diff --git a/src/components/PairCards.css b/src/components/PairCards.css
index d5b82dd..265f636 100644
--- a/src/components/PairCards.css
+++ b/src/components/PairCards.css
@@ -71,12 +71,31 @@
   cursor: pointer;
   padding: 0;
   flex-shrink: 0;
-  transition: background 0.15s;
+  transition: background 0.15s, color 0.15s;
+  color: #7A6E55;
   -webkit-user-select: none;
   user-select: none;
 }
 .pair-icon-btn:hover  { background: #E0DAC8; }
-.pair-icon-btn.active { background: #E0DAC8; }
+.pair-icon-btn.active { background: #C4A85A22; color: #B07840; }
+
+/* Hold-to-translate button */
+.pair-hold-wrap {
+  width: 38px;
+  height: 38px;
+  flex-shrink: 0;
+  cursor: pointer;
+  -webkit-user-select: none;
+  user-select: none;
+  border-radius: 10px;
+  overflow: visible;
+}
+
+/* Ring fill animation — 2 seconds */
+@keyframes holdRing {
+  from { stroke-dashoffset: 100.53; }
+  to   { stroke-dashoffset: 0; }
+}
 
 /* ── Image area ── */
 .pair-image-wrap {
@@ -278,6 +297,11 @@
   background: #5C3D22;
   color: #F5EDE0;
 }
+.pair-btn-locked {
+  background: #E0DDD5;
+  color: #B0A898;
+  cursor: not-allowed;
+}
 .pair-btn-yes {
   background: #3D7055;
   color: #fff;
diff --git a/src/components/PairSentenceCard.jsx b/src/components/PairSentenceCard.jsx
index 97263fc..efef815 100644
--- a/src/components/PairSentenceCard.jsx
+++ b/src/components/PairSentenceCard.jsx
@@ -93,11 +93,16 @@ function toPlainText(sentence) {
 const LANG_LABELS = { sv: 'Svenska', en: 'English', de: 'Deutsch' }
 const LANG_TTS    = { sv: 'sv-SE',  en: 'en-US',   de: 'de-DE'  }
 
+// Circumference of r=16 circle ≈ 100.53
+const RING_C = 2 * Math.PI * 16
+
 export default function PairSentenceCard({ card, onComplete }) {
   const [done,            setDone]            = useState(false)
   const [activeChip,      setActiveChip]      = useState(null)
   const [showTranslation, setShowTranslation] = useState(false)
-  const holdTimer = useRef(null)
+  const [holding,         setHolding]         = useState(false)
+  const [unlocked,        setUnlocked]        = useState(false)
+  const holdCompleted = useRef(false)
 
   const lang   = card.lang || 'de'
   const native = lang === 'de' ? 'en' : 'de'
@@ -117,6 +122,7 @@ export default function PairSentenceCard({ card, onComplete }) {
   }
 
   function handleConfirm() {
+    if (!unlocked) return
     setDone(true)
     setActiveChip(null)
     triggerConfetti()
@@ -130,14 +136,21 @@ export default function PairSentenceCard({ card, onComplete }) {
     utt.lang = LANG_TTS[lang] || 'de-DE'
     utt.rate = 0.9
     window.speechSynthesis.speak(utt)
+    setUnlocked(true)
   }
 
-  function startTranslation() {
-    holdTimer.current = setTimeout(() => setShowTranslation(true), 150)
+  function startHold() {
+    holdCompleted.current = false
+    setHolding(true)
+    setShowTranslation(true)
   }
-  function endTranslation() {
-    clearTimeout(holdTimer.current)
-    setShowTranslation(false)
+  function endHold() {
+    setHolding(false)
+    if (!holdCompleted.current) setShowTranslation(false)
+  }
+  function onHoldComplete() {
+    holdCompleted.current = true
+    setUnlocked(true)
   }
 
   return (
@@ -159,17 +172,7 @@ export default function PairSentenceCard({ card, onComplete }) {
         {isObject && <SelectionOverlay chip={activeChip} />}
       </div>
 
