Blair Mastbaum Last updated: Language Reactor Review: Lots of Video Content but Some Learning Skills Not Covered
Put simply, Language Reactor is a way to learn a language mainly by watching Netflix and YouTube videos. In fact, the program used to be called Language Learning with Netflix.
To test this claim out, I tried Language Reactor to see how well it worked for me.
My favorite aspect of the program is that it transforms watching movies, TV shows and YouTube videos into learning experiences, but I wish there were opportunities to practice grammar, writing and speaking.
Overview
Name: Language Reactor
Description: Language Reactor allows you to learn through any Netflix or YouTube video. Through their website and their Google Chrome extension, you can get reliable subtitles and other learning activities based around authentic videos.
Languages offered: English, Spanish, French, Afrikaans, Arabic, Basque, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Latin, Lithuanian, Malay, Maltese, Marathi, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu and Vietnamese.
Offer price: Free; $5 per month for pro membership (a Netflix subscription is also required)
Summary
Language Reactor has plentiful content and gives you a way to learn languages from any Netflix or YouTube video, which is a powerful offering at a very affordable price. But the lack of a mobile app, a user experience that needs improvement and the lack of speaking, grammar and writing skills practice makes it better as an add-on to another learning program for now.
- User friendliness - 6/106/10
- Delivers on promises - 7/107/10
- Authenticity - 9/109/10
- Value for price - 8/108/10
Pros
- Plentiful content
- Allows for learning with any Netflix or YouTube video
- Attractive pricing
- Interactive subtitles
Cons
- No mobile app
- User experience could be improved
- Lack of speaking, grammar and writing skill activities
Contents
- Key Features of Language Reactor
- Pros of Language Reactor
- Cons of Language Reactor
- Language Reactor Versus Similar Video-based Programs
- The Final Verdict for Language Reactor
- And One More Thing...
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Key Features of Language Reactor
Accurate interactive subtitles for any Netflix or YouTube video
Subtitles are available in both the language you’re learning and in your native language, so you’ll never be confused by what someone is saying. This sounds like a simple thing, but it’s actually quite hard to access accurate multi-language subtitles for many streaming videos.
You also get an overview of the previous and coming up next subtitles, so you can see the current ones in context of the larger text/video. This helps massively with understanding, especially when you’re just starting out.
When you want to review or learn more about a specific word or phrase, the video automatically pauses, so you don’t miss out on anything or get lost.
With the subtitles, you can roll over words to translate, which automatically pauses the video. And you can click words and phrases to see translations, synonyms and other occurrences of the word in the video you’re watching and links to the word in an online dictionary of your choice.
You can also color-code your vocabulary words to easily differentiate between words that you know, words that you’re learning and words that aren’t important to you, so you can easily pass those up for more important target words and phrases, so you don’t have to waste precious time.
PhrasePump
PhrasePump is a game-like feature of Language Reactor that gives you a different way to learn new words and phrases.
It also has listening exercises, where you listen to the sentence first, then reveal the Spanish (or whatever language you’re working with) and then the translation. I found this super effective for upping my own listening skills, which always seems to be my weakest skill in Spanish.
The native audio is clear and accurate, but to me, the Spanish accent sounds more Latin American than European. Just something to note if you were looking for Castilian Spanish.
Chatbot
Language Reactor’s new chatbot feature is surprisingly fun and helpful and I’m one of those who’s suspicious of AI and chatbots in general. There are fun characters like Rhianna, Elon Musk and Winston Churchill that let you experience different tones and registers, ranging from super casual to quite academic and formal. I like the Rhianna one the best because “she” sounds a lot like how I imagine the real pop star would sound.
I appreciated this feature more than I thought I would because it really gives you the feeling that you’re chatting with a real person, and it gives you a good way to see how many words and phrases you really know.
The chatbot suggests things you can say, so you’re never caught without a reply. (It happens to me early in the morning.)
Book section
Sure, it’s not difficult to include some full length books on a language learning platform, but Language Reactor has taken the time to include everything from Spanish classics to some modern choices. For people who love to read, this is incredibly convenient, but I suspect that most people won’t use this section. I didn’t because I don’t like to read on my computer. It’s still a nice option to have for big readers.
Pros of Language Reactor
A plethora of authentic content available
You can watch videos both through the program’s website and through their Google Chrome extension that works with Netflix and YouTube.
And since Language Reactor uses Netflix and YouTube as the source of its video, the content is virtually unlimited and the libraries are always changing, always updating and always growing. You can find everything from makeup tutorials and travel vlogs to full length movies and TV shows.
And look at that! Two of my favorite Spanish-language movies came up first: “The Skin I Live In” by Pedro Almodovar and “Roma,” which is shot in rich black-and-white and set in Mexico City’s Roma Norte neighborhood. It was actually quite satisfying to re-watch these movies and learn Spanish words and phrases while I was doing so.
Allows for learning with any Netflix or YouTube video
Since you’re most likely already spending a lot of time on Netflix and YouTube (I know I am!), this ability to transform these videos into language learning lessons is super practical and actually a lot of fun.
I can’t even imagine how many videos are currently on offer on Netflix and YouTube combined. It must be tens of thousands at any one time, so there’s something that interests everyone (well, almost everyone!).
I personally love watching Spanish movies and Spanish-language travel vlogs, so I can plan my next vacation in my mind while learning.
Lots of subtitle features
On Language Reactor, you can automatically pause the subtitles and video any time you want, replay what you just watched with just a keystroke and speed up and slow down audio in real time, which is really helpful for when you’re getting lost (or already lost!).
