SelfStudyHebrew

Learn Hebrew through comprehensible input

A browser extension that connects to Anki and highlights Hebrew words across the web based on your learning progress.

View on GitHub Firefox Extension Chrome Extension

What is SelfStudyHebrew?

SelfStudyHebrew is a browser extension that helps you learn Hebrew through comprehensible input. It highlights Hebrew words on any webpage based on your Anki progress, detects optimal learning sentences (i+1), and provides instant dictionary lookups. It also provides sentence mining functionality through video subtitles or AI generated sentences.

שלום
Mature words (≥21 days)
טוב
Learning words (<21 days)
לשלום
Potentially-known (Preposition detected)
חדש
Unknown words
i+1 sentence
Exactly 1 unknown word — optimal learning zone
potentially i+1
1 prefix-word + 0-1 unknown — worth reviewing

Preposition Recognition

The extension detects Hebrew prepositions to help you recognize more words. When a word starts with common prepositions like ל , ב or ש, the extension checks if you know the word without the preposition.

How It Works

  • ו (and) - Words starting with ו are treated as fully known if you know the base word. Example: אני → ואני
  • ל/ב/ש - Words with these prepositions are marked as "potentially-known" (purple underline) if you know the base word
  • Potentially-i+1 sentences - Sentences with 1 potentially-known word and 0-1 unknown words (light purple background)

This helps you understand more content by recognizing words, even if you haven't seen that exact preposition+word combination before.

Key Features

Smart Highlighting

Automatic color-coding of Hebrew words based on your Anki progress

Video Subtitles

Highlighted Hebrew subtitles on YouTube, Netflix, and StreamIsrael. Shift+Click to create cards from one or multiple subtitles at once.

Dictionary Lookup

Shift+hover for instant definitions, frequency, verb identification, and audio via ElevenLabs

Anki Integration

Create flashcards directly from sentences with optional AI translations and audio

Sentence Generator

Generate personalized i+1 sentences using your known vocabulary

i+1 Detection

Find sentences with exactly one unknown word—perfect for learning

Prerequisites

1

Anki Desktop

Install Anki on your computer and make sure it's running when using the extension.

Download Anki
2

AnkiConnect Add-on

This add-on allows the extension to communicate with Anki.

  1. Open Anki → Tools → Add-ons → Get Add-ons
  2. Enter code: 2055492159
  3. Restart Anki
More Info
3

Browser Extension

Install the Firefox extension

Install the Chrome extension

Initial Setup

1

Configure Anki Settings

  1. Click the Extension button in your toolbar, then on the popup screen click "Settings"
  2. Scroll down and click the "Setup Anki for SelfStudyHebrew" button.
  3. Under "Card Creation Defaults" set which deck you want to save your sentences to, and the default note type to use. If using SelfStudyHebrew defaults, these values will be "SelfStudyHebrew" and "Hebrew"
  4. Under "Highlighting Options", set Anki Field Name to match your Hebrew field (default: "Hebrew")
  5. Click "Save Settings"
2

Load Your Vocabulary

  1. Make sure Anki is running
  2. Check that AnkiConnect shows "Connected" in the popup
  3. Click "Refresh Words"
  4. Your word counts should appear if you have studied any Hebrew words already.
  • If you have a list of known words from another source you can use the "Bulk Import to Already Known Deck" feature in the extension settings
  • This will import them into the "Already Known" deck in Anki and the extension will then treat them as known.
3

Test It Out

  1. Visit any Hebrew website
  2. Hebrew words should be highlighted based on their status in Anki
  3. Shift+hover any word for definitions — click "Mark as Already Known" to add it to the Already Known deck, or "Ignore Word" to exclude it from highlighting entirely
  4. Look for blue-tinted i+1 sentences, or purple-tinted potentially-i+1 sentences

Optional: AI & TTS Features

Several optional integrations unlock additional features. All are optional — use only what you need.

Claude API — Translations & Sentence Generation

Powers the Translate and Define buttons in the card creator, and the i+1 Sentence Generator.

  1. Get an API key from console.anthropic.com
  2. Open extension settings and paste it into Claude API Key
  3. Save settings
Strongly recommended: Set a spend limit at console.anthropic.com/settings/limits and disable "Auto reload credits" at console.anthropic.com/settings/billing to prevent unexpected charges. Your API key is stored in your browser — keep your machine secure.

ElevenLabs — Hebrew Pronunciation

Powers the 🔊 play button in the dictionary popup, and also the "AI Audio" button in the card creator.

  1. Create a free account at elevenlabs.io
  2. Go to elevenlabs.io/app/developers/api-keys and create a key
  3. Open extension settings and paste it into ElevenLabs API Key
  4. Choose a voice preset — Anatole (Masc) or Anet (Fem) — or enter any ElevenLabs Voice ID
  5. Save settings
Tip: ElevenLabs has a free tier (10,000 characters/month). Dictionary pronunciation lookups use very few characters — most users will never need a paid plan. Pricing
Check your usage: Settings → AI Integration → ElevenLabs Character Usage shows your current character count against your monthly limit, fetched live from your account. Click Refresh to update it.

Cloudflare Workers AI — Free Image Generation

Powers the ✨ Generate tab in the card creator image picker. Uses Flux Schnell by default — fast, free, no billing required.

  1. Sign up or log in at dash.cloudflare.com
  2. Copy your Account ID from the URL — it's the hex string in dash.cloudflare.com/{account-id}/home
  3. Go to Manage Account → Account API Tokens → Create Token (or visit dash.cloudflare.com/{account-id}/api-tokens) and add Account > Workers AI > Read permission
  4. Open extension settings and paste both into Cloudflare Account ID and Cloudflare API Token
  5. Save settings
Tip: Cloudflare's free tier includes 10,000 neurons/day (~50–100 images). You can change the model in settings — see available text-to-image models (free ones are marked Cloudflare-hosted without a Partner badge).

Gemini API — Paid Image Generation (Alternative)

An alternative to Cloudflare for image generation in the card creator's ✨ Generate tab. Not recommended over Cloudflare — Gemini image generation has no free tier and requires billing (~$0.05/image).

  1. Get an API key from aistudio.google.com and enable billing
  2. Open extension settings and paste it into Gemini API Key
  3. Save settings

Troubleshooting

AnkiConnect shows "Disconnected"

  • Make sure Anki is running
  • Verify AnkiConnect is installed (code: 2055492159)
  • Try restarting Anki

Words not highlighting

  • Check "Enable Highlighting" is on in the popup
  • Verify "Anki Field Name" matches your cards
  • Click "Refresh Words"

YouTube subtitles not working

  • Make sure the video has Hebrew subtitles
  • Try refreshing the page
  • Disable VPN if you get anti-bot warnings

Support & Contribute

SelfStudyHebrew is open-source. Found a bug? Have a feature request? Visit the GitHub repository.

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