Prima Speak for Chrome is out: a free extension that puts Prima, our live AI speaking tutor, in your browser's side panel next to whatever you are watching. She listens along, and about every minute of speech, at the end of a line, she pauses the video so you can practise that line out loud. Then the video plays on.

It is a language learning extension built for speaking, and it fits around the YouTube videos, talks and podcasts you already watch. Add it to Chrome: it is free to start, with no account.

Quick answers

What is Prima Speak for Chrome?
A free Chrome extension that brings Prima, a live AI speaking tutor, into the side panel beside the video you are watching, so you practise its lines out loud.
How does it work?
At the end of a line, about every minute of speech, the video pauses. You say the line back, Prima corrects one thing and asks one easy question, and the video plays on, usually within a minute.
Is it free?
It is free to install, and subtitles cost nothing. Practice uses your daily speaking minutes: 3 a day free, 20 a day with Pro.
Do I need an account?
No. As a guest you get subtitles at once and spoken practice for your first 3 days; a free account keeps everything you did.
Which languages?
You can practise 34 languages with Prima. Subtitles depend on what Chrome supports for your language on your computer.

How to practise speaking a language while watching YouTube

  1. Add Prima Speak to Chrome from the Chrome Web Store. It needs Chrome 116 or later, on a computer.
  2. Open a video in the language you are learning: a YouTube video, a talk, a news clip or a podcast page.
  3. Click the Prima Speak icon on that tab (or press Alt+Shift+P; Option+Shift+P on a Mac) to open the side panel. Prima only ever hears a tab you clicked the icon on.
  4. Start free or sign in. To start free, pick the language you are learning, your level and your own language.
  5. Press Start listening. The first time, a small tab asks for your microphone: allow it once.
  6. Keep watching. Prima pauses at the end of a line about every minute of speech. To practise a line you just heard, press Practise that line or Alt+Shift+L (Option+Shift+L on a Mac).

What happens in a practice moment

A moment is two or three short exchanges in the language you are learning. Prima picks the line worth practising (for a beginner, a piece of three to six words), says it slowly and asks you to say it with her. Get it right and she says so; miss it and she gives you the right form once, and you try again. Then one easy question about the scene, and back to the video. A word you did not know goes to your Review list.

A beginner's moment in Spanish, with the translation the panel can show:

  • The video: "Mañana vamos a la playa con mis primos, si no llueve." (Tomorrow we are going to the beach with my cousins, if it does not rain.)
  • Prima: "Di conmigo: vamos a la playa." (Say it with me: we are going to the beach.)
  • You: "Vamos a la playa."
  • Prima: "¡Muy bien! ¿Con quién van?" (Very good! Who are they going with?)
  • You: "Con sus primos."
  • Prima: "¡Eso es! Sigamos viendo." (That's it! Let's keep watching.)

Stuck? Ask "what does that mean?" in your own language: she gives you the meaning in your language first, then the line again. A clip that was only music or silence sends you straight back to the video, and nothing is charged.

Subtitles with the translation, over any video

While Prima listens, the video's words appear over it in the language you are learning, as they are said, with the translation in your own language underneath. The translation follows your level (always there for beginners, blurred until you point at it in the middle levels, off for advanced learners), and Settings changes it.

  • Point at a word for its meaning, and press + Review to keep it.
  • The video waits while you read: point at the subtitles and it pauses.
  • ↺ plays a line again, and the side panel keeps the last thirty lines.

Subtitles cost no minutes. In Chrome they are made on your computer, after a one-time download, so the video's sound is not sent anywhere for them. On YouTube, the site's own captions step aside while ours are on. Want subtitles alone? Set practice moments to Only when I ask.

Speak with Prima, any time

On the panel's home, Speak with Prima opens a free conversation with your tutor, no video needed: talk about anything at your level, and she recasts your slips as she answers. It is the same Prima as on the website, with your voice (Prima or Primo), your coaching style and the same daily minutes.

Start free, then one account everywhere

Choose Start free, no account, pick your languages and level, and the subtitles start straight away. As a guest you can practise out loud 3 minutes a day for your first 3 days, and when you create your free account, everything you did comes with you.

Already learning on primaspeak.com? Sign in with the same Google or email account: your daily minutes, streak, level, words to review and Pro are shared with the website, where your lessons, Review and progress stay, one click from the panel.

What it costs

The extension is free to install, and subtitles never use minutes. Practice moments and conversations use the same daily speaking minutes as the website:

  • Free: 3 minutes of live speaking a day.
  • Pro: 20 minutes a day for $19.99 a month or $149.99 a year; a first subscription starts with 3 days free.
  • Extra minutes: +30 minutes for $2.99 or +60 minutes for $4.99, and they never expire.

A moment that finds nothing to practise costs nothing. The details are on the pricing page.

The honest fine print

  • Some players stay silent. Some protected video players deliver no sound to extensions. When Prima cannot hear a tab, the panel says so.
  • One tab at a time. Prima listens only to the tab where you clicked the icon. On another tab, click the icon there and start again.
  • Subtitles are Chrome's. They need Chrome's own speech recognition for your language. Where Chrome has none yet, the panel tells you, and practice works the same.
  • A computer, not a phone. On a phone, use Prima Speak in the browser.
  • Your microphone and the video's sound. The microphone is on only during a moment or a conversation; of the video's sound, only the last few seconds before a moment go to Google's Gemini, and Prima Speak keeps neither. See the privacy policy.
  • For adults. Prima Speak is for people aged 18 and over.
  • Microsoft Edge. A version for Edge is coming soon.

Questions people ask

Is there a Chrome extension for practising speaking a language?

Yes. Prima Speak for Chrome is a free extension with a live AI speaking tutor in the side panel. It pauses the video you are watching at the end of a line so you can say it out loud, corrects you, and lets the video play on.

Does it work with YouTube?

Yes, and with most other videos or audio with speech in a Chrome tab. Some protected players deliver no sound to extensions; the panel tells you when it cannot hear a tab.

Can I learn Japanese or Korean from shows with it?

Yes, wherever the player lets extensions hear it: both are among the 34 languages you can practise, and subtitles depend on Chrome's speech recognition for them. See Learning Japanese from anime without the cringe.

Does Prima Speak record my voice or the video?

No. Your microphone is on only during a practice moment or a conversation, your voice goes straight to Google's Gemini Live, and Prima Speak never keeps the audio. At a practice moment only the last few seconds of the tab's sound go with it. The transcript stays in your account.

Can I use it on my phone?

Not as an extension: Chrome extensions run on a computer. On a phone, Prima Speak works in the browser at primaspeak.com, and the iPhone and Android apps are on the way.