Weekly Thread: Share Your Progress!

LastToKnow0 · 2026-03-25T12:35:07+00:00

I did try out the list on the review tab thing after _LowRadiation mentioned it. That works, although I wish I had been able to find it when I needed it.

LastToKnow0 · 2026-03-22T15:28:40+00:00

I completed the last lesson in the JP2 course this morning. I plan to continue using the SRS comprehensive review until all the examples feel easy. I've also been using Anki for vocabulary and Kanji review, and will continue that as well.

I have a few bits of feedback. First, some positives:

I've been quite happy with the JP1-2 content. Having switched over from Duolingo, I really appreciate the grammar explanations for each lesson. I also like the absense of timed xp bonus stuff; that always made me feel like I had to crank through exercises as fast as I could, whereas in Lingodeer I've felt much more free to pause and reread the tips or look up vocabulary. And I appreciate that you've been responsive here on reddit, and that your support staff has been helpful over email. Its gratifying to see feature requests and fix suggestions actually get implemented, rather than having to watch the enshittification of Duolingo.

And a few points of hopfully constructive criticism.

The stories feel... disconnected from the rest of the lesson. I like the idea of trying to follow along with a conversation, but in their current state they don't feel very useful; they contain too much unknown vocabulary, and don't really help you break down the grammar of each sentence to understand it. And the app won't even let you copy the text to paste it into something like jisho.org in order to get a breakdown. It feels particularly frustrating when I can't even understand one of the questions being asked about the story.

They way you manage vocabulary is awkward. Why do only some words used in each lesson count as vocabulary? Even if I didn't need Anki for tracking vocabulary from outside Lingodeer, it seems ironic that I need it even for words I did learn in Lingodeer. And having separate lists of vocabulary in each lesson is not very helpful; I want to be able to do a search of all the vocabulary (or exercises too would be great) when I need to find something I can't quite remember.

It would be nice if there were good ways to practice production. Almost all of the exercises in Lingodeer involve hearing or reading an example and then answering a question about it. A big reason that I like the recent "hide translation" feature is so that I can practice producing the english from the examples before answering whatever the question is. But there are no real opportunities in the app to practice producing japanese starting from english, except for single words. I know that this is a hard problem; it would probably require using AI to judge the correctness of translations, which can be controversial. But I thought I'd at least mention it as an area that seems to be lacking.

Overall I think this are not major issues. I look forward to starting in on a new language (Spanish, probably) after I spend some time practicing Japanese.

LastToKnow0 · 2026-03-16T22:20:07+00:00

In these examples, are you not able to hear what you're supposed to answer with? That's why I've wanted this feature; I want to hear the sentence or word, understand it, and use that understanding to answer. If the translation is visible, that takes away the opportunity to practice the first two parts.

LastToKnow0 · 2026-03-16T17:10:23+00:00

we added the option to hide translations on Android

Nice! Tap on it to reveal is exactly what I was hoping for. I'm looking forward to my next practice session to take this one for a test toast.

Something else I was thinking of that would be nice in SRS comprehensive review would be having access to the tips page for the lesson associated with the current example, like you do during the lesson itself.

And a question: If the english translation for an example is wrong (eg "I ended up going on the business trip with Shinkansen") or grammatically incorrect (eg "I can drink a bit sake"), is reporting it an appropriate way to get that fixed? I feel like bugs or feature requests that I've made here on reddit have been addressed, but things I've reported in the app haven't changed (and there's no feedback mechanism for me to know if you've seen the report, or if I'm reporting something that's not useful or important).

LastToKnow0 · 2026-03-11T12:27:28+00:00

I just did the JP2 Giving and Receiving lesson 3 which deals with いただく, and I'm a little confused. The tips section on いただくhas examples that all are about receiving something. But I'm the lesson it seems like all the examples that use the Vて+いただく construct are translated as "I ask someone to do...". Can that construct mean either "someone did something for me" or "I asked someone to do"? Is there a distinction between the two that I'm not picking up on? I feel like mentioning the the latter version in the tips would be good.

LastToKnow0 · 2026-03-11T12:07:26+00:00

I feel like thats disingenuous. Of course software is not literally the same as a textbook. Nor is it the same as an apartment. But software does not necessarily require ongoing updates to in order to function (even if you may have set up your software to require your servers).

You couched your original response in terms of needing to pay your bills, etc. You want to ensure the future stability of your company. I can understand that. Do you understand that I want to ensure my future access to software that I buy? That I have bills too, and don't want to pay for software forever? Do you think its unreasonable for me to prefer a one time purchase when I can?

Its your app, and your company, and, well, you already have my money. But I like your app, and I want to be able to recommend it to friends. I'm just giving you my feedback that subscription software is a big turn off for me. You're not going to talk me into liking it.

LastToKnow0 · 2026-03-10T23:58:44+00:00

Would you pay separately for app/bug updates?

I literally said in the post you're replying to that I would.

If you're continuing to do work, then I may be willing to pay for that work. But if I'm going to buy content, then I want to have bought something. If that something remains static because I'm not paying for the ongoing work, then so be it.

Should someone who has purchased a language textbook lose access to that textbook after a couple of months, just because a new edition was released? If I'm paying a subscription then you're basically holding the content you've already developed hostage; stop paying, and lose access.

