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In reality the problem is more complicated and the issue is that the current media of teaching via worksheets and teachers is lacking and insufficient, which re

In reality the problem is more complicated and the issue is that the current media of teaching via worksheets and teachers is lacking and insufficient, which renders this debate obsolete. What you have is different parts, learning new stuff, practicing it, but also spaced repetition. Those need to be in balance with each other but also rely on cognitive overload, tiredness and motivation (among others) of the learner. So what you really need for a solution is software that replaces those work sheets and does a good job (as opposed to many of the current cheap learning apps) of giving you the right task at the right time. Eg. it knows that you have been drilling stuff and gotten good at it and so now its time for some more mixed stuff that could be paired with srs (stuff that needs refreshment). I think apps like kahn academy are good but could be improved and personally tried to build my own language learning flashcards app[0] after becoming frustrated with duolingo where I have a 2000 day streak. 0 - https://ling-academy.com/ https://ling-academy.com/ It's a bit of a mess. I found that its pretty hard to build a language app.

mushishi 5y ago
Cool idea, my first impression is that there should be some kind of mini-arcs or long phrases that make the content more digestible. What I mean is that now the speaker goes on and on, and the subtitles are abruptly changed to another set of words. As a learner, I would like to have better sense when the words will disappear. I noticed it's arbitrary Youtube content so it's hard.. A simple testable solution for arbitrary content: option to _automatically_ pause/slow down the video just a for second before changing to the next set of text. Another simple and stupid idea would be to show previous words below the the current context. In the long run usage of a particular user, maybe the app should not highlight words that it knows you have encountered in previous videos many times or if the system knows you have mastered that word -- in case the system is testing user, did not notice if it does. Btw. Not sure what is the difference between green and black colored words. (Don't know Spanish so hard to guess.) Also there's some typos at the landing page, at least these: "Activley", "wont be" Seems like a great concept, good luck :) (I don't find Duolingo that effective either.)
- Treegarden 5y ago
  Appreciate the feedback! My biggest challenge is to polish features. I have taken out a few features from the app because they where buggy and would break. I always had some ideas and prototyped them in the app but then after trying it out and getting a feel for it, I would jump to another idea instead of polishing the prototype. I'm definitely gonna improve the youtube feature, especially the ui. Also, showing the previous subtitles in smaller font somewhere is a great idea! Thanks for that.
abecedarius 5y ago
This ling-academy looks promising and I like your philosophy. After playing with it for a few minutes, I looked for a way to create an account to save my progress -- is that not implemented yet?

mushishi 5y ago

Cool idea, my first impression is that there should be some kind of mini-arcs or long phrases that make the content more digestible. What I mean is that now the speaker goes on and on, and the subtitles are abruptly changed to another set of words. As a learner, I would like to have better sense when the words will disappear. I noticed it's arbitrary Youtube content so it's hard.. A simple testable solution for arbitrary content: option to _automatically_ pause/slow down the video just a for second before changing to the next set of text. Another simple and stupid idea would be to show previous words below the the current context. In the long run usage of a particular user, maybe the app should not highlight words that it knows you have encountered in previous videos many times or if the system knows you have mastered that word -- in case the system is testing user, did not notice if it does. Btw. Not sure what is the difference between green and black colored words. (Don't know Spanish so hard to guess.) Also there's some typos at the landing page, at least these: "Activley", "wont be" Seems like a great concept, good luck :) (I don't find Duolingo that effective either.)

Treegarden 5y ago
Appreciate the feedback! My biggest challenge is to polish features. I have taken out a few features from the app because they where buggy and would break. I always had some ideas and prototyped them in the app but then after trying it out and getting a feel for it, I would jump to another idea instead of polishing the prototype. I'm definitely gonna improve the youtube feature, especially the ui. Also, showing the previous subtitles in smaller font somewhere is a great idea! Thanks for that.

abecedarius 5y ago

This ling-academy looks promising and I like your philosophy. After playing with it for a few minutes, I looked for a way to create an account to save my progress -- is that not implemented yet?