I can confirm the LingQ Importer extension in Chrome also had the same error. I note that this video has auto-generated captions which seems to cause problems for me with Norwegian and Spanish videos as well, but I have not had trouble with actual transcribed captions. The workaround I have used for that case is this:
Within LingQ I use the Import button to create a new lesson – paste the Youtube URL where it asks and then drag the .srt file I downloaded to the window and create the lesson.
Using this method I was able to generate the lesson from the URL you posted. (Russian is a great sounding language, but the alphabet makes it a big barrier for me). I wish I could share the lesson with you, but that apparently has to be approved by LingQ.
This leads me to think that the issue is with Youtube - auto-generated subtitles and I hope this workaround might be useful for others.
FYI, for languages that Youtube can’t autogenerate subtitles (which includes Norwegian for me) I also use 4K Video Downloader and pay for a subscription to Happy Scribe to generate the subtitles. It seems like LingQ could probably do this also if I just downloaded the audio but I haven’t learned how to do that yet.
I haven’t been able to import for three weeks or more now. It’s the only reason I paid for this site - so I’m feeling quite a bit ripped off at this point.
Reminder to all experiencing this issue that the Premium Rooster Import Tools work independent of the LingQ importer. Multiple solutions and backups on backups to get the content imported correctly.
Import / Overlay
Bulk Import from multiple websites (including YouTube)
Yeah, I’m not sure what any of that is… All I know is that I’ve paid LingQ so I could import - because LingQ said if I paid I could import. I paid, and now it doesn’t seem like I can.
I guess my point is, I don’t want to pay more money to do something I should already be able to do.
I agree with you there that the LingQ Importer should work. The problem is a technical one for the LingQ devs to solve because of the recent crackdowns by YouTube on third parties. From some of the recent error messages posted here it is likely they tried to outsource the importing to another party which is also having a problem.
What we offer is a premium version of the LingQ Importer. It’s not for everyone but will save a lot of time for the most hardcore importers / learners.
Auto-generated captions in Russian, from both Chrome and Firefox (desktop, MacBook). Error message: no captions found.
I’m not sure if there’s been an update to the LingQ browser extension, but when I downloaded it to a new Chrome profile today, I was able to choose between “Automated Transcript” and “Whisper AI (if available).” The import failed when I chose Automated Transcript, but it says it was successful when I chose Whisper AI. We’ll see how that worked. (It’s currently pending.)
Status update on my import with the Whisper AI option: The import ultimately failed.
In another thread, I saw that people were having better luck with videos that already had manually-written subtitles instead of automatic captions. I don’t know if that experience is consistent, but it might be worth experimenting.
