Introduction

The coolest thing I’ve worked on is Scribe, an edtech product that helps people improve their English vocabulary while watching shows and videos.

Scribe turns entertainment into a learning experience by allowing users to discover, understand, and save new words directly from subtitles while watching content on platforms like Netflix and YouTube.

Inspiration

The idea came while I was preparing for IELTS. I wanted to improve my vocabulary, so I started watching movies and shows on Netflix.

Since many of them had native speakers, I often came across unfamiliar words. I would pause the video, write down the word, search for its meaning, and try to understand how it was used in context.

It worked, but it was slow, repetitive, and interrupted the viewing experience.

The Idea

That made me think: what if I could click any word directly inside the subtitle, instantly see its meaning, and save it to a personal vocabulary library?

That idea became Scribe.

Instead of manually searching for every unfamiliar word, users could learn naturally while watching content they already enjoy.

What I Built

I built Scribe as both a web app and Chrome extension.

On Netflix, subtitles are split into clickable words, allowing users to capture vocabulary directly while watching. When a user clicks on a word, they can view its meaning and save it to their personal vocabulary library for later review.

Recently, I also expanded Scribe to support YouTube, making it useful across more types of video content.

Tech and Design

I designed the entire UI from scratch on Figma and built the product using Next.js, Tailwind CSS, Supabase, and Chrome APIs.

One part I especially liked was designing the custom subtitle experience, including the slick glass effect, which made the interface feel polished and modern.

Challenges

One of the hardest parts was connecting the Chrome extension smoothly with the web app.

I faced several challenges while working with Chrome APIs and syncing the extension experience with the main platform. Solving these problems taught me a lot about product architecture, browser extension development, and how to build a seamless user experience across different environments.

Recognition and Impact

Scribe was the project that got me selected for the Hack Club Neighborhood program in San Francisco, a 3 month in-person program where I continued building the product alongside other young builders.

During the program, I worked on improving Scribe further, tested the product with real users, and received direct feedback on the learning experience, subtitle interaction, and overall product flow. This experience helped me realize that Scribe could grow beyond something I built for myself and become a useful learning product for others.

What started as a problem I faced while preparing for IELTS became a product strong enough to take me to San Francisco, where I could develop it further in a real builder community.

Why It Matters to Me

1. Loved working on Scribe because it combined design and development.

2. Tackled a real problem that I personally experienced.

3. The project let me create something useful while applying both creative and technical skills.