Yabla

FAQ: School/Group Subscriptions

Thank you for using Yabla in your classroom. Below are tips to help you get the most of your Yabla School subscription.

Get started

Create teacher accounts

To add teachers to your school account:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Manage School Account from the dropdown menu which will take you to the School/Group Subscriptions page.
  3. Navigate to the language you wish to add a teacher to, select Invite Students and Teachers.
  4. Select the link under the Teachers heading. Either copy the link and email it to them OR use the button Email this link which will create an email with the link information in the body of the email.
  5. When the teacher clicks on the link, they will then be prompted to create their own username and password and their account is automatically set up.

You can also create each teacher user account yourself:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Manage School Account from the dropdown menu which will take you to the School/Group Subscriptions page.
  3. Then for the language and/or class you wish to add a teacher, select Add User.
  4. You will then need to enter all of the information for the teacher INCLUDING a username and password.
  5. For the password, you can create a generic password, or allow the system to generate one at random (select the small generate random found above the Password box).
  6. Notice, the Type defaults to Teacher, but you can also create student accounts this way.
  7. When you select Create New User, an email will be sent to the Teacher with all of their information, including their password.
  8. As soon as the teacher receives the email with their login information, they should log in and change their password.

Create classes

To create classes:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Classes from the dropdown menu which will take you to the Classes You Teach page.
  3. Select Create a new Class for the appropriate language.
  4. Name your class. This can be anything that your students will recognize, such as "Spanish 2, Period 4" or "Advanced French".
  5. Select Submit and you will see your class created and ready for you to add/invite students.

Student registration

There are a few ways to add your students to your classes. The easiest and most practical is via signup link. Yabla automatically creates a unique signup link for every school so that students can easily add themselves to your classes (there is also one for any fellow teachers at the school interested in using the site with their own students).

To add students via signup link:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Manage School Account from the dropdown menu which will take you to the School/Group Subscriptions page.
  3. Navigate to the language and/or Class you wish to add a student, select Invite Students and Teachers.
  4. Select the link under the Students heading. Either copy the link AND email it to them OR write it on the board in class.
  5. When the student clicks on the link, they will select the teacher/class from a list, and be prompted to create their username and password.

If you have other teachers in your school that want to set up teacher accounts, just follow the same directions BUT send them the link marked Teachers. Once they have set up their own account through the teacher link, they can then create their own classes and add their own students within their new teacher account.

Alternative signup methods:

  1. If you prefer to create student user accounts yourself, you can do so by clicking on the username in the top right corner and selecting Manage School Account and then Add User.
  2. For large accounts, Yabla can do an import of student accounts from a spreadsheet or database export. This is a quick way to create a large number of accounts, but has the drawback that passwords must be predefined, such as a student ID number.

Create/Modify/Delete assignments

To create assignments:

  1. Navigate to the Videos tab.
  2. Find a video you would like to assign to your students and click on the Assign button beneath it.
  3. Select the activity you would like to assign and which class you want to assign it to.
  4. Then select start date and due date. The start date must be before the due date, and is the first date the student will have access to the assignment.
  5. Select the goal (this is slightly different for each activity).
  6. Hide Subtitles is optional. This will hide the subtitles while the student is watching the video and has no affect on the assignment (unless the assignment is Watch Video)
  7. Select Create Assignment to confirm.
  8. The assignments will now appear below the video.
  9. The assignments will also appear on your students' accounts.

You can create many or all of your assignments in one sitting, giving them deadlines throughout the semester. Or, you can assign one-by-one. Deadlines and student scores will be recorded and available to you at any time within your Gradebook See Monitor student progress. Whenever students log in to their own accounts, they will see what assignments they have to work on, and when each one is due.

To modify and/or delete assignments:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Classes from the dropdown menu which will take you to the Classes You Teach page.
  3. Under each class you will find: the number of students, the number of assignments, and past due and upcoming count.
  4. Select the Assignments for a specific class for more detail.
  5. Here you will see the video assigned, type of assignment, goal, start date and due date.
  6. From here you can delete the assignment OR change/update the assignment.

