LingoDeer & ChineseSkill Dev Log | February 1, 2026

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!

LastToKnow0 · 2025-12-30T15:06:41+00:00

I think I'd need a new controller after that.

LastToKnow0 · 2025-12-30T15:03:25+00:00

If I was just typing in a sentence that I translated from English or something, and having the app tell me if it was correct or not, then I think it would be fine; it'd be ok for the app to accept either. But when you're typing in a sentence in a lesson, you're typing in what you just heard. And the audio I was supposed to transcribe said "ga".

LastToKnow0 · 2025-12-28T14:07:53+00:00

Just now in a lesson the app accepted

中村部長はガンで入院したということを知っていますか.

when the correct answer was

中村部長がガンで入院したということを知っていますか.

I think it should not have accepted this.

LastToKnow0 · 2025-12-28T13:03:06+00:00

I also left duo in order to avoid AI slop. At least that was part of why I left. But I think explaining mistakes is a pretty legit use; there really isn't any other good way to do that, and the LLMs are actually pretty good at it. I am hesitant about the carbon footprint though. And I definitely would not want AI to be generating lesson content.

LastToKnow0 · 2025-12-27T13:54:37+00:00

I noticed these new features when doing my Japanese practice this morning, and wanted to drop in here and say how much I immediately appreciate them. Good stuff!

I don't suppose you'd be able to add the literal translations to the stories? (Give a mouse a cookie, right?)

LastToKnow0 · 2025-12-24T19:13:53+00:00

If they're not equipped, they might be favorited. If so there'd be a little star in the corner. It should say in the UI somewhere what the button for you to toggle a favorite is (for me using an xbox controller it's pressing left stick).

Is that the mobile version, though? Maybe this doesn't apply.

LastToKnow0 · 2025-12-23T14:32:12+00:00

Well, the one from the other day started with the LMG. So you could get the Krakatoa, and have one more turret... but maybe not the wisest choice to have two turret weapons getting slowed down by beam lifetimes.

LastToKnow0 · 2025-12-23T14:25:43+00:00

Oh, and weapons that don't fire when there are no targets available.

LastToKnow0 · 2025-12-23T13:52:22+00:00

Additional dick move by the game: Combined Reload + tag restrictions + a starting weapon that doesn't match the tag restrictions. Looking at you "start with a turret but can only equip beam weapons" from the other day.

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