I just want to say THANK YOU to the creator of Readlang, this tool is so frictionless and it really made me start learning more Dutch.
Recently I wrote about how I automate the process of downloading Dutch TV subtitles on NPO Start for reading in Readlang: From DevTools Detective to Automation Hero: My Quest for Dutch Subtitles | Shing's Blog. Hope this can inspire others to learn Dutch more easily or use similar methods for other video streaming sites.
That was a nice read. A creative way to get interesting reading material into Readlang!
Hi. Interesting article. Maybe this procedure is necessary for you, and would also be useful for other programmes on the NOS app. But just to say that for those of us with access to YouTube, the particular program you mention in that post, NOS Journaal in Maakelijke Taal, is posted there every weekday, with proper subtitles. So for me, in Europe, uploading to Readlang is easy. I watch it every day (on Readlang). :). NB NOS jeugdjornaal is also on YouTube. The subtitles are auto-generated, but I find this fine for this kind of video.
Oh I didn’t know that. Thank you @WarsawWill_RandomIde.
I started watching NOS jeugdjornaal on YouTube, but the auto-generated subtitle quality was too bad, so I swtiched to NPO Start website for better quality subtitles and never look back on YouTube.
How exactly do you import the YouTube NOS Journaal in Maakelijke Taal subtitle to Readlang? Did you copy-paste the “Show transcription” using this method: Easier way to sync YouTube videos (beta)?
Hi. In answer to your second question, yes.
Saying “how exactly”, I’ll no doubt be telling you things you already know, but here goes. First of all, this only seems to work on a PC. I’ve found no way of copying the transcript on Android, for example.
I open the video, click on more in the description below and scroll down to show transcript, and click on that. This then opens at the top right. I make sure it’s showing Dutch, and not Dutch (auto-generated), then click on the three vertical dots above the transcript. This allows me to toggle the time settings off.
I then copy the transcript, without the time settings, and upload it to Readlang, go back to YouTube, click on Share below the video, and click on Copy.
I now open the text on Readlang, open the YouTube page on the right, and paste in the link. I then go back to YouTube, toggle the time settings back on again, copy the transcript with its time settings, open the YouTube page on Readlang again, and paste it in, and Readlang does the rest.
This might all sound a bit fiddly, but I do it so often that it’s like second nature, and really only takes seconds.
Incidentally, when I want a reasonably good transcript , and YouTube only has auto-generated, or when there is none at all, I use TurboScribe (free version - up to 3, maximum 30 minutes each, per day).
I also sometimes record the audio with Audacity, and upload it to Readlang as an MP3, which Readlang then converts into text. This is a bit more fiddly, as I then need to copy Readlang’s generated text to a new Readlang upload, in order to enable the video, and then delete the first, audio, version. But again it only takes seconds. And would be an easy way of generating better, usable texts from Jeugdjournaal.
Great tips! Thank you. I think there are a lot of potential to automate these steps. I don’t think Readlang currently have an API? But doesn’t seem too difficult to automate with browser-based automation. Will note that down as my next weekend project.
I updated the post to include your suggestion, Thank you @WarsawWill_RandomIde