45 ms·

The Web Way to Learn a Language

21 points by derekc 16y ago

quant18 16y ago
I find LiveMocha particularly interesting for their use of crowdsourcing --- which has evolved quite a bit since I joined. Basically, they have generic course templates in English, and then give people "MochaPoints" (which as far as I can tell are completely useless) for translating the course into their own language, or making recordings of phrases, or even just evaluation others' translations. And of course, MochaPoints are prominently displayed on every profile, making you aware of the pecking order and incentivising you to increase your own points. This isn't a perfect approach (it's heavily biased towards people who like learning by memorising phrases, rather than people who like learning by picking apart sentences through detailed study of grammar --- I don't think crowdsourcing explanations of grammatical points will ever bring satisfactory results, anyway), but it works well for people who like it.
etherael 16y ago
I tried to learn Estonian from a software package called Byki, it taught that "Head ööd" means good night, but later I heard it had connotations more along the lines of "I'm going to bed now". It suddenly became clear to me why the waitress across the road would smirk every time I said good night to her, oops.
- luminarious 16y ago
  I have reason to believe the latter connotation may have been a misunderstanding. As an Estonian, I am quite convinced that "Head ööd" means "Good night" and is in no way connected to wether you are actually going to bed. Unless you add a wink or something.. :)
  - etherael 16y ago
    Iiinteresting, my buddy's wife may have been pulling a fast one on me. Not typical of her and there were three other people saying the same thing but perhaps I was just being duped.
RyanMcGreal 16y ago
>even ending her declarative sentences in that rising questioning lilt characteristic of many young Californians. I really enjoyed this bit?
mclin 16y ago
The problem I have with most language software is they don't take advantage of spaced repetition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition I looked at Rosetta Stone a year or two ago, and the best they had was occasionally bringing you back to a previous lesson.

21 points by derekc 16y ago

I find LiveMocha particularly interesting for their use of crowdsourcing --- which has evolved quite a bit since I joined. Basically, they have generic course templates in English, and then give people "MochaPoints" (which as far as I can tell are completely useless) for translating the course into their own language, or making recordings of phrases, or even just evaluation others' translations. And of course, MochaPoints are prominently displayed on every profile, making you aware of the pecking order and incentivising you to increase your own points. This isn't a perfect approach (it's heavily biased towards people who like learning by memorising phrases, rather than people who like learning by picking apart sentences through detailed study of grammar --- I don't think crowdsourcing explanations of grammatical points will ever bring satisfactory results, anyway), but it works well for people who like it.

etherael 16y ago

I tried to learn Estonian from a software package called Byki, it taught that "Head ööd" means good night, but later I heard it had connotations more along the lines of "I'm going to bed now". It suddenly became clear to me why the waitress across the road would smirk every time I said good night to her, oops.

luminarious 16y ago
I have reason to believe the latter connotation may have been a misunderstanding. As an Estonian, I am quite convinced that "Head ööd" means "Good night" and is in no way connected to wether you are actually going to bed. Unless you add a wink or something.. :)
- etherael 16y ago
  Iiinteresting, my buddy's wife may have been pulling a fast one on me. Not typical of her and there were three other people saying the same thing but perhaps I was just being duped.

RyanMcGreal 16y ago

>even ending her declarative sentences in that rising questioning lilt characteristic of many young Californians. I really enjoyed this bit?

mclin 16y ago

The problem I have with most language software is they don't take advantage of spaced repetition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition I looked at Rosetta Stone a year or two ago, and the best they had was occasionally bringing you back to a previous lesson.