I also really liked being able to read both Spanish and English subtitles right next to each other. I found this more helpful than I thought I would. This may be because I’m the type of learner who likes to refer back to my native language (English) when I’m learning. I know some experts don’t recommend this (they call it language interference), but it helps me.
Lots of languages to choose from
Language Reactor has over 30 languages to choose from right now, which is really impressive compared to some similar programs. They even feature some relatively uncommon languages such as Afrikaans, Basque, Slovak and Estonian to name a few. I tried a little Estonian and wow, that’s a lot of vowels all in a row! Kuuuurija means “moon explorer” or “astronaut.”
Word lists
Another good feature of Language Reactor is its word lists. These lists can show word lists for an entire movie or episode and they can be filtered by level, so you don’t waste time learning words you’ve already mastered.
Since I’m an intermediate Spanish learner, I filtered out the beginner words from my word list, so I didn’t have to waste time reading a bunch of words I already know. This worked really well for me. I also liked being able to save words to lists so I can go back in my spare time and review.
Cons of Language Reactor
Lack of a mobile app
You have to do Language Reactor on a desktop or laptop because they don’t have a mobile app. For me, this was a bummer because I like to learn on-the-go. When I take a train or bus, or even when I have a few minutes in a grocery store line, I like to quickly watch a video and learn a few new words in context.
Without an app, this just isn’t possible. Maybe they’ll come out with one some day, but until then, you have to use your computer.
User experience could be improved
The user experience of Language Reactor and their Chrome extension feels a bit technical and less user friendly than your typical language learning app. This isn’t a deal breaker for me, but with so many prettier apps with excellent user experiences, this relegates Language Reactor to a lower tech category that feels a bit like the early 2010s.
Like I said, depending on your user experience preferences, this could even be a good thing, but I like state of the art websites, so this annoyed me a little. A friend of mine I showed it to loved the retro tech feel of the site.
There are no opportunities to practice grammar, writing or speaking skills
I know this is a video-focused program, but there are no grammar tips offered along the way. And I know for me, when I see a strange verb conjugation or sentence structure, I like to stop and review why it’s the way it is.
There also aren’t any ways to practice writing or speaking skills, so it doesn’t feel like a holistic program, meaning I don’t think I could learn a language from start to finish with this platform. I realized after watching videos for a couple hours and then reviewing some new words on their PhrasePump feature that I was thinking and reading a lot, but I hadn’t even opened my mouth once. This doesn’t help for shy language learners like me, because I know from personal experience that speaking, even to yourself, really helps with confidence.
Language Reactor Versus Similar Video-based Programs
Language Reactor vs. FluentU
OK full disclosure, I’m a team member here, but honestly for me, the best alternative for Language Reactor has to be FluentU because the two programs do very similar things—they both focus on authentic video to help you learn a language.
In this FluentU match-up, I would definitely give it a win for its well designed mobile app, which I use all the time. Currently, I’m learning beginner French because I have a trip planned there for next year.
FluentU also has a Netflix extension that works really well and gives you that important access to all that entertaining content.
Overall, the whole FluentU program experience feels a little more curated to me and it has a few more features, such as personalized quizzes. It also has grammar explanations and an in-house dictionary with images, which, for me, helps me remember words a lot faster.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
Language Reactor vs. CaptionPop
The main drawback with CaptionPop is that you can’t watch Netflix videos on it, just YouTube. But, hey, YouTube is a rich treasure trove of videos of all kinds, from TV shows and movies to make up tutorials and video gaming to travel vlogs. And I personally spend much more time on YouTube than on Netflix because of its short-form video format.
Technically, CaptionPop is pretty basic, with multilingual subtitles for every video that you can pause, see translations for, repeat and go to the next and previous lines.
But there is a well done flashcards feature that has a lot of customizable features. You can organize your personal flashcards by genre, YouTuber, difficulty, subject, language or any other category you can think of really. And when you review your flashcards, the video clip in which the word appears plays, so you’re always hearing it in context spoken by a real speaker. That’s a cool feature.
Language Reactor vs. Yabla
Yabla also focuses on authentic video for its teaching approach, and I like a lot about this program, too. It definitely has a smoother, slicker user experience than Language Reactor.
Yabla is also based around authentic videos like music videos, news reports, interviews and documentaries, which are accompanied by interactive learning features that are very similar to Language Reactor’s.
These include subtitles in both the original language and whatever other language you choose, interactive transcripts, games, quizzes and some other useful vocab tools.
It’s easier on the eyes than Language Reactor and it also turns your viewing experiences into mini-lessons, which I really prefer, because they end up feeling a little more organized.
The Final Verdict for Language Reactor
Overall, I found that Language Reactor was worth it for me. With a low monthly price and thousands of videos available, there are virtually unlimited learning resources. But the user experience could be improved and while there are chances to practice words you’ve learned, there aren’t quizzes you can do to make sure you’re on track. (I love quizzes, in case you can’t tell!)
Nevertheless, Language Reactor works like it says it does and there is so much content, you’ll likely never get bored with this program. I’ve found myself returning to Language Reactor when I want to re-watch a movie or series in Spanish, so I can learn a little bit more while I watch. It’s also an excellent value.
And One More Thing...
If you dig the idea of learning on your own time from the comfort of your smart device with real-life authentic language content, you'll love using FluentU.
With FluentU, you'll learn real languages—as they're spoken by native speakers. FluentU has a wide variety of videos as you can see here:
FluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.
Didn't catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover your mouse over the subtitles to instantly view definitions.
You can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU's "learn mode." Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.
And FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You get a truly personalized experience.
Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