Also, notice there is are two buttons at the top of the list. Recommended assignments and Copy assignments from another class.

  1. Recommended assignments will generate assignments based on multiple options. This can be used to help you get started quickly.
  2. Copy assignments from another class allows you to make the same assignment to multiple classes, with the same due date or a different due date.
  3. Copy assignments from another class can also be used to copy assignments from an Archived class.

Monitor student progress

Monitor your students' scores through the teacher Gradebook feature.

To access the Gradebook:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Classes from the dropdown menu which will take you to the Classes You Teach page.
  3. You will see the Gradebook button for each class

The Gradebook will fill over time as you add more assignments, appearing as a chart with your students listed in the vertical column along the left side, and the assignments horizontally across the top. Hovering your mouse over individual assignments will pull up the assignment details.

Student scores are listed in the boxes across the grid for each assignment. If the student is able to reach the points goal by the deadline you have set, the student’s box will be highlighted green along with the score number. If they do not reach the goal by the deadline, the box will be gray.

Clicking on the student’s score will show you a report, detailing how many rounds it took the student to complete the assignment, as well as how many points they reached per round, and date and time completed.

The Gradebook can be printed or you can export it as a CSV or JSON file. These options are found at the top right of the Gradebook chart.

Archive/Delete classes

Archiving classes is a way to delete the class from your everyday account, BUT still have the ability to access it at a later date. This is the only way Yabla has to delete a class.

If you would like to delete a class:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Classes from the dropdown menu which will take you to the Classes You Teach page.
  3. You will see for each class in the lower right hand corner is a small red Archive Class button with a trashcan icon.

When you select the Archive feature, the class information will be out of your way. But because you may later decide you want to access the information again, you can always go into your “Archived classes” and get it back. For example, if next year you decide you want to re-assign some of the same videos to a new class and want to remind yourself of what you assigned the first time, you can rest assured your older class information will be available to you.

Archived classes can be found below your active classes. Scroll to the bottom of the class list and you will see two buttons associated with each Archived class: View Assignments and Re-Activate This Class.

Change Admin/Teacher status

Designating an Admin for you School accounts is critical. Only the person designated as an Admin can automatically renew the account OR purchase more user slots. Your Admin can also be a Teacher, however, if they are a Teacher they take up a slot. If a user is designated as only an Admin, they do not use up a slot.

To Change user type:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Manage School Account from the dropdown menu which will take you to the School/Group Subscriptions page.
  3. Select School Roster for the language and/or class you wish to manage.
  4. You can change the user type by selecting the drop down menu under the Type column next to the Teacher or Admin you would like to change.
  5. Select whether you want the user to be both 'Admin & Teacher', which uses up a slot or just an 'Admin'.
  6. NOTE: Any user designated as Admin only, will not be able to make assignments to students.

Delete student or teacher accounts (freeing slots)

Deleting a user frees up a space in your account so it can be reassigned to another student or teacher.

To Delete users:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Manage School Account from the dropdown menu which will take you to the School/Group Subscriptions page.
  3. Select School Roster for the language and/or class you wish to manage.
  4. You can delete any user (student or teacher) by selecting the small Delete button found to the far right of their name.
  5. You can also delete more than one user at a time by checking the checkbox to the left of the names and then selecting the Delete button at the bottom of the list.
  6. To delete all members of the class INCLUDING teachers, select the checkbox at the top of the list, to the left of Name and then select the Delete button at the bottom of the list.
  7. To delete all members of the class EXCLUDING teachers, select the checkbox at the top of the list, to the left of Name then unselect the teachers individually (at the top of the list) and then select the Delete button at the bottom of the list.
  8. NOTE: Do NOT delete the user account if you only want to change the user to a different class. See Change Class.

