Language Reactor is a Chrome extension that adds learning tools to Netflix and YouTube, and it was once called Language Learning with Netflix. On Reddit (r/languagelearning), Language Reactor users ask for more places to use those tools. One wanted to click words in YouTube videos on an iPad or a phone. Another wanted a podcast player that repeats a phrase until they catch it, like Language Reactor does for video.
Each section below covers one of those wishes, and Language Reactor has the first card.
What Language Reactor Does
Language Reactor
Language Reactor suits learners who already watch shows and videos in the language they're learning. Its Chrome Web Store page counts 2,000,000 users, and it runs in Chrome on Windows and Mac computers.
- Watch Netflix with subtitles in two languages at once.
- Use precise playback controls to replay a line.
- Import a text to read with a machine translation and lifelike text-to-speech.
Browser extension
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
Bubblegum is the best app for serious learners. You learn from text and audio you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
In Bubblegum, Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons on topics you choose, from a show you love to the news. You read and hear each one on your phone, at a level where most of it makes sense.
The trade-off is that Bubblegum can't play a Netflix show or a YouTube video for you. For that, Language Reactor and the apps below are the fit.
- Every lesson is written for you, so there's nothing to find or set up.
- Poppy writes each lesson at your level, so you can follow along.
- Ask Poppy about a line you didn't catch, and she explains it.
- Saved words return in fresh lessons through Regenerative Review™.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- Netflix shows and YouTube videos can't be brought in.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Watch Shows on Your Phone or Tablet
Lingopie
Lingopie has more than 5,000 shows, podcasts, and books across 15 languages. Its site says it works on any device, and it has apps for iPhone and Android.
- Tap or hover on a word to see the meaning people use when they talk.
- Slow down playback when a line goes by too fast.
- Make your own word lists and flashcards from what you watch.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Make Flashcards From What You Watch
Migaku
Migaku is a Chrome extension and mobile app for 11 languages, from Japanese and Korean to German and Italian. Its team says they learned languages mostly by watching and reading, and built the tool they wished they'd had.
- Look up words on websites as well as in subtitles.
- Make a card in one click from Netflix, YouTube, or a web page.
- Import your own subtitles and the words you already know.
- Flashcards
MobileBrowser extension
Listen to Podcasts as Lessons
LingQ
LingQ lets you listen to a lesson while you read its text, so you can see the words you didn't catch. It covers 53 languages.
- Turn podcasts, songs, and videos into lessons with transcripts and translations.
- Choose from a library of podcasts, news, and other lessons.
- Lessons pair each text with its audio.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Other Apps We Looked At (3)
- ReadlangA video player for YouTube songs and conversations, with full transcripts, plus click-to-translate on any web page.
- Kimchi ReaderFor Korean: a pop-up dictionary on YouTube, Netflix, and Viki subtitles, with a pause after every line if you want it.
- YomitanFor Japanese and more: hover over words in subtitles, articles, and PDFs to see what they mean.
Common Questions
Which Language Reactor alternative should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning a language, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with Lingopie if you'd like shows with clickable subtitles on your phone, or with Migaku if you want its beginner course of the most common words first.
Which of these work on a phone?
Lingopie, Migaku, LingQ, and Bubblegum have iPhone and Android apps. Language Reactor's Chrome Web Store page says it runs in Chrome on Windows and Mac computers.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Language Reactor: Chrome Web Store listing (formerly Language Learning with Netflix)
- r/languagelearning: Is there an app like Language Reactor for YouTube on iPad/iPhone?
- r/languagelearning: Language Reactor "repeat phrase" for podcasts?
- Lingopie: Learn a language with TV shows and movies
- Migaku: Turn the shows you watch into your lessons
- LingQ: Learn from podcasts, books and shows
- Readlang: Features (Video Player with transcripts)
- Kimchi Reader: Features (Netflix, Viki and YouTube)
- Yomitan: Getting started
- Language Reactor
- Bubblegum
- Lingopie
- Migaku
- LingQ
Checked on October 14, 2026 against each app's own pages.
