New here? Swipe or tap through these cards for a quick tour of what each tab does.
Sign in on the Login tab to see your own symbols — they'll be saved to your account and show up in your drills on any device.
Your symbols
The ones you drew yourself, kept at the top so they're the first thing you see. Private to you — nobody else sees them.
Base symbols
The core set. Learn these first — everything else is a mark added on top. Not every word needs its own drawing, though: GO, SITUATION, and PATIENT below are plain written words on purpose — every modifier and mark in this app (underline, arrows, brackets, dots, circle…) works on a written word exactly the same way it works on a pictograph. Draw a symbol when one's natural; otherwise just write the word and mark it up.
For man and woman, either your own stick-figure or the ♂ / ♀ symbol works — both are shown together as a reminder that they're interchangeable.
How modifiers work
Add a mark to a base symbol to change its meaning. Same idea you already use — here it's shown on happy.
General modifiers
These marks carry a fixed meaning no matter which symbol they're added to.
The personification dot in practice — an abbreviation plus the dot names the person:
Attaching a number
A number can attach to any symbol the same way — not just money and X. Write it big, to the left. "5 years ago" and "4 times" both already work this way; so does counting anything else.
Time modifiers (D / W / M / Y)
On Y and M, the last/next/this marks all extend directly out of the letter itself — from the tail of the Y, from the last downstroke of the M — rather than floating separately. "All" circles the whole glyph instead, tail included. Shown here on Y.
Times / frequency (X)
X on its own marks frequency. Combine it with a number, a letter, or itself to build out the idea.
Attach X to any word to mean it happened repeatedly — e.g. writing PEACE + X reads as "peacetime."
Tense brackets
Frame any verb with an L-shaped bracket to mark tense — a vertical line with small tick marks at the top, then a hook off the bottom: left for past, right for future. This works on a pictograph like to see, but it also works on a plain written word with no pictograph at all: writing GO inside the bracket is what elevates it to symbol status — the bracket does that work, not a drawing.
Timeline: before / during / after
A vertical line marks a point in time. Where the dot sits tells you when.
Symbols also chain together in sequence to build a full sentence — e.g. "before" + "leaving the house" reads as before leaving the house. Level 3 drills include a few of these.
Special combinations
These pair a base symbol with a specific mark to build a new, distinct idea.
Symbol combinations
These are different from everything above — not one symbol with a mark, but two or three full symbols chained in sequence to build a complete phrase. In drills, you'll hear a sentence like "before leaving the house" and need to draw more than one symbol, in order, to capture the whole idea.
Type any word — or just part of one — and every symbol, modifier, combination, and drill phrase containing it shows up. Searching “hous…” finds house, mobile home, church, and every phrase about leaving one. Multiple words narrow it down: leaving country.
Swipe or tap through every symbol one at a time, meaning included — good for a first pass or a quick refresher. For scanning everything at once, use All Symbols instead.
Nothing checked = drill everything in this level. Check a few to focus just on those.
English only by default. Check others to mix them in, or uncheck English for a single-language drill (like Spanish only). Resets to English each time you open the app.
happy
Say the word or phrase aloud (or press play), draw the symbol on paper, then reveal to check yourself. Some symbols drill with different real-world phrasings each time — same answer, different words — so you're reading the idea, not memorizing a script.
You'll hear a series of words and phrases, one after another with no stopping — just like when you are interpreting. When you hear an idea you have a symbol or combination for, draw it and get ready for the next one. Check your notes against the review at the end.
English only by default. Check others to mix them in, or uncheck English for a single-language run (like Spanish only). Resets to English each time you open the app.
Symbol 1 of 10
Just listen and draw — nothing to read here.
Review
Here's what was said, in order — check it against what you drew.
Sign in with the admin email on the Login tab to make changes here.
Changes made here go out to everyone using this app link — including students.
Edit an existing symbol
Pick anything already in the app. Add extra phrasings below, or fully replace its picture and main word — changes apply everywhere it's drilled.
Tag a word as a Phrase (full sentence) to keep it out of word-level drills — it'll only surface at Level 4 or Random. Tag the language too and the voice matches when it's drilled.
Replace the picture and/or main word
Save either one on its own, or both — use "Add a word or phrase" above for extra phrasings alongside it.
This is a multi-symbol combination, not a single picture — only its drilled wording can be replaced below.
Add a new symbol
Draw your symbol below or upload an image of one you've drawn on paper, give it a word, and it joins the drills.
Add other phrasings one at a time below — a Synonym (single word/short term) or a Phrase (full example sentence), in any language.
Your custom symbols
Create a symbol combination
Chain 2–3 existing symbols together into one combined phrase, like "before" + "leaving the house."
Once created, find it in "Edit an existing symbol" above to add extra phrasings or languages.
Your symbol combinations
Sign in with the admin email on the Login tab to see this.
Pending requests
Anyone who signs in but isn't approved yet shows up here automatically — no typing required, just pick a tier or deny.
Approved access
Everyone currently approved, and their tier. Premium unlocks your own symbols, Add Symbol, and multilingual words — Basic doesn't.
Pre-approve people ahead of their first sign-in — paste one email, or a whole roster (one per line, or comma-separated) to approve a class at once.
Sign in on the Login tab to add your own symbols.
Add a symbol here — it'll show up at the top of All Symbols and in your drills.
Add a symbol
Draw your symbol in the box below, then give it a word.
Main word stays English. Add other phrasings one at a time below — a Synonym (single word/short term) or a Phrase (full example sentence), in any language.
This app is a supplement to the Symbol Solution and Fundamentals of Note-Taking courses from Castillo Language Services, Inc. — designed to be used after course instruction. It is not a standalone course.
Sign in once here — it covers both your own symbols and, if it's your admin email, Customize.
First time here? Entering a new password creates your account automatically.
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This app is a supplement to the Symbol Solution and Fundamentals of Note-Taking courses from Castillo Language Services, Inc. — designed to be used after course instruction. It is not a standalone course.
Sign in to access this app.
Quick reminders, one rule at a time — swipe or tap through instead of scanning the full reference.