Getting started with Galigo: from zero to your first card

1. Create your account

Sign up with your email address and a password. You will receive a message with a link to verify the address: open it to activate your account. If it has not arrived after a couple of minutes, check your spam folder.

2. Create a deck

A deck is a collection of cards. When you create one you choose two languages: the one you are learning and the reference language, which is the language sentences are translated into, usually your own. These two languages stay fixed for that deck.

By default, decks are stored in your own browser. That means your cards and audio live on that device: if you clear the site’s data in the browser, they are lost. Keep that in mind before cleaning up your browser.

3. Install the extension

The “Galigo Sentence Mining” extension for Chrome is what captures sentences. Galigo’s home screen shows whether it is detected and, if it is not, a link with installation instructions.

Once it is installed, open your deck on the website and press “Mine into this deck”. That tells the extension where to save what you capture.

4. Capture your first sentence

• Open a video on YouTube or a title on Netflix and turn on subtitles in the language you are learning.
• When a sentence you want to keep comes up, press the capture button the extension adds to the player, or use the keyboard shortcut Alt+Shift+M.
• A window opens with the sentence, its translation and the audio of that stretch.
• Check the translation, fix it if needed and press “Save”. If you are not happy with it, press “Cancel” and the card is discarded.

The extension only acts when you ask it to: it does not record or read anything while you are simply watching.

5. Review

Go back to Galigo and press “Study”. You will see the sentence and can play its audio. Try to recall what it means, reveal the translation and answer honestly: “Again” if you did not remember it or “Good” if you did. The system decides when it will come up next.

If something does not work

• The capture button does not appear: reload the video page after installing the extension.
• There is no sentence to capture: check that the video has subtitles and that they are turned on.
• The card has no audio: Chrome needs your permission to record the tab’s sound; accept it when asked.
• The extension is not linked: open galigo.co while signed in so that it connects.

If the problem persists, write to us from the contact page.