-      {/* Header below image */}
-      <div className="pair-card-header">
-        <span className="pair-lang-pill">{LANG_LABELS[lang] || lang}</span>
-        <span className="pair-points-pill">
-          <svg width="13" height="13" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="#C4A85A"><path d="M12 2l3.09 6.26L22 9.27l-5 4.87 1.18 6.88L12 17.77l-6.18 3.25L7 14.14 2 9.27l6.91-1.01L12 2z"/></svg>
-          +{card.meta?.points ?? 2} Punkte
-        </span>
-      </div>
-      <div className="pair-header-divider" />
-
-      <div className="pair-card-body" onClick={e => e.stopPropagation()}>
+      <div className="pair-card-body" onClick={e => e.stopPropagation()} style={{ paddingTop: 18 }}>
 
         {/* Sentence + action buttons */}
         <p className="pair-section-label">Satz</p>
@@ -184,7 +187,7 @@ export default function PairSentenceCard({ card, onComplete }) {
                 color: '#7A7060',
                 transition: 'opacity 0.18s',
                 margin: 0,
-                marginTop: showTranslation ? 0 : '-1.7em',  /* overlay effect */
+                marginTop: showTranslation ? 0 : '-1.7em',
                 pointerEvents: 'none',
               }}>
                 {resolveSentence(hint, card.placeholders, null, null)}
@@ -193,30 +196,52 @@ export default function PairSentenceCard({ card, onComplete }) {
           </div>
 
           <div style={{ display: 'flex', flexDirection: 'column', gap: 8, paddingTop: 2 }}>
-            {/* TTS */}
-            <button className="pair-icon-btn" onClick={handleTTS} title="Vorlesen">
-              <svg width="18" height="18" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="#7A6E55" strokeWidth="1.8" strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round">
+            {/* TTS — playing unlocks "Verstanden" */}
+            <button className={`pair-icon-btn${unlocked ? ' active' : ''}`} onClick={handleTTS} title="Vorlesen">
+              <svg width="18" height="18" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" strokeWidth="1.8" strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round">
                 <polygon points="11 5 6 9 2 9 2 15 6 15 11 19 11 5"/>
                 <path d="M15.54 8.46a5 5 0 0 1 0 7.07"/>
                 <path d="M19.07 4.93a10 10 0 0 1 0 14.14"/>
               </svg>
             </button>
-            {/* Hold-to-translate */}
+
+            {/* Hold-to-translate: 2 s hold unlocks "Verstanden" */}
             {hint && (
-              <button
-                className={`pair-icon-btn${showTranslation ? ' active' : ''}`}
-                onMouseDown={startTranslation}
-                onMouseUp={endTranslation}
-                onMouseLeave={endTranslation}
-                onTouchStart={e => { e.preventDefault(); startTranslation() }}
-                onTouchEnd={endTranslation}
-                title="Übersetzung halten"
+              <div className="pair-hold-wrap"
+                onMouseDown={startHold}
+                onMouseUp={endHold}
+                onMouseLeave={endHold}
+                onTouchStart={e => { e.preventDefault(); startHold() }}
+                onTouchEnd={endHold}
+                title="2 s halten zum Übersetzen"
               >
-                <svg width="18" height="18" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="#7A6E55" strokeWidth="1.8" strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round">
-                  <path d="M5 8l6 6"/><path d="M4 14l6-6 2-3"/><path d="M2 5h12"/><path d="M7 2h1"/>
-                  <path d="M22 22l-5-10-5 10"/><path d="M14 18h6"/>
+                <svg width="38" height="38" viewBox="0 0 38 38" style={{ display: 'block' }}>
+                  {/* Button fill */}
+                  <rect x="1" y="1" width="36" height="36" rx="9" ry="9"
+                    fill="#F0EDE3" stroke="#D8D3C5" strokeWidth="0.5"/>
+                  {/* Progress ring track */}
+                  <circle cx="19" cy="19" r="16" fill="none" stroke="#E0DDD5" strokeWidth="2.5"/>
+                  {/* Progress ring — animates when holding */}
+                  {holding && (
+                    <circle
+                      cx="19" cy="19" r="16"
+                      fill="none"
+                      stroke="#C4A85A"
+                      strokeWidth="2.5"
+                      strokeDasharray={RING_C}
+                      strokeDashoffset={RING_C}
+                      strokeLinecap="round"
+                      style={{ transformOrigin: '19px 19px', transform: 'rotate(-90deg)', animation: 'holdRing 2s linear forwards' }}
+                      onAnimationEnd={onHoldComplete}
+                    />
+                  )}
+                  {/* Translate icon */}
+                  <g transform="translate(10, 10)" fill="none" stroke="#7A6E55" strokeWidth="1.8" strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round">
+                    <path d="M5 8l6 6"/><path d="M4 14l6-6 2-3"/><path d="M2 5h12"/><path d="M7 2h1"/>
+                    <path d="M14 14l-3-6-3 6"/><path d="M6 12h4" transform="translate(8,0)"/>
+                  </g>
                 </svg>
-              </button>
+              </div>
             )}
           </div>
         </div>
@@ -235,9 +260,9 @@ export default function PairSentenceCard({ card, onComplete }) {
 
