What is Subs2srs?#
Subs2srs is a free software that can convert video files and subtitle files into a set of Anki cards to help foreign language learners practice listening and speaking, and do sentence mining for unfamiliar vocabulary or grammar structures.
Download link: https://sourceforge.net/projects/subs2srs/
User manual: https://subs2srs.sourceforge.net/
We can combine YouTube videos downloaded with yt-dlp with srt subtitles or videos and subtitles downloaded from movies or TV shows to convert them into files that can be imported into Anki for use in language learning.
For example, after downloading yt-dlp and ffmpeg, setting the environment variables, selecting a folder, and opening it in the terminal, you can enter the video, playlist, or channel you want to download:
yt-dlp --write-sub --sub-lang en --convert-subs srt -f "bestvideo[height<=360]+bestaudio/best[height<=360]" -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/@Vox/videos"
How to use Subs2srs#
It is recommended to refer to the image above. Subs1 is the location of the subtitle file for the language you want to learn, and subs2 is the location of the subtitle file for your native language. (Supports some regular expressions for batch processing of anime or TV series)
Pad timing is an extension of subtitle timing. Start extends it forward, and end extends it backward. The reason for this setting is to make the dialogue transition smoother.
However, I wrote a lazy Python script here to batch process UTF-8 SRT merging subtitles:
https://pastebin.com/Yv4fZdQT
I set it to merge subtitles if two or consecutive subtitles with a time difference of no more than 250ms, you can modify the number in if time_diff <= 250, for example, 90ms is suitable for Japanese.
How to find YouTube videos with subtitles (a common problem when learning Japanese)#
If you are having trouble finding YouTube videos with Japanese CC subtitles, I suggest you can enter some Japanese words on the following website to find suitable Japanese YouTube videos: https://youglish.com/japanese
Youglish supports a limited number of languages, a total of a dozen or so, but it is already friendly enough for general language learners. It supports up to 25 word queries per day (free version).
Or its alternative, https://filmot.com/, where you can search for any word, such as a Latin word.
Setting up Anki templates#
My favorite Anki template is based on the one provided by the author of Create subs2srs cards with mpv video player: https://gistpreview.github.io/?d515535b80a3d8f0775989e0d83c8a3b
However, I suggest putting the Image in the image above in the first position to avoid errors or updates due to duplicate content.
Alternatives to Subs2srs#
There are many alternatives to Subs2srs, and here are the links to each one:
Create subs2srs cards with mpv video player: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1213145732, an Anki addon
mpvacious: https://github.com/Ajatt-Tools/mpvacious, a project that can be used with mpv and Anki at the same time
Vocabsieve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHW-kBLmuHU, a software based on mpvacious with more powerful features. It can generate batch cards based on highlighted words in Kindle e-books combined with dictionaries. It can also combine mdict dictionaries from the Freemdict forum (a friendly learning forum that does not require membership or login to download desired dictionaries)
Youtube to anki: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/964531817