Change student or teacher password

Changing a user password in the case of forgotten passwords:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Manage School Account from the dropdown menu which will take you to the School/Group Subscriptions page.
  3. Select School Roster for the language and class you wish to manage.
  4. For a student, select Password found on the same line as their name. There you can create a new password for your student. Once they are logged into their account, they can choose to change their password to something else. Notice, in the popup window to change their password, you are also given the option to Login as the user. This is another way to change the students password and for you to check on progress.
  5. For a teacher, select Edit found on the same line as their name. This will allow you to change almost all of the user's settings, i.e. email, user name, including the password.

Remember to make sure the user knows the new password, otherwise they will not be able to log in.

Add/Remove/Change student's Class

Changing the class that a student is associated with:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Classes from the dropdown menu which will take you to the Classes You Teach page.
  3. In the section of the class you want to edit, select Add/Remove students already in group account.
  4. Choose any student from the left hand list to add by selecting Add to Class.
  5. Choose any student from the right hand list to remove by selecting Remove from Class.
  6. In order to Change a student's class, first Remove the student from the old class and then Add the student to the new class.

Turn Off Translations for a Class

You can turn off translations for ALL videos for a specific class. To turn off translations for a class:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Classes from the dropdown menu which will take you to the Classes You Teach page.
  3. Select Settings for the appropriate class.
  4. By default, all classes have translations turned on.
  5. To turn translations off, select 'Translations disabled'.
  6. To turn translations on, select 'Students can see translations'.

Assignment Types

Not all assignment types are available for all videos. All videos will have Watch Video, Multiple Choice and Fill in the Blank (Cloze) to choose from.

WATCH VIDEO

  • This activity is based on completion.
  • The student must watch the video in one sitting at least 90 percent. Game play does NOT count towards completion.

VOCABULARY REVIEW

  • This activity is based on completion.
  • Each word is presented three times
  • The first two times as multiple choice, in each language. The third time testing spelling.
  • The words are repeated until the student has not missed any words.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

  • This activity randomly selects captions from the video, omitting a word in each caption. The student is given four word choices to complete the caption.
  • The game consists of two rounds. The student will have two opportunities to choose the correct word.
  • Maximum score is 20 points.
  • Scores are cummulative, so each game played will add to final score.
  • For more information on scoring, see Game Scoring.

FILL IN THE BLANK

  • This activity randomly selects captions from the video, omitting a word in each caption. The student is asked to correctly type in the missing word.
  • The game consists of two rounds. The student will have three opportunities to correctly type in the word, with missed words repeated in round 2.
  • The maximum score is 100 points.
  • For more information on scoring, see Game Scoring.

SCRIBE (website only)

  • This activity is a dictation game, where the student must enter all words of a caption correctly in order to move on to the next caption.
  • Each video is broken into multiple sets with each set containing multiple captions.
  • The student is given visual hints if words are missing, spelled incorrectly, or accents are wrong. All letters of the word will be shown in green if correct. Any other color is incorrect and needs to be corrected to proceed to the next caption. All incorrect or missing letters or words can be corrected by clicking (tapping) the incorrect word or letter.
  • This will allow the student to continue to the next caption. All hints affect the final score.
  • For more information on scoring, see Game Scoring.

COMPREHENSION (website only)

  • Almost all of our comprehension quizzes are in the learning language, with a few exceptions.
  • Scoring for comprehension is based on each individual quiz and is not cumulative.
  • All questions and answers are completely randomized each play, so the student cannot memorize placement.
  • You can also create a printed quiz to use in class.

Hide Subtitles for an Assignment

You can hide subtitles for any video that you have an assignment associated with. This will turn the subtitles off while watching the video. Subtitles are never shown for Multiple Choice, Fill in the Blank and Scribe. To turn off subtitles for an assigned video:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Classes from the dropdown menu which will take you to the Classes You Teach page.
  3. Select Assignments for the appropriate class.
  4. Select Edit on the far right for the appropriate assignment.
  5. By default, all classes have subtitles turned on.
  6. Check the box 'Hide Subtitles'.
  7. NOTE: if you hide subtitles for an assignment AND hide translations for your class, the students will see neither subtitles nor translations while watching the video.