         <div className="pair-btn-row" style={{ marginTop: 20 }}>
           <button
-            className={`pair-btn ${done ? 'pair-btn-correct' : 'pair-btn-primary'}`}
+            className={`pair-btn ${done ? 'pair-btn-correct' : unlocked ? 'pair-btn-primary' : 'pair-btn-locked'}`}
             onClick={handleConfirm}
-            disabled={done}
+            disabled={done || !unlocked}
           >
             {done ? '✓ Verstanden' : 'Verstanden'}
           </button>
diff --git a/src/components/PairWordCard.jsx b/src/components/PairWordCard.jsx
index c0eabb0..2cc386d 100644
--- a/src/components/PairWordCard.jsx
+++ b/src/components/PairWordCard.jsx
@@ -139,17 +139,7 @@ export default function PairWordCard({ card, onComplete }) {
         {isObject && <SelectionOverlay chip={activeChip} />}
       </div>
 
-      {/* Header below image */}
-      <div className="pair-card-header">
-        <span className="pair-lang-pill">{lang === 'sv' ? 'Svenska' : lang === 'en' ? 'English' : 'Deutsch'}</span>
-        <span className="pair-points-pill">
-          <svg width="13" height="13" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="#C4A85A"><path d="M12 2l3.09 6.26L22 9.27l-5 4.87 1.18 6.88L12 17.77l-6.18 3.25L7 14.14 2 9.27l6.91-1.01L12 2z"/></svg>
-          +{card.meta?.points ?? 3} Punkte
-        </span>
-      </div>
-      <div className="pair-header-divider" />
-
-      <div className="pair-card-body" onClick={e => e.stopPropagation()}>
+      <div className="pair-card-body" onClick={e => e.stopPropagation()} style={{ paddingTop: 18 }}>
         <p className="pair-section-label">Frage</p>
         <p className="pair-question">
           {resolveSentence(sentence, card.placeholders, handleChipClick, activeChip?.id)}
diff --git a/src/components/PairYesNoCard.jsx b/src/components/PairYesNoCard.jsx
index 7c6a5d1..29a4773 100644
--- a/src/components/PairYesNoCard.jsx
+++ b/src/components/PairYesNoCard.jsx
@@ -124,17 +124,7 @@ export default function PairYesNoCard({ card, onComplete }) {
         {isObject && <SelectionOverlay chip={activeChip} />}
       </div>
 
-      {/* Header below image */}
-      <div className="pair-card-header">
-        <span className="pair-lang-pill">{lang === 'sv' ? 'Svenska' : lang === 'en' ? 'English' : 'Deutsch'}</span>
-        <span className="pair-points-pill">
-          <svg width="13" height="13" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="#C4A85A"><path d="M12 2l3.09 6.26L22 9.27l-5 4.87 1.18 6.88L12 17.77l-6.18 3.25L7 14.14 2 9.27l6.91-1.01L12 2z"/></svg>
-          +{card.meta?.points ?? 2} Punkte
-        </span>
-      </div>
-      <div className="pair-header-divider" />
-
-      <div className="pair-card-body" onClick={e => e.stopPropagation()}>
+      <div className="pair-card-body" onClick={e => e.stopPropagation()} style={{ paddingTop: 18 }}>
         <p className="pair-section-label">Frage</p>
         <p className="pair-question">
           {resolveSentence(sentence, card.placeholders, handleChipClick, activeChip?.id)}