LexiNote

Reading in a second language is often interrupted by a handful of words, not by the whole page. The usual response is to copy a phrase, switch to a dictionary, or open a translation tab. That gives an answer, but it also removes the word from the note or article where it appeared.

LexiNote started from a smaller question: can vocabulary help appear at the moment of reading without turning the reading surface into a separate study app? The product treats the original note or page as the place where understanding and vocabulary accumulation should happen.

The goal was to reduce reading friction while keeping the learner in context. A difficult word should be noticeable, explainable on demand, and easy to keep for later review without requiring a full-page translation workflow.

The two extensions apply the same principle to different surfaces: Obsidian supports reading and writing in Markdown notes, while Chrome supports lightweight assistance on the current English web page.

In Obsidian, LexiNote highlights words above a configurable difficulty, shows local meanings on hover, and opens a current-document word list. Useful words can move into a personal Vocabulary Library, where they can be searched, marked known, edited through custom dictionaries, or exported as LexiNote JSON and Anki-compatible TSV.

In Chrome, the user clicks the extension icon on the current tab. LexiNote scans visible English text, highlights difficult words from its built-in CET4/CET6 dictionaries, and shows a local meaning on hover. It deliberately skips interaction-heavy areas such as inputs, buttons, code, and similar content.

Ming defined the product idea, interaction model, difficulty rules, dictionary behavior, local-first boundary, extension implementation, documentation, and release maintenance across both clients.

Keeping the two clients aligned required deciding what should remain shared and what should be surface-specific. Obsidian needs vocabulary management and Markdown-aware analysis; Chrome needs a one-click page scan that does not take over the page.

LexiNote is intentionally an aid for reading, not a replacement for reading or a complete translation service.

The Obsidian plugin is available through Community Plugins and is published under the MIT license. The Chrome extension is available through the Chrome Web Store. Both products have bilingual user guides in the Digital Garden, and the Chrome guide includes a separate privacy statement describing local processing and the absence of analytics, tracking, cloud sync, or remote lookup.

The current result is described through inspectable behavior rather than learning-outcome claims: install pages, documentation, release information, and the actual local interaction model are all available for review. No user counts, download claims, or measured learning effects are added here.

Vocabulary tools become less disruptive when they respect the place where a word was encountered. The useful unit is not an isolated definition; it is a small cue that preserves the surrounding sentence, note, or article.

The two clients also show why a shared product principle does not require an identical interface. A writing environment can support a library and custom dictionaries, while a browser extension can remain a single-action reading aid. Both should disappear back into the user’s original task once the question is answered.