Video Transcript and Printable Quiz

Yabla has a printable transcript and quiz for each video. The quiz is a fill-in-the-blank (cloze) activity that allows teachers to select their own words to blank out of the transcript.

To access the transcript:

  1. Navigate to the Videos tab.
  2. Find a video you would like the transcript from and click on the Transcript button beneath the video.
  3. This will take you to the Transcript page where you can print out the transcript.

To access the Printable Quiz:

  1. Navigate to the Videos tab.
  2. Find a video you would like the Quiz from and click on the Transcript and then at the top select Create Printable Quiz.
  3. OR select the Assign button and then Printed Quiz.
  4. Both options will take you to the Printable Quiz Builder where you can create a quiz for your class.
  5. At the top you select the Captions you want printed, whether you want to include a word bank of the missing words, and what size of text.
  6. Go through each caption and select the words to be deleted by clicking on them. This will create a blank space to be filled in by the student.
  7. When ready to Print, select the Green Print button located just above caption line #1.

Can I project Yabla videos in class?

Yes, teachers who are subscribers may project Yabla videos to a classroom or assembled group of students. When projecting the video, you may want to consider using Yabla’s "Printable Quiz” feature that is available to teacher accounts. See Printable Quiz.

Delete student or teacher accounts (freeing slots)

Deleting a user frees up a space in your account so it can be reassigned to another student or teacher.

To Delete users:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Manage School Account from the dropdown menu which will take you to the School/Group Subscriptions page.
  3. Select School Roster for the language and/or class you wish to manage.
  4. You can delete any user (student or teacher) by selecting the small Delete found to the far right of their name.
  5. You can also delete more than one user at a time by checking the checkbox to the left of the names and then selecting the Delete button at the bottom of the list.
  6. To delete all members of the class EXCEPT teachers, select the checkbox at the top of the list, to the left of Name and then select the Delete button at the bottom of the list.
  7. NOTE: Do NOT delete the user account if you want to change the user to a different class. See Change Class.

Change Admin/Teacher status

Designating an Admin for you School accounts is critical. Only the person designated as an Admin can automatically renew the account OR purchase more user slots. Your Admin can also be a Teacher, however, if they are a Teacher they take up a slot. If a user is designated as only an Admin, they do not use up a slot.

To Change user type:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Manage School Account from the dropdown menu which will take you to the School/Group Subscriptions page.
  3. Select School Roster for the language and/or class you wish to manage.
  4. You can change the user type by selecting the drop down menu under the Type column next to the Teacher or Admin you would like to change.
  5. Select whether you want the user to be both 'Admin & Teacher', which uses up a slot or just an 'Admin'.
  6. NOTE: Any user designated as Admin only, will not be able to make assignments to students.

How do I purchase additional user slots?

To purchase additional user slots:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Subscriptions & Payment.
  3. Select Buy Additional Slots next to the language you wish to add a slot to, and follow the on screen instructions.

If you pay by credit card, the slots will be activated immediately. If you pay by purchase order or check, the new slots will activate when we receive a check or PO.

Questions? Please contact us at support@yabla.com or call us at (212) 625-3226.

Change Content Filter

Yabla rates all of our videos based on language or content that may not be appropriate for all ages. You can change the content filter for you school at anytime. This is done for each language separately.

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Manage School Account from the dropdown menu which will take you to the School/Group Subscriptions page.
  3. Select Settings for the language you wish to manage.
  4. Go to the Content Filter section.
  5. This shows you the number of videos you will have access to within each content filter.
  6. You can choose to restrict content at two different levels or allow all videos to be accessible - Viewer discretion.
  7. NOTE: K-12 and Home-schools are restricted from access to all videos.

Video Trouble Shooting

If you or your students are having problems accessing videos please see the Manage YouTube Videos section AND the Domain Whitelist section.

