Cookie Policy
A complete, honest list of what this site stores in your browser — including the advertising cookies that come with the ads, and how to switch them off.
Last updated: 27 September 2026What we mean by "cookies"
A cookie is a small file a website asks your browser to keep. We also use two related browser features — localStorage and sessionStorage — which do the same job without sending anything back to a server. This policy covers all three.
Read this alongside our Privacy Policy, which explains the wider picture.
Strictly necessary
These make the site work. They cannot be switched off from here, because without them there is no site to use.
| Set by | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Google Firebase Authentication | Keeps you signed in between visits and protects the session token |
| Firebase Hosting | Security and load-balancing for the pages themselves |
Functional — your own progress
These are written by the site itself into your browser's localStorage. They never leave your device unless you sign in and ask us to sync them.
| Key | What it remembers |
|---|---|
vea_a1_progress:guest | Which steps of the A1 learning path you have finished |
vea_gamification:guest | Your XP, badges and daily streak |
vea_study_time | A rolling 7-day record of active study minutes |
vea_placement_level | The CEFR level your last level test suggested |
userFlashcards | Vocabulary you tapped "save" on |
| Interface preferences | Translation language and similar display choices |
Clearing site data in your browser deletes every one of these immediately.
Analytics
Google Analytics 4 (G-56N53QZVQH) sets _ga and related cookies to count visits and tell a returning reader from a new one. We use them to see which lessons work and which pages are broken.
In the EEA and the UK these are only set after you agree to them. Everywhere else, you can block them with the browser controls below or with Google's official opt-out add-on.
Advertising cookies
Infolinks is installed on eligible editorial pages and the homepage. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland it loads only after consent; elsewhere it loads unless you decline. Google AdSense is paused.
Infolinks (publisher 3448116) and its advertising partners may use cookies, IP-derived location, device information and activity on ad-bearing pages to select, deliver, measure and protect contextual or personalised ads.
Google AdSense (publisher ca-pub-6733098045611992) is paused. No AdSense or DoubleClick advertising script is loaded by this site.
Third-party advertising vendors use these technologies to serve and measure ads. We do not receive or store the profiles they use; we receive aggregate reporting.
Turning them off
- Network Advertising Initiative — opt out of participating interest-based advertising companies.
- Google Ads Settings — switch off ad personalisation across everything Google serves.
- aboutads.info/choices — opt out of many vendors at once.
- youronlinechoices.eu — the European equivalent.
- Infolinks opt-out — stop Infolinks from using your browsing for interest-based ads.
- Use the "Privacy settings" link in our footer to reopen the choice for optional analytics and Infolinks advertising. Choosing "Decline" there stops both from the next page you open.
After an opt-out, ads may become contextual or may not appear, depending on the provider. Every lesson stays free and fully available either way.
Controlling cookies in your browser
Every major browser lets you block or delete cookies for a specific site:
Blocking strictly necessary cookies will sign you out and stop progress syncing. Blocking functional storage means your streak and saved words reset on every visit. Blocking analytics and advertising cookies changes nothing about the lessons.