Stuck on a word in English docs? Select it and see what it means in this sentence. Words you looked up light up the next time you meet them, on any page.
Live on the Chrome Web Store · Open source · Local first · Free translation · Your own AI key for context
Product in motion
Real reading moments, playing on a loop; hover to pause.
01 FanFan modeYour saved words return to the page
fieldnotes.dev / systems / reliable-products⌁
SYSTEMS · 7 MIN READ
The quiet systems behind reliable products
A database migration is rarely difficult because of one command. The real work is designing an idempotent path that remains safe when retries arrive together.
Good teams remove a deprecated path deliberately. They observe the bottleneck and keep rollback boring enough to trust.
FanFan mode
02 Bilingual YouTube subtitlesOne press brings original and translation together
01Highlight saved wordsOne click to revisit, with no new AI call
02Translate selections or pagesAppend the translation without rewriting the page
03Bilingual YouTube subtitlesOriginal and translation move with the video
04Local firstCards stay in your browser; keys can be kept local-only
How it works
FanFan helps when you get stuck—and when a word returns.
01 · FanFan mode brings your library back to the page
Saved words are marked on any page, coloured by how well you know them. Click one to read the stored meaning, examples, and synonyms—no network request and no additional model cost.
02 · For a new word, understand this occurrence
Select a word, phrase, or sentence. AI first works out what it means in that specific passage, then gives a concise meaning, English definition, examples, and synonyms.
03 · Read long pages and videos without losing the thread
Translate the hovered paragraph or the whole page. On YouTube, turn on bilingual subtitles and adjust the text size, display mode, and backdrop.
04 · Save the context, then review on schedule
Each card keeps its sentence, page, and date. Four confidence levels drive spaced review; the dashboard shows what is due, your streak, and familiarity.
05 · Keep ownership of your data
Cards stay in your browser and can be exported as JSON or CSV. Settings and keys sync with your Chrome account by default and can be kept local-only. Optional sync writes to a private repository in your own GitHub account.
P
Privacy by design
Know where your data goes before you install.
FanFan mode matches the current page against your local library on-device and sends nothing to a model. Only when you ask for an explanation, translation, or subtitle translation does the required content go directly to your chosen provider. There is no developer-operated relay server and no advertising, analytics, or tracking service.
FanFan Cards is an open-source, local-first Chrome extension for reading English, available on the Chrome Web Store. It highlights saved words, explains words in context with AI, translates selections or whole pages, adds bilingual YouTube subtitles, and schedules spaced review.
How is it different from a regular translation extension?
FanFan helps when you get stuck—and when a word returns. In FanFan mode, saved words are marked on any page, coloured by how well you know them. Clicking one shows the stored meaning, examples, and synonyms with no network request and no additional model cost. Translations are appended without rewriting the page.
How do I install and use it?
Install it from the Chrome Web Store. Select a word, phrase, or sentence for an in-context explanation; translate the hovered paragraph or the whole page with a shortcut; turn on bilingual subtitles in the YouTube player. Translation is free; contextual explanations use your own AI key.
Where is my data stored? Is anything uploaded?
Cards stay in your browser and can be exported as JSON or CSV. Settings and keys sync with your Chrome account by default and can be kept local-only; optional sync writes to a private repository in your own GitHub account. FanFan mode matches pages on-device and sends nothing to a model. Only when you ask for an explanation, translation, or subtitle translation does the required content go directly to your chosen provider. There is no developer-operated relay server and no advertising, analytics, or tracking service.