two answer choices, before you have agreed to anything. Its language pair and level reach the same word service under the token, technical logs and request limits described below. Answering is never refused: a line under the two answers says that by answering you agree to the terms of use, so on a device that has not yet agreed the first answer is that agreement, recorded on your device only; an answer starts nothing and writes nothing else. Playing the word or, once you have answered, its answer with the speaker beside them needs no agreement at all, and is the browser speech described in privacy clause 3 — the operator receives nothing from it. Once you have answered, a button under the card offers a short practice round: it starts the ordinary round the "Start Learning Now" button starts, at the same level and the same chosen length, and it is counted the same way; the line under it, like the line under "Start Learning Now", says that pressing the button is your agreement to the terms of use, so on a device that has not yet agreed that press is the agreement, recorded on your device only. The example answer itself stays in page memory and adds no saved progress, points or game. If you would rather not see the example, "Hide the example question" under the card, or "Example question" on the Customize screen, switches it off: the card is then not shown and no question is requested for it, the choice is kept on your device for a year with your other appearance choices (privacy clause 2), and only the same chips on the Customize screen bring it back. The operator can also switch the example off for everyone at once, from the operator's own page: the card is then shown to nobody, no question is requested for it, the Customize screen does not offer the choice, and nothing about that is kept on your device (privacy clause 3a). The first answer to the home example after each page load, whether right or wrong, sends only first_answer to the anonymous count. That event contains no answer text, selected choice, correctness, word identifier or language and writes nothing to browser storage. Later example answers on the same page load do not count again; a reload allows another count, so these are not unique people. A press of one of the app's other buttons before you have agreed opens a short dialog asking for the agreement instead, and that press uses the existing refused-press count. If the word service has not answered within about a second, or cannot be reached, the card shows a question from a small sample of words built into the page instead; that sends nothing and stores nothing. When the operator offers the daily quiz, opening it asks the same service for that date's words in one request carrying the date shown by your device's clock and your pair of languages, under the same token and limits; its first answer on a page load sends only daily_answer to the anonymous count, and reaching its result only daily_finish — no answer, score or word. A message the operator publishes for everyone arrives with the session token when the page opens; a page left open on the home screen, and in view, also asks every few seconds whether there is a new one — a request with no token, no language and nothing from your device, which the request limits do not count and the site itself does not record, although, like any request, it can appear in the hosting provider's technical logs. Reading or closing a message sends nothing.
The quiz asks the Site's own server for the words of the current round: the two language codes, the level and the round's settings, under a short-lived session token the page holds in memory and forgets when the tab closes. Any of the five games asks for its questions the same way, in the pair and direction chosen on the home screen, at the level chosen on the Customize screen, and Advanced Learning asks for the words of each set it reads aloud. The quick vocabulary check asks the same way too — three small rounds at once, one for each level — and sends nothing about your answers or its result; its "Try again" sends the identifiers of the words it has just asked, so that the next twenty-one are different, and its "Start learning at your level" button starts an ordinary round that is counted like the home screen's own. A button that continues from a finished round — "New words", or a replay the other way round — sends the identifiers of the bank words that round asked, so the next round can avoid them or the right answers can come back for the new direction. Opening Favourites, Words to improve or the hardest-words list, or starting a practice round from one of them, sends the stored identifiers of the bank words on those lists — all three when one of the screens is opened, and the one list when it is practised or listened to — so that their text can come back in your two languages; identifiers of words you added yourself are not sent. Most identifiers are opaque codes, though a device that saved a word under an older release may still hold one built from the English headword. As with any web page, the hosting provider's technical logs record ordinary request details such as an IP address, the time and the browser. The word service also counts how many requests come from an address, so that nobody can exhaust it — it stores a scrambled form of the address and a tally, never the address itself; a row stops counting after at most 48 hours and a routine cleanup deletes it as requests arrive. Since 16 September 2026 the visit count keeps a second scrambled form of the address and browser type, for the hour and the day now running, so that it can count a browser once in each; it is deleted the same way when they end. Opening the page sends the word visit, the first time you scroll the home screen after each page load sends the word scroll (since 19 September 2026 — the word alone, not how far or how often you scrolled), and starting a round from the home screen sends the word start with the level chosen, for the anonymous daily count; nothing else travels with them, and adding ?counter=0 to the address keeps that page load — the visit, the scroll, every round started, the first home-example answer and every counted or refused button press on it — out, one page load at a time. Since 19 September 2026 there is also a way that needs nothing typed: a browser that is set to send the Global Privacy Control signal, or the older Do Not Track request, is not counted at all — the app then sends no count request, and the service discards one that arrives with either signal. Not sent: your typed answers, your scores and statistics, the text of the words you added, and everything else in your browser storage apart from those identifiers. See privacy clauses 1, 3a and 5.
