There’s several apps out there for helping you to learn your lines, but Line Learner is my favourite. It’s $4.59 and incredibly good value. Even the free version, Line Learner Lite, is extremely useful and will give you a sense of how the paid app works.
In the Record tab, you read through the whole script, tapping Record Me to record your lines, and tapping Record Them to record all the lines that aren’t yours. Then, in the Play tab, you hear them played back. Use the drop down menu to select from a few options:
- loop the scene, each line, the whole script, or turn of looping entirely
- pause between lines (to give you time to think about the next line, or repeat the line you’ve just heard)
- choose the length of the delay
And of course, you can turn all that off and simply play the script straight through.
One of my favourite options is that you can download a pdf of the script so that you can read the script and verify lines at any time. It saves me from having to carry around a binder of paper at all times.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I’ll ever be one of those people who carries my iPad into rehearsal. There’s something about paper that I prefer for working on a script. However, I have found Line Learner, paired with old-school table work and a couple other digital methods, to be an excellent addition to my tool box for getting off book efficiently.