YouTube importer language app

[Leif]

I am currently using LingQ, and I’ve worked out a language routine that works for me. I import videos, I then listen to the video, and read the transcript. I click on unknown words to see the meaning. I also listen to podcasts and watch videos outside LingQ. I study German A2 and French B2+.

Anyway, LingQ is so bug ridden and near unusable, that I’m looking for an alternative. Any recommendations please. I am using an iPad running iOS 17.

I looked at Migaku today, but it looks like I have to use a Chrome browser extension. I can’t for the life of me install the Chrome browser extension. It says it is installed, but I cannot see it.

Language Reactor only has selected YouTube videos which don’t appeal.

[emk]

I looked at Migaku today, but it looks like I have to use a Chrome browser extension. I can’t for the life of me install the Chrome browser extension. It says it is installed, but I cannot see it.

Language Reactor only has selected YouTube videos which don’t appeal.

The Migaku browser extension is hidden by default, but you can follow these instructions to show it.

For Language Reactor, they offer a curated list of videos by default. But if you install their extension, you can watch anything on YouTube that has subtitles. Just go to YouTube and enable their extension.

Here's my current thoughts on how to choose between the two:

1. Language Reactor is user-friendly and easy to get working. It has the best interface for sitting down and studying a video. It can apparently also work with bilingual text. But it makes fairly poor flashcards using synthensized voices, which are often repeating grammatically incorrect transcriptions generated by YouTube. I would stay well away from their flashcards. If you must use their synthesized voice flashcards, I recommend sticking to Netflix shows, which will not have tons of grammatical errors in the subtitles.
2. Migaku is clunky. I'm serious about this; you will hit lots of weird little obstacles trying to get it to work. Its video-watching tools are intended more for extensive watching than for intensive study. Migaku's main selling point is that it makes much better audio cards, using the original audio instead of synthesized voices. On the downside, you need to use their flashcard app, which is also pretty clunky.

I would recommend Language Reactor for most people, unless you're specifically focusing on Subs2SRS-style flashcards. There are also a couple of other options out there which require more technical skill to set up, but they seem to be heavily focused on Japanese.

[Leif]

Thank you. I have been told by a Google expert that Chrome on an iPad does not support extensions. And there is no Language Reactor Safari extension, so it looks like LingQ is the only choice. I just wish it wasn’t so shonky.

[emk]

Thank you. I have been told by a Google expert that Chrome on an iPad does not support extensions. And there is no Language Reactor Safari extension, so it looks like LingQ is the only choice. I just wish it wasn’t so shonky.

Ouch, yeah, an iPad makes this difficult. The browser on iOS devices is locked down hard. On a desktop, I'd recommend Language Reactor, their browser extension and a Netflix account.

For anyone else seeing this thread, I've been collecting reviews of video watching and audio flashcard creation tools. If someone was on an Android tablet, and if they were studying Japanese, then I'd recommend glancing at jidoujisho. This claims to be a 100% mobile-native application, with video-watching support. And it apparently plugs into the excellent AnkiDroid. I need to download this and review it in detail at some point. But I'm not aware of anything like this for iOS or for other languages.

There has not historically been a ton of money in building tools like LingQ. Which is too bad; I think these are great ways to ease into native materials.