Manage YouTube Videos

Some of the videos found in Yabla are sourced via the YouTube API, and thus might need to be “whitelisted” by one of the school’s or district’s designated “approvers”.

Within your Yabla account, you can use this option to hide videos provided by YouTube if needed or desired.

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Manage School Account from the dropdown menu which will take you to the School/Group Subscriptions page.
  3. Select Settings for the language you wish to manage.
  4. Go to the YouTube Videos section.
  5. You can choose to hide all YouTube videos.

To whitelist YouTube videos, refer to this section on Google Workspace (formerly G Suite)


Schools often designate “approvers” (which sometimes include teachers) who can choose which videos are allowed. More information is available here.

Instructions on how to approve (whitelist) videos as a Google Workspace (G Suite) administrator are found here.

If you are not familiar with the procedure, or are not an “approver”, contact your school’s IT department and ask them to assist you in getting the videos whitelisted by your school’s network.

Troubleshooting: If a student is having trouble accessing a video that is whitelisted, then they may need to open an additional tab and make sure that they are logged in to their school email account. After, go back to Yabla and refresh the page.

Domain Whitelist

Yabla uses Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to provide fast delivery of our images and videos on the internet.

The CDNs that Yabla uses are Limelight Networks and Cloudfront.

Please advise your organization's IT department to please "whitelist" the two domains below so that Yabla images and videos are able to load on student devices and/or via the school's network:

  • yabla.vo.llnwd.net
  • d2mllj54g854r4.cloudfront.net

NOTE:

The following URL should load a video if everything is working correctly:

Test Video Link.

Using Yabla in a lab

While we recommend assigning each student an account so the teacher can monitor individual student usage and performance, it is possible to create an account for each lab computer.

To use Yabla in the lab, you will need to create a user account for each computer in the lab.* We recommend creating accounts like labuser1, labuser2, labuser3, etc. all using the same password.

If you have many accounts to be created, please contact us at support@yabla.com and we can assist with account creation.

* Our system does not allow multiple sign ons using the same username and password, thus each computer will need a unique username.

Our school's subscription is about to expire. How do we renew?

To renew your school subscription:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Subscriptions & Payment.
  3. Select Renew Subscription next to the language you wish to renew, and follow the on screen instructions.

If you pay by credit card, the account will renew immediately. If you pay by purchase order or check, your renewal will activate when we receive a check or PO.

Questions? Please contact us at support@yabla.com or call us at (212) 625-3226.

Our school's subscription has expired. How do we renew?

You can renew your subscription easily as long as it is within 6 months of when it expired. Otherwise, you will need to create a new quote.

To renew your school subscription:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Subscriptions & Payment.
  3. Find the language you wish to renew in the Expired Subscriptions section.
  4. Select Renew Subscription next to the language you wish to renew, and follow the on screen instructions.

If you pay by credit card, the account will renew immediately. If you pay by purchase order or check, your renewal will activate when we receive a check or PO.

Questions? Please contact us at support@yabla.com or call us at (212) 625-3226.

Yabla W-9

You can find our most recent W-9 here:

Yabla W-9

Questions? Please contact us at support@yabla.com or call us at (212) 625-3226.

Business State Certificates

You can find Yabla state certificates here

NJ Business Registration Certificate for NJ Schools

NJ Certificate Of Authority

NJ Annual Report Certificate

IN Foreign Registration Statement

IN Registration Statement

Questions? Please contact us at support@yabla.com or call us at (212) 625-3226.

Yabla Sole Source Document

Sole Source Information: Yabla is the SOLE source for the Yabla Online Services.

Yabla Sole Source Form

Questions? Please contact us at support@yabla.com or call us at (212) 625-3226.

Video Trouble Shooting

If you or your students are having problems accessing videos please see the Manage YouTube Videos section AND the Domain Whitelist section.

