Your education system is just going to be a bunch of different mobile apps with microtransactions in five years isn't it
Also, recommend an app for practicing writing kanji, I got a stylus and everything
That's the blue states, red states will have salafist madrassas with teachers made out of ham
I thought they switched to butter sculptures because of the dairy subsidy
That, and homeschooled kids who last left their house when they came from the hospital after their birth.
Duolingo is such a piece of techbro garbage. It recycles the addictive game mechanics from other apps and makes the app maximise 'engagement', rather than helping people learn anything. It's failed every independent attempt at validation.
It's a nice tool if you already know how to learn a language or you've got a goal to fulfil. Of course it's not enough on its own, but it makes the first few months on a language much easier and faster than without.
I've used it most successfully for Indonesian because I had both things: I did 30 minutes of Duolingo every single day for four months and it got me to the point that I could practice with people on hellotalk. Two months later I went to Indonesia to hitchhike and I could communicate surprisingly well.
Language exchange chat app with built in translation/transliteration tools. Also a facebook-esque blogging aspect where you can ask for translations or whatever. I use it for Chinese and there is no shortage of people wanting a bilingual chat. Probably similar with other languages.
Unlimited translations and stuff are locked behind a paywall, but it's a useful app if you have a groundwork in the language already and want to practice.
B-b-b-but that's not what the owl tells me on the splash screens between the ads :surprised-pika:
OMG BILLY BOB FROM KANSAS HAS TAKEN YOUR #2 SPOT IN THIS WEEK'S SILVER LEAGUE RANKINGS, TAKE A LESSON RIGHT NOW TO GET YOUR TREASURE CHEST BACK
RUSH THROUGH THIS QUIZ AS FAST AS POSSIBLE TO GET MORE XP
I stopped using it when I realized I'm using it more like a Chinese room AI who just pick the options that make nice sounds.
Way more when you consider that nobody actually learns a foreign language in American high schools, you take 1-2 years of a Spanish class and come out knowing how to say library and bathroom and a few other random words, just a huge joke just like the rest of the education system
what i want to know is where grammar-first came from in the pedagogy. that's not how you learn your fucking first language, why is it how they try to teach us the second one?
Where do schools actually succeed at teaching foreign languages? I guessing kids in the first world are good at learning English because they want to play English language games and watch tv shows and movies.
Sure, I tried learning japanese from a russian study book that started with japanese words for worker, Lenin and communism, but it didn't stick. On the other hand is you travel through europe most young people understand english at least at some level.
It's obviously nowhere near a lingua franca, but it's impressive how many people across the world are at least somewhat proficient with it because of cartoons, comic books, video games and porn
I'm Finnish and had mandatory Swedish for 6 years
Min svensk är jättedåligt
Though here the main problem is the mandatory part
duolingo is good if you already know the language and need to refresh (source: my mom learning spanish on the site) but starting from scratch on it is awful. i hate the gamified aspects, but i guess thats the only way to get boomers to learn
i hate the gamified aspects, but i guess thats the only way to get boomers to
learnpay money to keep participatingThe annoying thing about Duolingo is that it just exists to bully you into subscribing. The usefulness is tangential to haranguing you to pay them.
There is a subscription service in Duolingo? It's totally free for me afaik
Are you not getting ads shoved in your face after every lesson? Being told to watch ads for extra gems? Being told to get the subscription service for unlimited hearts, custom-tailored lessons etc?
Alternatively, it's not bad for learning the touristy version of a language where you mostly just need to be able to ask where the toilet is and how much the bill is.
It does so very little to teach you actual grammar though, so God help you if the person you're talking to doesn't respond with the exact stock phrase you were expecting.
this is very fair. it teaches you words and contexts, but not grammar, so you really need to just memorize stock phrases. not the worst if you're spending a week in europe or something similar, but if you really need to converse with people for important topics, you should probably look elsewhere
I've been doing HelloChinese on and off, because I'm dedicated to being just sightly ahead of the HSK 1 curve for the rest of my life.
Would love to find something better.
Duolingo has been replacing the voices with cartoony ones, and that causes serious problems when learning a tonal language like Chinese. It became incomprehensible.
I only started using it recently, do you mean the slightly exaggerated voice each character has?
The goth-y young woman character's voice is kind of over the top in Japanese
Yeah. Before I switched to HelloChinese, I would dread seeing the little boy on the screen, because it meant I would have to just guess at what he's saying, and nevermind hearing the tones.
It doesn't really hinder comprehension in Japanese, it's just amusing how anime-y some of them sound
not really surprising though is it, given that there are ~300 million people in the US and however many of those being children who can be currently learning a language in public school, vs ~7.5 billion people in the world who can be using the app
The fact specifies Americans. There aren't over a billion Americans (cope and seethe Matt Yg).
I'll be sure to bring my calligraphy brushes and inks with me on the bus
Not that I don't agree, but something you can pull out while taking a shit or whatever has its own niche and helps keep your learning neurons firing.
I actually have an app I've used in the past that still works, Obenkyo. It does other stuff too, but I have mainly used it for Kanji practice.
There's a writing practice mode where it asks you to draw specific kanji based on on-yomi and kun-yomi and it lets you know if you fucked up the stroke order. The detection isn't perfect, but it's pretty good for practice on the go. I recommend grabbing a cheap stylus from a dollar store so you don't have to jab at the screen with your sweaty sausage fingers.
It lets you select lists of kanji based on JLPT levels but you can also load a .txt file with all the kanji you want to practice if you want something more tailored to the course you're taking etc.
I don't think there's been an update to the app in like 5 years which is why I wondered if there are any newer alternatives. Then again, it doesn't have microtransactions, ads, gamified Skinner box bullshit or social media integration so I guess that's not a bad thing :shrug-outta-hecks:
Stroke order is pretty key
I kind of disagree with this. Modern hand writing recognition software is generally good enough not to care about stroke order and obviously real humans can make out what you're writing as long as it looks accurate.
The only time I can really think of stroke order being relevant is looking things up in a paper dictionary and good God who even owns those anymore?
Also, recommend an app for practicing writing kanji, I got a stylus and everything
Mspaint :big-cool:
Looking forward to pay2win learning apps
Your education system is just going to be a bunch of different mobile apps with microtransactions in five years isn’t it
Already is...
Lingodeer has lessons on stroke order for some kanji and otherwise has pretty decent lessons with stories included to test comprehension.
I had lingodeer recommended to me over Duolingo for any language that doesn't have roman letters.
I'm pretty confident that I'd only use an app to supplement a textbook. Also, I had this idea that eventually, when it comes down to the point where you have 500 vocab words to memorize, the only way (for me) to progress past that is immersion. Same with any competency speaking.
I love it DuoLingo offers Hindi and displays is with the Indian flag but no Urdu... or Bengali... or Marathi... or Telugu...
Looks like Duolingo has already updated the app? Not sure how this is at all better though… https://hexbear.net/post/204130
