Language Reactor is an online tool that provides language learning features for video. Its main feature is an extension for YouTube and Netflix that provides smart subtitles and dictionary lookups. Today I’ll be giving an overview of what Language Reactor does and how it can help with learning languages.
How does Language Reactor work?
Language Reactor can be used with YouTube or Netflix. It can be used to learn over 50 languages.
The YouTube version works using an extension for Chrome browser. Once installed, the features of the app will appear alongside the usual controls on a YouTube video. The Netflix version is also offered as an extension. For this review I tried out the Chrome extension for YouTube.
What features does it have?
The features of Language Reactor apply across two languages: the source language and the target language.
Language Reactor provides translations of subtitles. This will only work for videos that already contain subtitles in the source language.
It translates the subtitles from the source language into your target language and displays them both on screen. In addition to the meaning of the subtitle as a whole, the definition of an individual word can be looked up by clicking on it.
There is an option to automatically pause the video at the end of each subtitle. This makes it easier to explore the meaning without having to constantly stop the video manually.
It also sorts all of the words in the source language according to their general frequency in that language. Language Reactor will highlight certain words based on your vocabulary level. Words above your level can be shown in purple while those within your level can be displayed in green. This helps with improving your vocabulary.
Another nifty feature is that you can access the entire list of subtitles with their translations and timestamps. This can then be displayed in printable format or Excel format. The “Export” button makes this possible. This can be handy if you wish to view your subtitles offline or when you’re away from your computer.
Keyboard shortcuts are also available to make navigating between subtitles more efficient.
Who is Language Reactor good for?
Language Reactor can be useful for you as a language learner if you:
- Are looking to improve your vocabulary
- Wish to understand what you are watching
- Enjoy learning by watching or interacting
What does it help with?
Language Reactor assists with:
- Expanding your vocabulary
- Listening practise
- Improving pronunciation
How much does it cost?
As I tested the free version, all the features mentioned in this article and some more are included in that. There is a paid “Pro” version which offers certain conveniences such as saving individual subtitles and words for referencing later. The paid version costs €5,39 per month or €12,54 for 3 months.
Does it offer anything else?
Aside from the extension that’s offered for YouTube and Chrome, the Language Reactor website offers a few other useful language tools:
- TurtleTube: A collection of videos based on your language level. If you don’t have any specific content that you want to use Language Reactor with, TurtleTube provides pre-selected catalogues for YouTube and Netflix
- PhrasePump: A mini-game that reads out a sentence for you to guess the words to. You can playback the audio as many times as you like before revealing the transcription. This can help with listening practise.
- Text translation: You can provide a piece of text to translate and read aloud, similar to Google Translate.