Change Password

To change your password:

  1. Click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown.
  2. Select Profile.
  3. The second section on the Profile page is the <strong>Change Password</strong> area.
  4. Enter in your current password and then enter your new password and then again to confirm it.
  5. Then select Change Password. This will immediately change your password and you will be able to logon with your new password.

If you cannot remember your password, you can select Forgot Password? on the sign in page and you will be sent a password reset email OR you can write to Yabla and ask us to reset your password at support@yabla.com.

Change Email

To change your email:

  1. Log in to your account and click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown. Select Profile from the User Menu.
  2. The fourth section on the Profile page is the Personal Information area.
  3. Here you can change your email.
  4. Select Update Personal Information at the bottom of this area. You will then be able to log in using your updated email. And all correspondence from Yabla will now go to your new email address.

Manage Newsletters and Emails from Yabla

NOTE: Yabla does not send emails or promotions to K-12 Students.

To manage your newsletter subscriptions and general email notices:

  1. Log in to your account and click on the username in the top right corner. This will open the User Menu dropdown. Select Profile from the User Menu.
  2. The fifth (last) section on the Profile page is Yabla Email Settings.
  3. Select the button: Update Emails from Yabla.
  4. This will take you to where you can subscribe and/or unsubscribe to any/or all of our Newsletters including opting out.

Change Translation

Yabla uses your translation language selection to translate the Yabla web page AND all subtitles for the videos. This can easily be changed.

To change the translation language:

  1. Log in to your account, and select the Videos tab. You must be on the main Videos navigation page in order to change the translations.
  2. In the upper right hand corner, you will see your username. Click on your username and a drop down menu will open up below your username.
  3. Below the Sign Out option is where you can TRANSLATE PAGE.
  4. Select the language you want to have as your translation language.

The language your are studying is the 'target language'.

The translation language is frequently your native language. It will be used in all subtitles and all navigation menus on Yabla.

NOTE: If the translation language and the target language are the same, there will only be one set of subtitles under each video.

Game Scoring

The scoring system of the ‘game’ activities changes depending on the activity. Please note that scores are recorded at the end of each game play. You must play the game to completion in order to earn, and have recorded, your points. Also, in the case of students, you may have to play the games multiple times in order to accumulate enough points to reach the assignment goal that has been set by your teacher.

*Teachers: For information on how to create assignments, see Create Assignments. For information on how to check your class Gradebook, see Monitor student progress.

WATCH VIDEO

This activity is based on completion. The player must watch the video at one time continuously for 90 percent of the video. Game play does NOT count towards completion. Teachers have the ability to decide how many times the students need to watch the video(up to 5 times per assignment). In this case, a number will appear next to the student’s name in the teacher’s Gradebook, indicating how many times they watched the video.<

VOCABULARY REVIEW

This activity is based on completion. As the player inputs correct answers, a progress bar on the left side of the screen will begin to fill. Incorrect answers, however, will reverse that process and make it take a little longer to reach the end. A timer limits the amount of time the player can spend on each try. When a student finishes the vocabulary review, a checkmark will appear next to that student’s name in the teacher’s Gradebook. Teachers have the ability to decide how many times the students need to complete the review (up to 5 times per assignment). In this case, a number will appear next to the student’s name in the teacher’s Gradebook, indicating how many times they completed the review.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

Each game consists of 1 or 2 rounds with up to 10 questions per round. The player is awarded 2 points per correct answer in the first round. If all answers are correct in the first round, the game ends and the score is recorded and added to their total for that video. If an answer is incorrect, the correct answer will be shown to the player, and the question will be asked again in a second round. Player is awarded 1 point per correct answer in the second round.

FILL IN THE BLANK

Each game consists of 1 or 2 rounds with up to 10 questions per round. Player has 3 chances per question, receiving 10 points each if answered correctly right away, 8 points if answered correctly on second chance, and 6 points if on third chance. Hints are given after each try to help player see where their mistakes are: wrong letters are highlighted in red, and wrong accents are highlighted orange. If all answers are correct in the first round, the game ends and the score is recorded and added to their total for that video. Incorrect answers are moved to a second round, where player is awarded 6 points per answer if correct on first chance, 4 points if on second, and 2 points if on third (and final) chance. 1 point is deducted for using the “slow” play button.

