Watch in one language, read in another
Claras works out which captions a video has on its own. You choose the language you want to read, and it writes the summary, chapter titles and chat replies in that language.
Pick the language you read in
Choose English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, Japanese, Korean or Chinese. Claras remembers your choice.
- It sets the language of summaries, chapter titles and chat replies
- Bulk Summaries uses it too
- The menu is beside the link box in the web app, and in Settings in the extension
You don't have to say what the video is in
Claras checks which captions a video offers, then reads the text to confirm it is in the expected language. Videos are not limited to the list above.
- English captions come first when a video has them. If not, Claras uses what the video offers, normally the language it was recorded in
- With no captions, or for an uploaded file, AI listens to the audio and works out the language itself
- In the extension, you can also set the video's language by hand, next to the link
The transcript is not translated
Only what the AI writes follows your choice. The transcript stays in the language of the captions Claras got, so you can read the words as they are.
- If a video has English captions, its transcript will be in English, even when that is not the language spoken
- To translate a video into English in full, send the transcript to another AI
What happens to languages, step by step
- You choose a reading language. In the web app, use the menu beside the link box, or Settings, then General, then Summary language. In the extension, open Settings and pick Output language. The web app and the extension each remember their own choice, so set both if you use both.
- Claras looks for captions. The web app asks for English captions first. If the video has none, it takes the same language from another region, then the first track the video lists, which is normally the language it was recorded in. In the extension, the video language menu next to the link chooses which captions to ask for.
- It checks the text. Claras looks at the alphabet and at common everyday words to confirm the captions really are in one of the video's own languages. A machine translation into some other language is turned down, and the next option is tried. When it can't tell, it trusts the captions.
- No captions? AI listens. For YouTube videos without captions, and for Instagram and TikTok, AI transcribes the audio. For your own file, Claras learns the language from the first stretch, up to ten minutes long, and keeps it for the rest.
- The AI writes in your language. Every request to the AI says to answer in your language, whatever the video is in. That covers the summary, chapter titles and notes, suggested questions, the clickbait note, Ask AI replies and the Comments tab.
- The transcript stays as it is. So do the video's title and the app's own buttons and menus.
A worked example: one debate, three languages
Take the 2 hour 24 minute video from our home page demo, "AI Experts Debate: The AI Labs Are Lying To Everyone", which is in English with English captions. The opening lines below are the demo's samples, and each language is a separate run of the video.
Read in English
"Four experts debate whether AI could end humanity, and whether it can be controlled at all."
Read in Spanish
"Cuatro expertos debaten si la IA podría acabar con la humanidad y si es posible controlarla."
Read in Japanese
"4人の専門家が、AIは人類を滅ぼしうるのか、そもそも制御できるのかを議論する。"
In all three, the transcript is the same English text. Only what the AI writes changes.
Asking questions across languages
Say you read Spanish and pick it. Ask AI replies in Spanish, but it finds the right part of the video by matching the words of your question to the transcript, which is in English. "¿Qué dicen sobre los empleos?" shares almost no words with it. "¿Qué dicen sobre jobs?" does better, and the reply still comes in Spanish. When you can, use the speakers' key terms in their own language.
Quotes are translations
A summary sometimes quotes a standout line. In a Spanish summary of this English debate, that quote is the AI's translation, not the speaker's words. Check the transcript before you cite it.
What it does well, and where it stops
What it does well
- Following a video in a language you read less well. Read the summary and chapters in your own language, then dip into the original where it matters.
- Videos in many languages. The video doesn't have to be in one of the 15. If it has captions, or speech Claras can transcribe, you can read about it in any of them.
- Keeping the original words. The transcript is never rewritten, so you can always check what was really said.
Where it stops
- No translated transcript. Claras doesn't translate transcripts or subtitles. For a full translation, use Send to AI to take the transcript to Claude, ChatGPT or another assistant. Translating a YouTube video to English walks through it.
- English captions come first in the web app. If a Spanish video also has English subtitles, the web app gives you the English ones. For the Spanish captions, pick Spanish in the extension's video language menu.
- The language check has gaps. It knows the alphabets of many languages, but the everyday words of only about ten that use the Latin alphabet. For other languages it trusts the captions.
- Mixed-language videos. Captions come as one track, so a video that switches languages gives you whichever track Claras picked. An uploaded file is transcribed in the language of its first stretch, so speech in another language later on may come out poorly.
- Names and terms. In your language, names, product terms and jargon may be translated or spelled differently. The transcript has them as spoken.
- Changing your mind means a new run. A summary is written in one language. To read it in another, run the video again, which can count as another video on the free and Pro plans. History keeps each one in the language it was made in.
What follows your choice
| Written in your language? | |
|---|---|
| Summary and Key Takeaways | Yes |
| Chapter titles and notes | Yes |
| Suggested questions and Ask AI replies | Yes |
| Comments tab | Yes |
| Bulk Summaries, the best pick and batch chat | Yes |
| Transcript and .srt subtitles | No, they stay in the language of the captions |
| Video title | No |
How it fits the rest of Claras
Your language choice carries across most of Claras, so you only set it once on each device.
Questions about languages
Which languages can Claras write in?
Fifteen: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.
Can Claras handle a video in a language that isn't on that list?
Yes. The list is for what you read. If the video has captions, or speech Claras can transcribe, it can be summarized in any of the 15. The transcript stays in the video's language.
Does Claras translate the transcript?
No. The transcript and .srt subtitles stay in the language of the captions. For a full translation, send the transcript to another AI with Send to AI and ask for one.
Why is my transcript in English when the video isn't?
Because the video also has English captions, and the web app asks for English first. To get the captions in the language that's spoken, pick that language in the extension's video language menu.
Can I change the language of a summary I've already made?
Not in place. Pick the new language and run the video again. That can count as another video on the free and Pro plans. The first version stays in History.
Does Ask AI understand questions in my language?
Yes, and it replies in the language you picked. But it finds the right part of the video by matching your words to the transcript, so include the speakers' own terms when the video is in another language.
Is the extension's setting the same as the web app's?
No. Each one remembers its own choice in that browser, so set the language in both if you use both.
Watch less. Learn more.
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