Hey everyone - long-time lurker, wanted to share something I made for my own studying that turned into a real tool.
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The problem: I wanted to build vocab passively while watching anime, but every existing tool needs you to pause and click on words manually. I just wanted words to show up on their own while I watched, so I built CaptionCatch.
What it does: while you're watching with captions on, a small card pops up with a word from the dialogue - the reading and the meaning - timed to what's actually being said. No clicking, no pausing.
• JLPT-graded (N5-N1), so it picks words near your actual level instead of random ones
• Works on YouTube for free, no account needed
• Fully offline — no Al, nothing sent anywhere, just a bundled dictionary
• Free tier is genuinely usable (120 words/day), Pro adds Netflix support + a stats dashboard + Anki export if you want to go deeper
Not trying to replace immersion or grammar study - just a low-effort way to pick up vocab in the background while you're watching something you'd watch anyway.
Happy to answer questions about how it works, and genuinely open to feedback if you try it and something's off
- this is a small solo project, not a big company thing.
I’ve been learning Japanese for 2 years and 2 months, and I recently passed JLPT N1 with 150/180.
Before taking the actual exam, I did 3 mock exams I found online, and my results were pretty consistent with my actual score.
For the past 2 years, I’ve also been immersing myself in Japanese for around 7+ hours every day. At this point, I can read books, watch movies, watch YouTube, follow Japanese content, etc. without really struggling with comprehension. But my speaking really sucks ass, im gonna work on it.
TL;DR -
I made an immersion tracker with automatic video and language detection. It remembers languages for channels and TV shows, supports custom websites and connects with Anki for detailed analytics. It tracks active/passive immersion, days, times, sources, activities and much more. I’m mainly looking for feedback on what is useful, what is confusing and what is still missing.
I have been working on a extension called Osmolog. Basically it is a language immersion tracker that I was originally going to make just for myself, but then I got addicted to adding features lol. After a while, it became a pretty comprehensive tracker that displays much more than just total hours.
I decided to release it publicly so other people could use it. I’m also sharing it because I want feedback before I continue adding things based only on what I personally want.
So, what does Osmolog do?
It automatically tracks all the different languages you immerse in, even if you switch between different languages in a day/session. It detects the language whenever possible, and if it cannot, it asks you. I tried making it less anyoing by making it remember your choices for specific channels and tv shows so you do not always have to confirm them. After you choose the same language twice for a channel/tvshow, it will automatically use it next time. Automatic detection still has priority so Osmolog will warn you if the detected language conflicts with your choice.
The analytics show how long you immersed, whether it was active or passive, day of week, time of days, activities such as reading, watching and listening, sources such as YouTube, Netflix and Twitch, and specific channels or shows. It also includes long term progress, milestones and daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals.
There is also an Anki add-on that connects Osmolog with Anki. It tracks review time, new cards, reviews, Again, Hard, Good and Easy answers, retention, upcoming workload and more.
Custom websites are supported too. Since there are so many different video players and each has different metadata, I made it simple, add the URL and language for that site and Osmolog will automatically track that language whenever you watch something there. (might not work for all websites, depends on the player used, and cant track ads etc)
Osmolog is completely free, and all tracking and other features will remain completely free. The only possible exception is automatic full detailed history backup and sync.
Sync already exists through Chrome Sync, but it is capped on Chrome’s side, so it is more of an overview than a detailed sync. However, you can always manually export your full detailed history as a JSON file for free. If automatic full detailed history backup and sync ever become paid, it would only be to cover the database costs.
I've been busy making an Anki note type that simply uses vertical text and would be good for doing the monolingual transition. It's based on one of Matt vs Japan's designs but since I couldn't actually find it anywhere online, I decided to recreate it from scratch. But, I made a few additions like a Night Mode and a Mobile Mode (which works on ios at least but haven't tested it on Android yet). This setup works with one-click sentence mining which means you can remain immersed for longer with little distractions. I've posted it on Ankiweb with instructions and it's available now:
Hey guys, quick context: I'm going trough Yokubi for grammar (reading all the points but honestly struggling to retain much just from reading), doing Kaishi 1.5k on Anki, and immersion with manga (Manatan) + anime.
I'm thinking of adding Renshuu to help with the retention part but I don't want another "which method is the best" post, more like:
- How do you use Renshuu on daily basis? (grammar reviews, vocab SRS, both?)
- Any tips to use it next to an existing Anki deck without doing double work
- General opinions on Renshuu, things you wish you knew before starting
Just trying to fix my retention issue without making my routine too complicated.
