The Whole App is a Blob

I learned 5 foreign languages different ways, and the one I'm most proficient in, Italian, I learned the hardest way, doing grammar excercises, where for every of 31 paragraphs of the manual (each paragraph containing 2-3 grammatical phoenomena), I had to articulate ~200 sentences, each from scratch. I abandoned flashcards on the 2nd or 3rd month of learning. I also attended a discussion club, which gave that tiny bit of "coffeeshop" language the author speaks about. 1,5 years into learning, I passed CILS exam for level C (it would be C1 nowadays).

My worst language in is German, where every manual is well elaborated in terms of graphical design, but every exercise askss you to insert a word or two into a sentence. Or pick an answer from a set. Basically, Duolinguo sent to printer. So after couple of years of working with teachers and taking intensive courses, my level is B1..2. I can listen to radio and understand something, I can read something. I actually can speak in a shop -- they'll understand my level and speak accordingly -- but I can't do a normal conversation. I couldn't find a teacher that doesn't just drill you through these same fancy books.

"A friend who had been learning some language in Duolinguo and then couldn't say a sentence to a native", should be proverbial nowadays.

So, despite the app idea being interesting and compelling, this teaching approach, picking correct options from lists, are good for testing (if the subject is given little enough time), but futile at teaching.

From the title, I assumed this is about an app distributed as a binary blob.

Regarding learning languages, I'm not a fan of this style of learning. It seems to me this is still Duolingo, just with a different interface. I had good success with https://www.languagetransfer.org/

(Off-topic) I'm convinced that the ideal language learning app should look like this:

1. A HUGH repository of raw materials, both in text and in audio. They are all written/recorded by native speakers, not non-native language teachers.

1.5. (Optional) The materials come with supplemental vocabulary lists and grammar guides.

2. You take a test.

3. It recommends materials for you to read/listen to, according your proficiency level shown in the test.

3.5. (Opt-in) it can read your YouTube history and social media to recommend materials that you might like.

4. Every month or every N hours of reading/listening, you take a new test to recalibrate your proficiency level.

That's it. However due to copyright issues, I don't expect to see such an app in near future. What a bummer.

(Not-so-off-topic) Personally I consider all the apps that don't resemble the above workflow "dictionary-like" (useful but as a reference tool, not a learning tool) or "Duolingo-like" (a healthier alternative to doomscrolling, but nothing more). The article sounds Duolingo-like.

I built a language app when it first became viable with GPT and also went the avatar as UI route. It presents a unique set of challenges nd constraints, but I spent the most time just trying to get the mouth to sync with the audio. Fun experience for sure. Regarding learning languages, I have stopped building and relying on apps, as I spend too much time mucking with the app and not enough time on the language. The highest potency practice I have found is transcribing podcasts. It’s a major headache, but it really pushes you forward regarding listening, writing, and spelling.

> as far as I could tell that day, a collective commitment to not speaking English.

Ah... those pesky people speaking their very own language instead of the (ahem...) lingua franca.

This writing had an interesting effect on me. I went in knowing nothing about the app or author and frankly having no need for whatever it was he might be selling. But by the time I finished reading I was significantly amused and interested that I’m going to go check his stuff out.

What I’m trying to say is that this is someone who can really, really write - he’s deeply funny and self deprecating, but obviously also knows his shit, big-time. And that’s a massively powerful skill, maybe as much of a skill as being able to write Swift or make great interfaces or ship an app.

> “If you grew up with Tamagotchis, you already understand why this was tempting. Not the “cute pixel pet” part. The part where a device the size of a digestive biscuit turns into a low-resolution hostage negotiator.”

This is irritatingly good and it makes me want to buy his products and subscribe to his RSS feed. Great writing is powerful magic.

What a great writer!

Slightly off-topic, but when learning to speak a new language, it is helpful to actually speak the language as often as you can.

There are a couple of websites that make it easy to book short conversation practice with native speakers. The one I use to practice Spanish is italki.

I find the practice of actually speaking, no matter how badly, helps way more than any app.

This is definitely not applicable to every app, BUT that's a very clever way of solving UX problems with "face"- based animations and expressions, giving users feedback. At the same time, you do stuff in the background. I have seen this for the first time in the Airbnb apps, but only in 1-2 cases, and they use Lottie animations, not directly tied to UI events.

An interesting story, a tech post with a rich intimate personal story, I enjoyed it pretty much.

But, in my first attempt to read it, I got totally lost in the very first part. I had to go back and forth to understand where it was coming from and where it is heading. I think a little bit of guidance at the beginning would not hurt, for example something like: “this is my personal journey related to the design of an app,” maybe in light gray and italic.

> Your life is allowed to exist

I like this article, but statements like this go far too far. An app cannot disallow someone's life. It's not that important.

This is a great app! I wish it would allow to go through all verb tenses in French. If I can help you with that don't hesitate to reach out to me.

Canada is bilingual by law and primary school curriculum, so I would personally not feel embarrassed or that I was imposing on others to converse in English.

Cool app though.

Idea for an app is quite nice. My kids would love it.

I just can't understand how can adult person be so traumatized by silly mistake in a coffee shop, so they will build an entire app to learn a language so this will not happen again.

I mean, I understand you made an error and you could not understand native speaker. Happens to me a lot of times with English and British people. But situation that you may not understand someone speaking foreign language abroad is expected. For me at least. How can you call it a humiliation? Just smile and ask politely to repeat because you do not understand. Point at you ear, which should be understand by everyone that you did not hear. Or look at register and check the price. Or just give them much more that you think it really cost and wait for a change. Awkwardly looking at your phone seems a bit rude.

The concept seems awesome and quite unexplored. Very inspiring.

I like the idea—I hate freezing up while retrieving something I “know—-but the app itself seems a bit thin.

I got to level thirteen having seen only four verbs (aller, faire, être, and parler) and mostly in the present.