SCRIBE (website only)

Each game consists of multiple sets, with each set containing multiple captions. Scribe has the most complex scoring as you receive both Stars and a Score. Please be aware, Scribe is still in development, and the scoring may change in the near future.

Stars:

Scribe looks at a variety of factors in determining your star scores with maximum is three stars.

These include:

  • how many times you replay video before you start a word
  • how many times you replay a video after you start a word
  • letters/corrections/accents you get "for free" by clicking in the feedback area
  • words you "insert" out of order vs. in order
  • use of "Slow" play
  • revealing translation*

*fairly heavily weighted because it makes transcribing much easier.

Each of these factors are weighted differently and we are still adjusting the formula.

Score:

The score is a percentage of letters that were not given away for free by clicking in the feedback area.

COMPREHENSION (website only)

Scoring for comprehension is based on each individual quiz and is not cumulative.

Scores are based on the percentage answered correctly out of the total number of questions. (For students, the score may also display the passing grade required out of the total number of questions, in order to compare with individual outcomes.)

Player Subtitles

All Yabla videos have subtitles in the target language and subtitles in the translation language. Both of these subtitles can be shown and/or hidden. Both subtitles are shown by default.

  1. To show or hide the target language subtitles, there is a small show/hide button below the video and to the far right. You can toggle the target language subtitles on and off using this small button.
  2. Below this, there is another small show/hide button that will toggle the translation language subtitles on and off.

Using the subtitles (either on or off) allows you to learn at your own pace, and in your own style. Some subscribers like to look at the translation right away, while others like to take the leap and see how much they understand with no subtitles at all. Some like to follow only the target language subtitles first.

As often as possible, the subtitles of the translation language will be parallel to the target language subtitles. But because languages often have very different grammatical structures and syntax, there are cases where a parallel or literal translation will simply not communicate the meaning accurately or elegantly. In these cases, our translators have to depart from parallel word order.

NOTE: The language your are studying is the 'target language'. If the translation language and the target language are the same, there will only be one set of subtitles.

Player Video Controls

All Yabla videos have the standard PAUSE/PLAY buttons below the video. This will pause or play the video from where the video is currently.

Yabla has 4 other buttons to manage the video playback.

  1. BACK - This jumps the video to the start of the current subsection. This works in both PLAY and PAUSE mode.
  2. SKIP - This jumps the video to the start of the next subsection. This works in both PLAY and PAUSE mode.
  3. SLOW - This slows the video down to make it easier to distinguish what is being said.
  4. LOOP - This loops the video over the current subsection. This can be very useful to get certain phrases into your memory.

NOTE: There is a small bar directly below the video. This shows the subsections that the current video is divided into. Each subsection pertains to a different caption and is used by the playback buttons plus many of the games/activities.

Player Dictionary

While watching a video, you can click on any word in the subtitles. This will open a dictionary to the right of the video and show the results and the source of the definition.

You can click on a word in either subtitle, the target language or the translation language. Depending on which subtitle you select, it will translate from the target language to the translation language, or from the translation language to the target language.

Cross-referencing may give you a new level of understanding. Don’t forget that while the dictionary is quite complete, googling the word or going to a site like WordReference may give you additional meanings and uses.

NOTE: The language your are studying is the 'target language'.

Lessons

Under the Lessons tab at the top of the page, you will find a compilation of all previous lessons that were in the Yabla newsletter.

If you do a search for a particular word in the Yabla Lessons, you’ll see if the word or phrase you’re searching on has been addressed in any of the lessons. The lessons often contain links to more in-depth external resources as well. They are accessible whether you are a current subscriber to Yabla or not. Subscription to the Yabla newsletters, which announce new videos and always include the most recent lesson, is also free.

