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Show HN: I am bootstrapping a video-based Duolingo competitor

by superplussed on 6/10/18, 6:04 PM with 12 comments

  • by superplussed on 6/10/18, 6:15 PM

    Hey guys, I'm bootstrapping a pretty ambitious language learning project, and would love to get your feedback on it.

    I started working on it almost 4 years ago after moving to Berlin, and discovering how crazy-hard learning a language was, and how ill-suited apps were for getting students to any kind of conversational fluency. So I spent about 2 and a half years going through multiple iterations of the app while incorporating elements of different language learning techniques including audio-book courses, Youtube channels, Assimil books, shadowing, tutoring, and of course other apps.

    About a year ago I started working on it full time, and started collaborating with a Youtube teacher to produce content. We ended up really stressing humor and fun as a guiding principle of content creation, and think in the end we've made a pretty unique app because of it.

    Anyway, I'd love to get your guy's feedback on it! There is an walkthrough video on the home page if you aren't learning German and don't want to register.

  • by nkristoffersen on 6/11/18, 10:38 AM

    I’m learning a new language now after moving to a new country and found duolingo was difficult to follow due to the artificial voice.

    Memrise has been great though, not only are the voices natural, the app shows a video of a native speaker speaking a new word.

    I highly recommend Memrise (so far) for learning a language. The format just clicks for me.

    Edit: I will try this out when I get to my computer. Anything to help me learn my new language :-)

  • by Herodotus38 on 6/10/18, 8:02 PM

    Looks like a great idea and after using duolingo to brush up on my Spanish I think you are right about trying another format.

    I will leave a comment about the website: on my IPhone, the edges of the centered text are cut off, it seems like it needs to resized for mobile in my case.

  • by m3tr0s on 6/12/18, 9:12 AM

    I like the idea, especially to "grammar in context" part. I'm working on something similar, using movie subtitles to provide good learning material (words and expressions) in context. Hopefully you will see it here within days, I just really should put a landing page together like yours. How did you built it?

  • by jclos on 6/10/18, 7:01 PM

    This is a great idea. I was a Memrise user (back when I had more free time) to learn some Mandarin Chinese and I noticed that I retained way more information in terms of pronunciation when I was watching the videos than with just the audio. I assume it's because of being able to see the native speaker's lips as they speak, but I have no idea if that's really the case.

  • by frankacter on 6/11/18, 3:50 AM

    What is the plan for scaling additional languages?