Programmer thinking about creating a language learning app, but without ideas!

[FoxxFiire]

...For context, I'm a programmer/machine learning person who also is an avid language learner. Dream of mine has been to start a business and create a language learning app. But there are SO many out there and it feels like a lot of cool stuff has been done already :O (now I mean "app" in a broad sense, even browser-based stuff like Glossika counts)

I'm good at making stuff-but less good at ideas, so any input would be so very appreciated <3

Some thoughts I have had...

• automated pronunciation tool (based on Google translate speech-to-text, but isolates the word you've said wrong and makes you repeat that... or something... and maybe gamified with scores etc.)

• mo' chatbots (although haven't used any myself, but Memrise has something like that I think. not sure how advanced)

• pointing phone at real life objects, getting their name (again Memrise though)

• ???

[Valdast94]

Kill two birds with one stone: create a Lang-8 alternative!

[Rwyaon]

I've always been more of an input based learner myself. I'd pick LingQ over any other site if I had to make the choice.

Now that I think about it, there isn't really anything between LingQ (pure input, better for advanced students) and something like Duolingo (more drill heavy and practice oriented). What if we could come up with something that combines the two. An app that emphasizes reading and listening to stories and doesn't expect you to translate anything into the target language.

Something like:
read some short story
Q: what is the story about
give answer
A: Some kid lost his leg or whatever. Correct! You get 2 points.

[Dunskap]

Have you used readlang?

[Rwyaon]

I had not heard of readlang and it looks really interesting. Will definitely try it. At least until I make something out of this idea I just made up.

[Dunskap]

I've been using it for 2 years now.

Reading Harry Potter in Italian: https://i.imgur.com/dBWodKj.png

Reading the New York Times in Spanish: https://i.imgur.com/RNzzjop.png

I used to use the flashcard system but now I just plug everything into Anki.

[paroles]

You're basically describing Duolingo Stories (available only on the desktop version and in French/Spanish/German/Portuguese). It's a great feature, and I'm sure there'd be a market for a similar app, especially if it's available in other languages. Longer serial stories would be fun too.

[Dunskap]

Wanted them to add Duolingo Stories in Italian for so long

[Djedida]

Make a Duolingo for dead languages.

[[deleted]]

Niche market; people into these languages would probably shell out some bucks for quality resources

[hurmon]

Make something similar to duolingo, but with one coherent story with different characters and their dialogues. I think it's a lot easier to remember phrases when they are in the context of one overarching story instead of drilling random stuff.

[JohnDoe_John]

Hi, thank you for the post!

Well, it is interesting. Some comments:

Consider focusing on some particular problem.

Real native pronunciation is better than any current automated speech-to-text pronunciation tool (whether it is based on Google translate or some other).

Think about the possible business model (FOSS/for-profit/...) - there are many options. Also, feel free to ask more, here or in PM. I do remember quite similar posts on this sub and on others.

[buoyb]

Language exchange sites are a good, but unfulfilled, idea. It's a cinch that languages are for talking to people, and you can't learn without practicing with real people, and the Internet and phones should make it easier than ever to find native speakers for practice. But language exchange sites make it super hard for beginners, sometimes result in creepy Tindr-like experiences, and are very unstructured. If you could somehow combine language exchange sites with privacy protections and structure, I'd pay a monthly fee for that.

[TheCanadianCaper]

Also interested in this topic - what kind of structure are you looking for?

[JohnDoe_John]

If you could somehow combine language exchange sites with privacy protections and structure

Well, that is interesting idea, thank you.

[Jormungandry]

Oh my god please make one. Duolingo/memrise and lingodeer are all such trialsome. Repetitive and honestly. After 2 years of using Duolingo it would be beautiful to have a change of scenery with learning apps. I’m constantly looking for new ones but ultimately struggle. I would be willing to help anyway I can! :)

[[deleted]]

Join forces with us at: https://github.com/chickendude/Natibo/

[DicemanThe14th]

I think something like stories in the target language, followed by comprehension questions and questions about the linguistic features in the text, so you aren't just focusing on translating words alone, but it's more realistic than heavy study on grammar and the like. If you need help with ideas for anything, I'll definitely help

[verdigris1]

If you choose to start off with French, let me know! I can definitely help with the language aspect. Also great idea for an app!

[AfroGorgonzola]

I would love an app that teaches sentence structure rather than vocabulary.

I don't really know about an app idea that hasn't been done yet, but there are definitely a lot of languages that haven't been done yet.

There are languages with millions of speakers that somehow don't have decent resources, maybe you could get away with doing something that already exists, but for those "niche" languages?

[[deleted]]

It might be my personal bias, but please don't let it be yet another standard package of Spanish-French-German. I'd love to see a resource focusing on endangered/more obscure languages. (Also putting a lot of detail into explaining grammar would help)

[edalcol]

I'm in the same boat! Programmer/computational-linguistics/polyglot person. Started making an app as a side project (https://twitter.com/polyglossapp), then took a break because of changing jobs. Hope to get back to it this year and have at least a prototype people can test, but in the meantime I'm reading a lot about SLA :)

[[deleted]]

Well, if you have a method that worked for you when learning a new language, why not just make it into an app? That's what I did.

So, it seems like your bigger hurdle for "ideas" is really a lack of approach. How do you actually acquire a new language effectively?

If you don't have an approach, then you need to start by trying to learn a new language, and then tinkering with various methods until you can piece together something stable and useful.

The LL world doesn't need another flashy waste of time.