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"Chat roulette for language learning" should be their five-word pitch. Great idea. I've been learning French, Italian, and Spanish via lingq.com and what it's

"Chat roulette for language learning" should be their five-word pitch. Great idea. I've been learning French, Italian, and Spanish via lingq.com and what it's missing most is the ability to practise live with native speakers without having to schedule a call with a tutor. It could prove a great way to practise a language, assuming they can work out a way to police it. What's to stop it filling with the type of crowd that frequents chat roulette, for example?

rickdale 15y ago
No, their five word pitch should not be "chat roulette for language learning". That would imply lots of cocks speaking different languages. I hate when a company is the something for something else. Be unique. How about Video Chat For Language Learning. Why bring chat roulette into it? Break free and then Chatroulette can become the Verbly for wanting to speak your native language to another penis. It just seems with all of the abuse that chatroulette gets it would be smart to try and separate yourself from them.
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- lobo_tuerto 15y ago
  Sorry, but no, I didn't get that idea when he mentioned that 5 word pitch. The meaning I obtained was exactly what he initially meant. A place where you can be hook up to another person in the world, but with the explicit intention of practicing a language that's foreign to one and native to the other. There is no shame in piggy-backing anyway, wasn't even someone famous who said: "If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants." Not saying that chatroulette is a _giant_ per se, but what they did in so few days was, well, a giant achievement (news, users, concept).
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- modernerd 15y ago
  Why bring chat roulette into it? Because it's been a phenomenally successful concept that millions already understand conceptually. And because it highlights their USP -- live, instant matching of language partners -- when their competitors who use vanilla video chat services require you to schedule online conferences. 'The something-of-something-else' pattern is incredibly useful as a means of introducing new services and ideas. (My favourite is from Ronald Shusett and Dan O'Bannon, who famously pitched the film 'Alien' as 'Jaws in space'.) Sure -- you might take on the negative elements of the service you're comparing yourselves with as well as the positive ones, but as long as you have answers for those questions (e.g. "Good question. Our community is self-policing, and we review and ban users who misbehave."), then I see little harm in it.
  - barkingcat 15y ago
    Chat roulette is not as successful as you think it is, and no - if you just say it to anyone on the streets, no one will understand what "chat roulette" is - it has a connotation of gambling or being very risky (ie the roulette thing billions of people understand conceptually, so your "analogy" will be hijacked) Is it a platform for gambling in different languages? Is probably the response you'll get from "chat roulette for languages"
    - zerohp 15y ago
      I'm going to disagree with you there. Occasionally I watch "old media" and for a while Chat Roulette dominated both traditional and comedy news shows as well as late night. Many people on the street know exactly what it is: penises.
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      - 5hoom 15y ago
        I hate to be 'that guy with a youtube link', but I think Trey Parker & Matt Stone nailed what Chat Roulette means to most people: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gNyDZmQyeY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gNyDZmQyeY Probably best if Verbling doesn't associate themselves with that ;)
- noblethrasher 15y ago
  "I hate when a company is the something for something else. Be unique." At the risk of appeal to authority: "In fact, I explicitly tell YC startups to explain themselves to investors as "the x of y" whenever possible." -pg http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1216008 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1216008 http://www.paulgraham.com/investors.html http://www.paulgraham.com/investors.html (see point 14)
  - mmahemoff 15y ago
    investors!=consumers "The x of y" can be okay for consumers too, but only a select few brands are familiar to mainstream consumers. e.g. " Facebook for businesses" or "Google for real estate" work. Penis aside, ChatRoulette too obscure for most people and especially a long time after its peak.
- webwright 15y ago
  "I hate when a company is the something for something else. Be unique." While I'm with you on the concern with the tainted associated, I couldn't disagree more with the above sentiment. Conveying something in a few words incredibly powerful and incredibly hard... Starting with something your audience is familiar with is an incredible asset. It doesn't cheapen the movie "Alien" to pitch it as "Jaws on a spaceship". (hat tip to the book "Made to Stick").
jjolis 15y ago
Jake from Verbling here. Thanks for this feedback. Really appreciate it. Many users are reporting switching from other sites once they've gotten the first few phrases down and want to practice with real native speakers. Talking to real people seems to serve as an extra injection of motivation. Re. abuse: Verblings make accounts and that carry a crowdsourced reputation. We can see how well-liked our users are based on how their conversation partners rate them. Users with serious abuse reports filed against them are investigated and, if substantiated, kicked out.
- guelo 15y ago
  How do you investigate the abusers? Do you record the video?
  - jjolis 15y ago
    We haven't seen any serious abuse yet. If we get any report, we look at what type of abuse was reported, whether other users have reported the same potential abuser, and follow up with each of the users involved individually in Verbling itself and/or by email.
- brianobush 15y ago
  Great idea, but you really need Japanese :)
ddemchuk 15y ago
Never ever ever describe your own pride and joy by naming another product or company, regardless if they're a competitor or not.
dchuk 15y ago
Never ever ever describe your own pride and joy by naming another product or company, regardless if they're a competitor or not.

rickdale 15y ago

No, their five word pitch should not be "chat roulette for language learning". That would imply lots of cocks speaking different languages. I hate when a company is the something for something else. Be unique. How about Video Chat For Language Learning. Why bring chat roulette into it? Break free and then Chatroulette can become the Verbly for wanting to speak your native language to another penis. It just seems with all of the abuse that chatroulette gets it would be smart to try and separate yourself from them.