Are there cookies, adverts or trackers?
The Site's own code sets no cookies at all, and there is no advertising, no third-party analytics tooling and no marketing pixel; the one measure of use the Site keeps is its own anonymous count of page opens, page loads on which the home screen was scrolled, rounds started, by level, first home-example answers per page load, page loads on which the daily quiz was answered and finished, presses of twelve of its buttons and presses made before the terms were agreed to, and since 16 September 2026 of how many different browsers those came from — the word service's request limit, described in the answers above, exists only to stop overuse — which sets nothing on your device, which leaves out any browser that sends the Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signal, and which ?counter=0 after the address keeps a page load out of. The Site uses your browser's local storage instead, which is what the cookie and local-storage policy describes; that policy also reserves the one case outside the Site's code — hosting infrastructure setting a technical cookie of its own at the server level.
How do I delete what is saved, or change my mind?
Each kind of data has its deletion button on its own screen: a word you added, or the pair's added words, on "My words"; the statistics and points together on the statistics screen; the favourite marks on the favourites screen; the list, or one word on it, on the words-to-improve screen; and the settings reset on the Customize screen. The Customize and statistics screens also carry the one action that deletes all of the app's saved data at once and withdraws your consent with it. Only a minimal record of the refusal stays behind, so that you are not asked again. Withdrawing is meant to be as easy as agreeing. The exact scope of each button is in privacy clause 2.
What if I clear my browser, change device, or use a private window?
What was saved goes with it. The Site keeps no copy and cannot bring it back, and the same app in another browser or on another device starts empty. That is why keeping a downloaded copy of the words you added is worth doing.
Does anything reach another company?
Three can. The hosting provider receives the technical request data described above; an email you choose to send reaches the operator through the domain's mail provider; and if you press a speak button or Play, your browser or device may send that text and technical data to its own speech service. All three are set out in privacy clause 3. Two more things do not reach another company but are worth naming beside them, both kept by the operator on the Site's own server and both in privacy clause 3a: the word service's own request counter, and the anonymous count of visits, home-screen scrolls, rounds started by level, first home-example answers and button presses — which since 16 September 2026 also says how many different browsers came, through a scrambled form of the address and browser kept for the hour and the day now running and then deleted.
Is there a minimum age?
The Site is intended for people aged 14 and over and must not be used by anyone under that age; where local law sets a higher age for consenting on your own, that higher age applies. The operator treats the Site as a general-audience tool and does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. See clause 7 of the terms.
The words themselves
Who wrote the words and the translations?
Two different hands. The English words are the operator's list, and most of them came out of the operator's own head: the operator decided the themes, how many words were wanted and which letters they were to begin with, wrote the greater part of the list, asked AI tools for further candidates against those instructions, and mixed what came back in with their own. That finished list was then handed to AI tools, which sorted it into the three levels and produced everything you see in the other 72 languages. No person has proofread, edited or linguistically reviewed those translations, in any of those languages, so they can contain mistakes and translations that do not suit the context. Deciding which English word to teach is not a check of what that word became elsewhere. Check a word elsewhere before relying on it. See clause 2 of the disclaimer.
Can I use this for work, for an exam, or for anything official?
No. The content is for general learning only. It is not a certified, sworn or official translation and must not be presented as one, it is not a qualification or an assessment of a language level — the quick vocabulary check's suggestion included — and it is not for professional, official, medical, legal or safety-related use. See clauses 2a, 2b and 2c of the disclaimer.
I found a wrong word. What should I do?
Please write to contact@helium3words.com with the two languages, the level and the word, and say what is wrong with it. Reports are read and assessed; affected content may be removed, or regenerated or replaced using AI tools. That assessment is not human proofreading of the word list, and the operator does not hand-correct it. See clause 6 of the terms.