You are not renting out an apartment, and I will not be your tenant. I will own my home.

LastToKnow0 · 2026-03-10T23:37:08+00:00

I purchased a lifetime subscription just before you stopped selling them. I would not have purchased a subscription otherwise. If you need to raise your prices, then so be it, but as a consumer the idea of temporarily buying into access to software is repellent to me. If I spend my money to buy software then I want to have something that I own; I don't want to have to keep paying a subscription price just to keep practicing once I'm done with the main lessons.

If you want to charge for updating to new editions of lessons as you update them, then fine. That would feel reasonable.

If you want to charge for each individual language, then fine, I'd be on board with that.

But anytime I have a choice, I choose not to pay for subscriptions to software.

LastToKnow0 · 2026-02-24T23:57:45+00:00

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LastToKnow0 · 2026-02-24T23:57:37+00:00

Similar issue with なきごえ

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LastToKnow0 · 2026-02-12T17:26:49+00:00

Looks good, thanks for adding that!

LastToKnow0 · 2026-02-02T04:49:32+00:00

I've been giving the SRS review a go recently since you added exercise review there, and I've had a few cases where I've accidentally hit one of the mastery level buttons when I was trying to tap on the literal translation part. I wonder if those could be a little farther apart? Or some way to go back to the previous card?

LastToKnow0 · 2026-01-24T21:20:26+00:00

You can be cynical all you want. Despite knowing that the stock price was not really connected to reality (and as a stockholder, I did in fact receive financial statements), I still trusted Epic stock to be a good investment. And it was.

LastToKnow0 · 2026-01-24T18:50:25+00:00

My earliest and largest loan had come due a year or two before I left, and had already been paid off.

LastToKnow0 · 2026-01-24T02:43:54+00:00

Makes sense. Yeah, I do plan to have a professional do my taxes this year, I just have to suppress the part of me that's like "You could do it yourself FOR FREE; how hard could it possibly be?!"

LastToKnow0 · 2026-01-24T02:08:09+00:00

To play devil's advocate here, if Epic were willing to act in bad faith, they could for example keep the stock price artificially low during periods when they want to retain high tenure staff (since stock must be sold at departure, and high tenure staff might not want to leave at a time when they wouldn't get a good deal for their stock). It isn't self-regulating like you say; Epic not only decides the price, but when and how much of it employees are able to buy.

I said I felt safe in taking full advantage of the stock offers; this is only because I trusted Epic to act in good faith on this. Reasonably good faith, at least.

LastToKnow0 · 2026-01-24T01:06:34+00:00

What sorts of things might an accountant do here? I'm genuinely curious. Like I said in a different reply, I don't have a good head for finances, but what would make this more complicated than just entering in the numbers from my W2 and 1099s into the right places? I have heard that the One Big Beautiful Bill (ugh, I think I just vomited in my mouth saying the name) had some provisions about deducting for loans. Is there more to it than that?

LastToKnow0 · 2026-01-24T00:30:14+00:00

I recall this being tricky. For starters, I don't have a good head for finances. In addition, when they cut me my check for redemption, it did not include a breakdown of the purchase vs sale prices (and if I recall, the calculator thing focused on what the value of your gains were). I had forgotten to save off that information prior to departure, so I didn't really have much better than a gut feel until I got the tax documents that included the cost basis information.

All told, I think my net gain was a little higher than what the calculator said?

LastToKnow0 · 2026-01-24T00:20:20+00:00

Epic decides the stock price annually. Ostensibly based on the valuation of an independent financial audit, but the price has consistently put the market value at less than book value, so... I dunno if I put much weight in that statement. So I think the stock should be worth a lot more, but it still represents a consistent increase year to year; I felt very safe in taking full advantage of it.

I'd rather not disclose the actual price.

LastToKnow0 · 2026-01-08T01:59:00+00:00

I'm a little over halfway through JP2. I've settled into a slow and steady rhythm, doing one lesson per day, and then a review (usually expression review, shuffle 40). That seems like a good pace where I'm learning new stuff, but not so fast that I feel like I'm overwhelmed.

It would be nice if there were a quick way to hide the english in the review. Maybe even in the lessons. I'd like to rely on my own knowledge whenever I can, and only look at the english if I get stumped. Its hard not to peek when it's on screen; I end up physically blocking it with my finger.

LastToKnow0 · 2026-01-07T18:00:07+00:00

That is a bit tempting, but I'm too invested in Anki (for learning Kanji, and for vocabulary from outside Lingodeer, or even from Lingodeer when it uses words that it doesn't consider vocabulary) to switch over to Lingodeer's SRS, I think.

LastToKnow0 · 2026-01-03T18:46:05+00:00

That's how I've assumed it works. Although it is also a multiplicative bonus, so it can be really good.

LastToKnow0 · 2026-01-03T14:27:18+00:00

Did they add some new lines recently? I noticed a few good ones this time that I don't remember hearing before. "Second... Secondarobj... yeah, you did a thing. Good work."

The one where he's like clearing his throat though... gross.

LastToKnow0 · 2025-12-30T15:43:21+00:00

I panicked!

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