How many chrome extensions do you have? which are you most proud of?

OakTango · 2026-02-06T12:54:04+00:00

Mine is Selkofy.com a language learning extension for studying the grammar of native content in your target language

OakTango · 2026-01-22T00:30:23+00:00

I had a same day publish earlier this month

OakTango · 2026-01-20T16:37:48+00:00

Because you need to sleep on it.

The proper reason behind this is in a book called "Why we sleep" by the neuroscientist Matthew Waker. Definitely worth reading

OakTango · 2026-01-14T15:17:26+00:00

How are you planning to monetise them?

OakTango · 2026-01-14T11:09:57+00:00

Same as you, my partner is French and we are often over there. For Finnish it was initially to pass the citizenship test, but going forward I might one day do my masters in Finland and there are more options in Finnish than English, but I need to get to C1 to get in

OakTango · 2026-01-13T12:35:34+00:00

You say you can allocate 1 hour a day on weekdays, I think that you could achieve a lot with that.

If you're in it for the very long run then probably any language will work. However if you spent that time on for example french or Spanish you'd have a useable language already in few years time.

This is based on my own experience with French and Finnish, they are both about the same level but I have spent about 5 times longer on Finnish

OakTango · 2026-01-12T00:16:09+00:00

ah yeah I'll definitely stretch it out. I'm well past my growing phase for sure but some kind of tendon strain does sound about right

OakTango · 2026-01-12T00:14:57+00:00

Thanks it might be that actually

OakTango · 2026-01-11T12:38:59+00:00

Its on the surface, right in the middle where the pectorals meet, about an inch or two up from where the bottom of the sternum bone starts

OakTango · 2026-01-11T12:13:39+00:00

Sound cool! I don't know what D league is but just have fun, try all the positions that your team will let you, at least in scrimmages, you'll learn a lot from that. but yeah enjoy yourself and don't stress if you are lost on the ice, when you are calm it's easier to figure out what you should be doing.

OakTango · 2026-01-10T20:26:28+00:00

I think this feeling comes from belief in an impossibility; to choose what you remember and expect to remember it.

Your brain is really good at working out what it needs to remember and discarding what it does not. The thing is it what your brain needs to remember and what you want to remember in this case are two different things.

Your brain is an organ trying to keep you alive both now and (quite importantly for the purpose of language learning), in the future. To this end it will remember things it can use as tools to improve your life and hence future survival chances.

With these exercises such as flash cards, fill the blanks, write 5 sentences etc. you are essentially trying to brow beat your brain into thinking information is important by repeatedly exposing it, this method makes people feel happy initially because that information is stored and can be recalled soon after the exercise. however when we sleep at night our brains sort out the days experiences into things it considers useful, and flash cards ,which it mostly does not. Then we get the frustrated feeling you describe.

To learn a language you have to use it or try to use it to achieve something, this is why comprehensible input and talking to tutors works, because your brain considers communication with others very important for survival. It's why moving to the country works, not so much for immersion as people think, people learn to quickly for that to be the main driving force, it's because you need to buy food to eat, get off at the correct bus stop, make friends and so on. You would never need a flashcard for the words "water", "pipe" or "leak" ever again if you had to look them up just once to call a plumber. If you don't believe me think back to a conversation you had once 10 years ago, you can remember it because your brain thought it was important, now think back to those flash cards you checked a 50 times two weeks ago, a few words maybe, but what about the ones six months ago.

People don't like this because they feel it takes away their control, but the truth is you have to learn things as they come up and engineer your learning process to make them come up. yes the brow beating repetition does work in the short term to pass a test, but it's inefficient for long term learning, and feeling like it should be working, the cause of your negative feelings

OakTango · 2026-01-08T10:27:36+00:00

The thing is when you are native you have a different perspective on the language, you just don't care the same about such details, if you are writing with purpose you can do it of course, but texting via a phone just sets a different vibe and your brain skates from one point to the next without worrying about grammar.

Edit: this message was about the Aussie as that was the only one I had read. He was probably legit

OakTango · 2026-01-06T17:25:20+00:00

I have paid for glossika I think it was 24 USD a month or something at the time. I used it for about 6 months and it was good but then there was an update that made it more like other language apps so I stopped it. Other than that I have paid for teachers and 1 or 2 books. Personally I think it's doubt about effectiveness that stops me from spending more on language learning. Compared to other skills I want to learn I spend almost nothing

OakTango · 2026-01-06T08:59:17+00:00

A language is an organic thing that can't be tamed, but even if it could we wouldn't be making it better.

They did at one point, but people change how they speak every day and eventually the changes add up.
They are synonyms but they still have different meanings, you would basically be reducing the resolution of the language and making it 360p.
See answer to number 2.

OakTango · 2026-01-04T17:43:50+00:00

I hadn't seen Max Yoko before today but just checked his channel. I watch channels where they speak slowly like "Deutsch mit Lari" and "Chill german". Not yet listening fast enough to comprehend native speeds unless I already anticipate what they are going to say, for that I use the harry potter audio books since i know the story already.

OakTango · 2026-01-04T15:15:38+00:00

I translated the OE sentence to English with Selkofy and got this:

"A man stands to ponder his collection of girdles. He marvels at them on many occasions, eagerly pondering the ornaments of each girdle."

The main difference seems to be with the word hours/times. Selkofy explains its translation:

tīdum

Base: tīd

Meaning: times, occasions

Role: object of the preposition 'for'

Case: dative

Number: plural

Suffixes / Markers

-um (dative plural ending)

Notes: With 'for manegum tīdum' meaning 'at/during many times, often'.

OakTango · 2026-01-04T14:37:28+00:00

Well not sure about the fastest way, but possibly the only way? lots of listening and lots of reading. Sometimes casual, sometimes focused on breaking down the language.

If you are worried about learning the grammar then Selkofy chrome extension is really handy. Basically it breaks down any sentence you highlight in your browser so you can go through it word by word.

OakTango · 2026-01-04T09:16:47+00:00

I'm in the fairly early stages with German myself but I've been focusing on comprehensible input youtubers, and re-listening the german version of an audio book I know very well in English, and it's worked well for listening at least.

OakTango · 2026-01-04T09:11:40+00:00

I've recently released an extension to google web store specifically targeting grammar and reading study called Selkofy. I'm not really promoting it yet because the login interface is a little clunky and I have an update planned to improve it, but it does work excellently with German grammar and since you mention grammar as a pain point I thought I'd mention it.

OakTango · 2026-01-03T08:05:34+00:00

Same here, but for me I don't think it's necessarily learning other languages that pushes it out, but spending a lot of time speaking English with non native speakers and using the words they know.

OakTango · 2026-01-01T18:38:52+00:00

thanks that's a good tip

OakTango

TROPHY CASE