Can I copy the word list or use it in something of my own?
The licence is for personal, non-commercial learning. Copying, redistributing, scraping or commercial use needs the operator's written permission, to the extent the law allows that to be required — nothing in the terms restricts a use that applicable law permits anyway. See clauses 4 and 5 of the terms.
Rules and rights
Do I have to agree to anything to use the Site?
To read, no. To use the app, once: the line under "Start Learning Now" — and under "Continue to a short practice", the button that appears once you have answered the example question — says that by pressing that button you agree to the terms of use, whose language clause makes the English text the governing one; pressing it is the agreement, and the round begins. A line at the top of the home screen says the same of every button on it, so whichever you press first there — Change Languages, More options, an answer to the example, a speaker, a tile or a band — is the agreement, and nothing on that screen is refused or asks twice. A control reached by some other route before the agreement asks for it in a short dialog: "Agree and continue" agrees and carries on, "Not now" does nothing. Until 14 September 2026 the agreement was a tick in a box under "Start Learning Now"; a tick given against the same terms still counts. The agreement is recorded on your device only — never sent to the operator — so you are not asked again while that record lasts; privacy clause 2 describes it. Use of the Site is subject to the terms in any event, and the footer says so on every screen. The "Agree and save" button is a separate thing: it concerns storage on your device only, and it is not acceptance of the terms and not acceptance of the privacy policy — just as agreeing to the terms is not consent to storage. The automatically loaded home example is never refused: you can view it, play it aloud, retry it if loading fails and expand "More options" without agreeing to anything, and answering it, under the line beneath its answers, is itself the agreement on a device that has not yet given one. Your pair of languages is on the screen before you press anything, and "Change Languages" opens whether or not you have agreed. The daily quiz, when the operator offers it, is opened by a button on the home screen, and pressing that button is the agreement like any other button there. See clause 1 of the terms.
Who is responsible if something here is wrong?
The Site and its content are provided as is, with no warranty of accuracy or fitness for any purpose, and to the extent applicable law permits, no liability is accepted for loss arising from relying on them. For everything that can lawfully be limited, the disclaimer caps the operator's total aggregate liability for all claims connected with the Site at fifty euros (€50). Nothing excludes or limits liability that the law does not allow to be excluded — including liability for death or personal injury, for intent or gross negligence — and nothing takes away a mandatory consumer right. See clause 7 of the disclaimer.
Which text counts, and which law applies?
The Legal Documents are written in English and, where applicable law permits, the English text is the authoritative one; the summaries the app shows in other languages were AI-generated, are offered for convenience and do not replace it. The terms choose no governing law and no exclusive court: the ordinary rules of private international law decide, and the mandatory consumer protections of your country of residence are untouched. See clauses 1 and 10 of the terms.
Is the Site accessible?
WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the target it was built towards — keyboard operation throughout, a visible focus indicator, a skip link, a dark theme, heavier text, reduced motion honoured, and no sound without a deliberate press. All five games play from the keyboard, pause, limit how often the screen brightens and ask their questions as ordinary buttons with no time limit — though what moves on a canvas is a picture that a screen reader cannot follow, a limitation the statement names. That is a statement of intent and not a certification: no external audit has been carried out, and it has not been tested with screen readers by the people who depend on them. See the accessibility statement, and please write if something here gets in your way.
Could the Site change or close?
It may be changed, suspended or discontinued at any time, and that includes the fact that it costs nothing today: it is free at present, and nothing undertakes that it will stay free. Notice of a permanent closure will be published on the Site a reasonable time in advance as far as circumstances allow — since there are no accounts, there is no way to write to you directly. Data saved in your browser is not deleted by a closure, but you would no longer be able to use it here. See clause 2 of the terms.
How do I get in touch?
One address for everything — the terms, privacy, accessibility and reports of a wrong word: contact@helium3words.com. A privacy request is answered within the period any applicable law requires, and you may complain to a supervisory authority without contacting the operator first. See privacy clauses 4 and 7.
Still looking for something? The full Legal Documents — terms of use, privacy policy, cookie and local-storage policy, disclaimer and accessibility statement — are on one page, and the app's own Help screen goes through each screen in more detail.