Video Comments

Any user can leave a comment on a specific video. The number of comments can be seen below any video displayed on the Video Navigation Page. You can read all of the comments by selecting the Comment button below the video. This will show you all of the comments made for that specific video plus any replies that were made.

All submitted comments are sent to the Yabla staff and, when needed, will be answered directly to the user.

The Comments section of a video is a great place to ask questions or express an opinion. It allows you to engage with other users, and get helpful responses from other Yabla subscribers or from Yabla staff. This is also a place where you can make suggestions for lessons and/or video topics. You can comment in your own translation language, or you can also try out your new target language skills and leave a comment in the language you are studying.

You can also send any questions, suggestions, or feedback to support@yabla.com.

NOTE: The language your are studying is the 'target language'.

Flashcards (website only)

The words used in the Flashcards are selected by you while watching a video. While watching any video, click on any word in the target language subtitles. The dictionary will open up on the right AND your word will be saved to your flashcards.

Flashcards can be found by selecting the Flashcards tab at the top of the main page (you will need to exit out of the video player). You don't receive points in the flashcards, but your progress is indicated in the progress bar. Our flashcards are a way of studying and a way for you to test your knowledge.

There are 21 words to a set. You have the ability to delete a word, by clicking on the red X found next to each word OR you can delete the whole set of words, by selecting delete all words in the set found in the upper right corner of each set of words.

Start the flashcard review by selecting the Review these words. You will be shown a word in your target language and hear it. You can hear the word repeated by clicking on the word in the blue box. You can also click in the Definition box, the Caption box, and/or the Translation box. Upon clicking in any of those three boxes, the information will be displayed for that word. The information in the boxes are the definition (from various cited dictionaries), the caption from the video where this word was used in when you selected it, and the translation for the caption. You can also select either I think I know it or I don't know it. As soon as you select either button the information will appear in the three boxes, definition, caption, translation. If you said you knew it, you will then be asked 'Were you right?' Yes or No. This will affect the scoring.

And you can view the video again, by selecting the video thumbnail at the bottom of the flashcard.

Vocabulary Review

The vocabulary review is a learning activity using a pre-selected number of words from the video. To access the vocabulary review select the green button below the thumbnail of the video, Review Vocabulary.

The review is made up of 3 parts that are randomly interspersed:

  1. A word in the target language will be written and pronounced, and you choose the correct translation from the displayed choices.
  2. A word in the translation language will be written and you are to choose the correct word in your target language from the displayed choices.
  3. A word in the translation is written and you have to write the correct word in the target language. You will need to include any accent marks or diacritical marks to be counted as correct.

In the Settings tab for the Vocabulary review, found in the upper left hand corner, you can set the number of words to include in the review, with a maximum of ten. You will also be able to select whether to require accent marks and whether the review is timed.

To exit out of the Vocabulary Review, you can select the Exit button found on the top right corner, or go back and watch the video by selecting Watch Video button on the upper left corner.

A note about the words chosen for the vocabulary review: Most of the nouns include their articles, either definite or indefinite, so you can also learn their gender. Some words in a video don’t make an appearance at all in the vocabulary review. This is because, for one reason or another, they cause confusion and lead to “wrong” answers. On the other hand, you will find some phrasal expressions in the vocabulary review that you won’t find in a dictionary. The translation used in the video itself may be a secondary translation, so the vocabulary review will generally provide the more classic definition as well.

I spotted a mistake in the transcription/translation, what should I do?

This will happen! There are a couple of different ways you can contact us.

  1. You can use the Comment button below each video displayed in the video navigation page. This will let us know exactly what video you are referring to.
  2. You can use the Help/Feedback button while playing the video. This is found on the very lower right hand corner of the browser window. This will allow you to enter your comment and continue with the video. It will also let us know what video you are referring to.
  3. You can also write to us at corrections@yabla.com. Tell us the name of the video, the caption number, and the possible error and we'll fix it or explain why it was right.