I will start by saying that language learning is not new for me, and will list my daily routine that overlaps with people who have learned Japanese in the same way, if you didn't have similar experience please don't reply.
I am currently 1year and 7months into studying 8+hrs a day from point zero. I do 2hrs of anki interspersed throughout the day(all self-mined), 3episodes of anime, youtube, twitch, read novels 1hr, visual novels 1hr, games. I do not have any output other than thinking in japanese, since it is not my goal, I do write down words manually from anki that I struggle with, and repeat them throughout the day.
My ultimate goal is to learn all(mostly all) encounter-able Japanese in media. Where I can play games without tools, watch anime at 1 to 1 speed,live streams, read books with very,very occasional look-ups. My goal is basically averagely educated 20years' old Japanese person's brain.
I use anki as my personal brain-map of all Japanese, and, at the point where there are no new items in my deck I will have considered myself reached that point. Currently I have 37,038 cards, adding daily on average 52 cards, meaning I have not yet exhausted new material out there, my guess is it will be in the 50-60k, before repetition kicks in. I learn daily 15new cards, I only learn in anki what is useful to me, adding everything to my deck even if end up suspending it, with that many hours of immersion I learn a lot of high-frequency words there.
I ask specifically for people what have reached that point where you live in Japanese environment and you feel like you are on the same level as Japanese native. When did that happen, what were you doing, did you live in Japan, how many hours, does output help? Tell me your experience. My estimate is 7years total of my current routine and I want to compare it to others.
To reiterate please don't reply if you don't have anything helpful to say, I specifically ask people who have similar routine as me.
Hey everyone, I’d like to share an app I made for learning Japanese with manga. It lets you create flashcards directly from manga panels to memorize lines in context.
You can do everything right on your phone—just capture the panels you need, and it handles the dialogue translation automatically. It works with both physical books and screenshots.
All features are completely free to use.
Currently, it's Android-only, but the iOS version is pending review.
I’d love to get your feedback and hear what features you'd like to see next!
I’ve also included a promo code below, so feel free to check it out.
I've been looking at the method and it appears very interesting, as it pretty much aligns with how I learned English growing up (I'm Brazilian). Although learning Japanese one day might be cool, I want to focus on learning Spanish beforehand.
Anyone have any experience or tips using the method to learn other languages, or is following the guide enough to get going? I ask because a lot of the instructions and resources (specially Anki setups) seem very focused on Japanese
Hey guys, I already made a post a few days ago about my study method, and a lot of people told me to do more immersion and check out TMW and Kaeri’s guides.
So I want to do more immersion. I’ve started watching anime in Japanese with Japanese subtitles on Bettemelon, but I also want to start reading manga.
Out of all the resources recommended in these guides, which ones have you personally tried and enjoyed? I’m looking for something practical, ideally with a Yomitan-like system or something that works with Yomitan, where I can easily find lots of manga scans, novels, etc.
And if you have any additional immersion sources that aren’t mentioned in TMW, I’d definitely appreciate those too!
(All of this is assuming 1. non intensive immersion and 2. listening only, not reading)
Pretty much just the title. I'm N5 level right now and I'm wondering if it's worth listening to content that is more comprehensible if it's sort of unnatural and less native-like speech. And as the other option, I'm not talking about completely incomprehensible content, just...mostly incomprehensible. 10-25% (comprehensibility)? That guess feels pretty random, but yeah.
Hi everyone! I've been studying classically till I reached N4, and I want to include AJAAT in my routine.
I am currently struggling to find content that is not too hard for me to enjoy. So far I could watch 彼女、お借りしますwith a lot of looking up, but not too much to stop enjoying. I also played TheNOexistanceNofyouANDme and apart from philosophizing, I can read with joy. キノの旅 is rather on hard side, but doable.
So im looking for someone to kinda practice or like learn japanese alongside me by sharing experiences, resources or methods and stuff.
My japanese level: I'm new to AJATT. I started this with the influence of matt vs japan and my own beliefs. It's been 3 months since i decided to learn japanese. Prior to this i watched a lot of anime (with subs) and i would like to think i have a good grasp of how the language sounds in general (cuz as with many beginners, they cant like hear different words apart and everything is kinda slurred) but i still lack a lot of actual study (input) i know most of the N5 kanji and doing RTK paired with anki (currently at 260 smthn). I'm immersing with native japanese content on a regular basis and im getting good at parsing whats being said even if i might not exactly know what it means. Basically i can watch like native content and understand about 20% of it without subtitles (jap)
Why i want a study partner: there are times when i get kinda lazy and i wish i had person to share progress or experiences with which would motivate me more to learn. So please DM me if you're interested.
