A browser extension that turns Chinese vocabulary you meet while watching YouTube with Language Reactor (LR) into rich Anki cards with a single click. Each card carries the word (Hanzi), Pinyin, translation, the current subtitle sentence, stroke-order animations and a timestamped link back to the exact moment in the video.
Cards are sent straight into a running Anki Desktop via AnkiConnect, so you can create them on your computer and study them on your phone after a sync.
Language scope: despite the generic name, the language being learned is Chinese (Mandarin), and this is fixed. The extraction and card features are Chinese-specific: Pinyin (with tone colors), Hanzi handling, stroke-order animations and
zh_CNTTS.The translation language (the meaning shown on the card) is whatever you set Language Reactor to display, e.g. German, French or English. A Latin-script translation language works best; a CJK-script translation (e.g. Japanese) may be trimmed incorrectly.
Click a word in Language Reactor, then the ➕ Anki button in the panel:
| Reading - front | Reading - back |
|---|---|
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| Translating - front | Deck overview |
|---|---|
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The same cards after syncing, in light and dark mode:
| Light | Dark |
|---|---|
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- One-click capture: an "➕ Anki" button appears inside LR's dictionary panel when you click a word.
- Tri-directional cards from a single note, each training a different skill (no redundant cards):
- Reading: Hanzi → reveal Pinyin → translation
- Translating: translation → Hanzi + Pinyin
- Listening: audio → Hanzi + Pinyin + translation
- Optional Pinyin you can tap to reveal (works offline on mobile too).
- Stroke-order animations per character, tap to play, stored offline.
- Pinyin tone colors (Pleco scheme), switchable in the options.
- Pronunciation via Anki's built-in text-to-speech.
- Per-skill subdecks (
…::Reading,…::Translating,…::Listening) so each skill can be studied or suspended on its own. - Duplicate-aware: a word with the same meaning and sentence is not added twice; the same word in a different sentence is added as a new card. The source link/timestamp is ignored for this check (as is the frequency rank, which Language Reactor does not always display).
- Automatic field cleanup (Pinyin that LR mixes into the Chinese/translation lines is removed) and dark-mode-aware card styling.
- Google Chrome (or a Chromium browser) with the Language Reactor extension.
- Anki Desktop running, with the AnkiConnect add-on installed.
In Anki: Tools > Add-ons > Get Add-ons…, enter code 2055492159, restart Anki. Keep Anki running
while adding cards.
Pick whichever fits you:
- From a release zip (no build needed): download the latest
...-chrome.zipfrom the Releases page and unzip it. Then inchrome://extensionsenable Developer mode, click Load unpacked, and select the unzipped folder. - Build it yourself: see DEVELOPER.md, then load the
.output/chrome-mv3folder the same way (Developer mode → Load unpacked).
(A one-click Chrome Web Store install is planned; until then, loading unpacked requires Developer mode.)
On first use, Anki shows an "Allow connection" popup — click Yes. The origin is then remembered.
If no popup appears, add the extension id (chrome-extension://<id>) to AnkiConnect's
webCorsOriginList config.
The extension reads what Language Reactor shows, so a few LR settings matter. Open them via the LR toolbar icon.
Required (otherwise fields come out empty or wrong):
- YouTube subtitle language: Chinese (China) — the words and sentences being read.
- Machine translation: on — provides the sentence translation (the human translation is usually "not available").
- Translation language: a Latin-script language (e.g. German or English) — the meaning shown on the card.
Recommended:
- Show romanization / transliteration: Always — so the sentence Pinyin is captured. (The word's own Pinyin comes from the dictionary panel regardless of this setting.)
Does not matter (the extension handles it either way):
- "Show transliterations: with original form" vs. other modes.
- Mini dictionary, subtitle controls, highlight colors, and similar display toggles.
- Open a YouTube video with Language Reactor active and dual subtitles showing.
- Click a Chinese word so LR's dictionary panel opens.
- Click ➕ Anki in the panel. A toast confirms the card was saved.
- Sync Anki to study on your phone.
TTS voice: pronunciation uses Anki's built-in TTS (
zh_CN), so a Chinese text-to-speech voice must be available on the device. Desktop Anki usually has one; on AnkiDroid/AnkiMobile you may need to install a Chinese TTS engine/voice, otherwise the play button stays silent.
Open the options page via chrome://extensions → the extension → Details > Extension options.
| Setting | Default |
|---|---|
| AnkiConnect URL | http://127.0.0.1:8765 |
| Deck | Chinese::Language Reactor |
| Note type | Language Reactor Chinese (3 card types) |
| Pinyin tone colors | on |
| TTS audio | on |
Saving re-applies the note type styling to Anki immediately (if Anki is reachable).
See DEVELOPER.md for architecture, build scripts, tests, the input-cleaning details, and how to maintain the extension when Language Reactor changes.
This extension is for personal language-learning use. It reads what Language Reactor already displays in your browser and, at your request, copies small snippets (a word, its translation, the current sentence) into your own Anki collection. It does not redistribute any YouTube or Language Reactor content, and it sends no data to the author.
Please respect the Terms of Service of YouTube and Language Reactor. If you redistribute this tool or use it commercially, review those terms and your local copyright law first. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Language Reactor, YouTube/Google, or Anki.
- Code: MIT (see LICENSE).
- HanziWriter — MIT.
- Stroke data (
hanzi-writer-data, from the Make Me a Hanzi project) — Arphic Public License.