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lobo_tuerto 15y ago
Sorry, but no, I didn't get that idea when he mentioned that 5 word pitch. The meaning I obtained was exactly what he initially meant. A place where you can be hook up to another person in the world, but with the explicit intention of practicing a language that's foreign to one and native to the other. There is no shame in piggy-backing anyway, wasn't even someone famous who said: "If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants." Not saying that chatroulette is a _giant_ per se, but what they did in so few days was, well, a giant achievement (news, users, concept).
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modernerd 15y ago
Why bring chat roulette into it? Because it's been a phenomenally successful concept that millions already understand conceptually. And because it highlights their USP -- live, instant matching of language partners -- when their competitors who use vanilla video chat services require you to schedule online conferences. 'The something-of-something-else' pattern is incredibly useful as a means of introducing new services and ideas. (My favourite is from Ronald Shusett and Dan O'Bannon, who famously pitched the film 'Alien' as 'Jaws in space'.) Sure -- you might take on the negative elements of the service you're comparing yourselves with as well as the positive ones, but as long as you have answers for those questions (e.g. "Good question. Our community is self-policing, and we review and ban users who misbehave."), then I see little harm in it.
- barkingcat 15y ago
  Chat roulette is not as successful as you think it is, and no - if you just say it to anyone on the streets, no one will understand what "chat roulette" is - it has a connotation of gambling or being very risky (ie the roulette thing billions of people understand conceptually, so your "analogy" will be hijacked) Is it a platform for gambling in different languages? Is probably the response you'll get from "chat roulette for languages"
  - zerohp 15y ago
    I'm going to disagree with you there. Occasionally I watch "old media" and for a while Chat Roulette dominated both traditional and comedy news shows as well as late night. Many people on the street know exactly what it is: penises.
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
    - 5hoom 15y ago
      I hate to be 'that guy with a youtube link', but I think Trey Parker & Matt Stone nailed what Chat Roulette means to most people: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gNyDZmQyeY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gNyDZmQyeY Probably best if Verbling doesn't associate themselves with that ;)
noblethrasher 15y ago
"I hate when a company is the something for something else. Be unique." At the risk of appeal to authority: "In fact, I explicitly tell YC startups to explain themselves to investors as "the x of y" whenever possible." -pg http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1216008 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1216008 http://www.paulgraham.com/investors.html http://www.paulgraham.com/investors.html (see point 14)
- mmahemoff 15y ago
  investors!=consumers "The x of y" can be okay for consumers too, but only a select few brands are familiar to mainstream consumers. e.g. " Facebook for businesses" or "Google for real estate" work. Penis aside, ChatRoulette too obscure for most people and especially a long time after its peak.
webwright 15y ago
"I hate when a company is the something for something else. Be unique." While I'm with you on the concern with the tainted associated, I couldn't disagree more with the above sentiment. Conveying something in a few words incredibly powerful and incredibly hard... Starting with something your audience is familiar with is an incredible asset. It doesn't cheapen the movie "Alien" to pitch it as "Jaws on a spaceship". (hat tip to the book "Made to Stick").

jjolis 15y ago

Jake from Verbling here. Thanks for this feedback. Really appreciate it. Many users are reporting switching from other sites once they've gotten the first few phrases down and want to practice with real native speakers. Talking to real people seems to serve as an extra injection of motivation. Re. abuse: Verblings make accounts and that carry a crowdsourced reputation. We can see how well-liked our users are based on how their conversation partners rate them. Users with serious abuse reports filed against them are investigated and, if substantiated, kicked out.

guelo 15y ago
How do you investigate the abusers? Do you record the video?
- jjolis 15y ago
  We haven't seen any serious abuse yet. If we get any report, we look at what type of abuse was reported, whether other users have reported the same potential abuser, and follow up with each of the users involved individually in Verbling itself and/or by email.
brianobush 15y ago
Great idea, but you really need Japanese :)

ddemchuk 15y ago

Never ever ever describe your own pride and joy by naming another product or company, regardless if they're a competitor or not.

dchuk 15y ago

Never ever ever describe your own pride and joy by naming another product or company, regardless if they're a competitor or not.