A caption that disappears in two seconds is a poor vocabulary notebook. Hassala keeps YouTube's own captions as the timing source, but shows an interactive copy in the same place. You can stop on a word, look it up without opening another tab, and save it to the same folder-based word bank you use for everything else.
What you need
- Chrome, Brave, Edge, or Chromium on Linux, macOS, or Windows.
- Hassala from GitHub Releases. The Chrome Web Store release is still being prepared.
- A YouTube video with captions available — uploaded or auto-generated.
- No Python, native host, account, or file-system permission.
Step 1 — Install Hassala
-
Download
hassala-2.0.4-testers.zipfrom Releases and extract it to a stable folder. - Open
chrome://extensions,brave://extensions, oredge://extensions. - Enable Developer mode and click Load unpacked.
- Select the folder that contains
manifest.json. - Pin Hassala to the toolbar. Saving works immediately because words are stored in the extension.
- Reload the video tab once after installing. The full install steps are in the installation guide.
Step 2 — Turn on YouTube captions
Open any video and click CC in the player, or use the captions menu to pick a language. Hassala waits for YouTube to render captions, then replaces the visible caption layer with its own copy.
If you do not see interactive captions, first confirm that YouTube shows its normal captions with the extension disabled. If the video has no caption track, Hassala has nothing to work with.
Step 3 — Hover to pause, click a word
Move the mouse over the caption line. Playback pauses so the sentence does not slide away while you read. Move the pointer off the captions and the video resumes.
Click any word to send it to the floating translator. The panel opens with the translation, and the video stays paused until you press play. This is the difference between a quick glance and a real lookup.
- Clicking a word does not navigate, seek, or toggle the player.
- Only the word or phrase you choose is translated — never the whole page.
- The panel can be dragged out of the way if it covers the captions.
Step 4 — Drag across a phrase
Some words only make sense together. Drag the mouse across several caption words and release. Hassala reads the highlighted text and translates the whole phrase instead of one token, then keeps the video paused.
This is useful for idioms, phrasal verbs, and short expressions such as get used to or على قدم وساق. A word-by-word translation of those is often worse than one translation of the phrase.
Step 5 — Save the word or phrase
In the floating panel, click Add to Hassala. Hassala saves the source text and translation to the folder selected under Save new words to. The word stays in the extension until you choose to export it.
- Words live in
chrome.storage.local, not in a file on your device. - Create folders such as
YouTubeorArabic Newsto keep series separate. - If the pair already exists, Hassala says so and does not add a duplicate.
- If saving fails, the word stays in the panel so you can try again.
Export when you are ready
Open Words, choose Markdown, TXT, CSV, or JSON, optionally type a file name, then export the folder, the visible words, or a selection. The browser downloads the file only after that click.
# Hassala — My words
| Word | Translation |
| --- | --- |
| get used to | يعتاد على |
| على قدم وساق | at full speed |Phrases and single words share the same table. Duplicate pairs are skipped in both directions.
Tips for learning from video
- Watch once for meaning, then rewatch for words. Stopping on every unknown word breaks the plot and the grammar.
- Save phrases, not only isolated words. A phrase carries the preposition and the register with it.
- Write down the context in your head. A word from a cooking video and the same word in a news report are not the same lesson.
- Review the file the next day. Open it in Obsidian, Logseq, or any editor and read the rows out loud.
- Use one folder per series or topic. A focused folder is easier to export and revisit than a giant dump.
Troubleshooting
| Captions are not clickable | Check that YouTube is showing captions and that the video has a caption track. Reload the video after installing or updating Hassala. |
|---|---|
| The video will not resume | Clicking a word keeps the video paused on purpose. Press play in the player, or click the video area away from the captions. |
| The panel covers the captions | Drag the panel by its header. Hassala remembers the position. |
| The save button does not respond | Reload the video tab after installing or updating Hassala. If the panel is open in an old tab, close it and reopen the extension. |
| A saved phrase looks wrong | Auto-generated captions can mishear words. Check the context before saving, or delete and re-save the word from Words. |
FAQ
Does Hassala translate the whole YouTube video?
No. Hassala makes the captions interactive: you choose a word or drag across a phrase, and only that text is translated. It is not a full-video or full-page translator.
Do I need captions to be enabled?
Yes. Hassala uses YouTube's own captions as the timing source, then displays an interactive copy in the same place. If the video has no captions or they are turned off, there is nothing to interact with.
Do auto-generated captions work?
Yes, if YouTube displays them. Auto-generated captions can contain recognition errors, so treat unusual words as uncertain and check the context.
Does clicking a word pause the video?
Yes. Hovering over the captions pauses playback while you read, and clicking a word keeps the video paused. Press play when you are ready to continue.
Can I save a phrase, not just one word?
Yes. Drag across several caption words before releasing the mouse. The floating panel translates the highlighted phrase, and the save button stores the phrase in the same word bank as single words.
Does saving captions require a native host?
No. Saving happens inside the extension with
chrome.storage.local. You can export Markdown, TXT, CSV,
or JSON whenever you want, and there is no native host or file-system
permission.