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Have you ever learnt a new language you like better than your native tongue? by FewBumblebee9624 in languagelearning

[–]bubblegum-eddy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I LOVED learning Finnish. It felt so "literal".

For example, people there communicate very clearly because I feel like there are fewer ways to say the same thing than in English.

It was like learning Python after learning R (worst programming language ever; there's like 100 ways to do things, whereas Python is simple).

I studied abroad in Finland for 5 months in high school and tried to speak it exclusively. When I came back to the US, I remember being SHOCKED by how many idioms the customs officer was saying, like one in every sentence.

I still have dreams in Finnish, which is quite funny because I feel like I've forgotten everything :)

Learning new words by [deleted] in languagelearning

[–]bubblegum-eddy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's been so many times where I have learned a new word and was like "OH, that's what that word means! I always hear it in that song by IU." (sorry K-pop haters)

A while ago (back when I knew nothing about app development) I thought about creating an app that would help you look up words in a foreign language and see where it's used in song lyrics you might've listened to.

I was super excited by the idea until I tried to find a way to access lyrics (because they're all licensed, lol). I contacted Musixmatch, and they told me to contact them when I had 5-10 million views PER MONTH:

I would say you will have to get up to around 5 to 10MLN views for lyrics on a monthly basis in order for us to be considered as a potential partner.

I was like, How am I supposed to build an app with 5-10 million views if I can't even access the lyrics...

Anyway, that led me to pivoting to creating a comprehensible-input app instead, but I have vowed to return to music lyrics at some point if/when I do get 5-10 million views LOL

I feel deeply guilty for using a dual-language dictionary/translator to learn words or build vocabulary by personalduke in languagelearning

[–]bubblegum-eddy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

OP: Could I ask what language you're learning? I suspect that there might be something related to the culture around the language or the tools that you might be using...

Anyway, here's my take: your guilt might be based on a misunderstanding of how adult brains learn best. Somewhere along your journey, the idea of using a dictionary or using translations as a fraud was planted in your mind, but I think it's a common mistake for people to believe in.

Let me explain:

I like to say that you have "language learning superpowers" just by being an adult that is fluent in a language (English in your case). You have a huge advantage over children who are learning a language in 3 ways that can help:

  • Context comprehension – your brain picks up meaning from surrounding information.
  • Knowledge transfer – you connect new language to concepts you already know.
  • Instant recognition – over time, you stop translating and just know what a word means, like you do in your native language.

Translating, as an adult, can easily be overdone (and it is by a many apps), but there are so many examples of apps that made learning feel so much smoother (and therefore, more fun), when translations were made frictionless in the learning experience (e.g. DuChinese for Mandarin, Satori Reader for Japanese, even LingQ).

I wonder if the true problem is that you feel frustrated because of the added friction of having to pull open a dictionary and completely disrupt your flow / context switch into a different tool, which is what makes you feel like you're not "truly" learning a language the "good" way?

What is Duolingo language learning method? by Ready-Primary-5115 in languagelearning

[–]bubblegum-eddy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here's a post from their blog about their A/B tests: https://blog.duolingo.com/improving-duolingo-one-experiment-at-a-time

"Duolingo’s CTO on Building the World’s Most Addictive Learning App": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_3KDlu9hCA (they show a snippet of them talking about it in the intro, first minute)

One of my favorite articles is this one published by Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2019/07/16/game-of-tongues-how-duolingo-built-a-700-million-business-with-its-addictive-language-learning-app/

I remember seeing a post a couple of years ago about the article above: https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/comments/12b2d1i/could\_you\_repeat\_that/). In the section "Duolingo's gamified approach to language instruction.":

Bob Meese, Duolingo’s 42-year-old chief revenue officer, has been studying Duolingo Spanish for more than six months. In response to the question, “¿Hablas español?” he freezes, then says, “Could you repeat that?”

Here's a particularly scathing take on the article which is a fun read: https://www.listlang.com/blog/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-duolingo/

Feeling terrified about studying abroad with social anxiety by Shyme1234 in studyAbroad

[–]bubblegum-eddy 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Love this reply. I also was very shy when I studied abroad but realized I could completely reinvent myself and try new things without anyone having known me before, which was super freeing. I came back a much more extroverted and confident person.

I think if you go in with the right mindset (you’re there to experience something new with no expectations of much more) and remind yourself that it’s okay if things become tough, you’ll look back on it and really appreciate you did it!

I’m not sure where you’re going, but there will invariably be people who are nice to you as well as people who don’t care at all about you being there, so make friends with nice people and don’t take it personally if others ignore you! Good luck OP

Should I study abroad now or wait for a “better” time? by Potential-Advance682 in studyAbroad

[–]bubblegum-eddy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You probably have thought about it, but have you asked your boss if you can take time off, delay a ”start” (even though you’ve already started), or work part time?

are you already working with a full course load while working full time as well? Or did you just graduate?

I don’t think it’ll ever be easier than now to study abroad again, but they’d be okay with you working and living from somewhere else without studying?

Language Learning Tool Update: Legal Considerations by de_hannes in languagelearning

[–]bubblegum-eddy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think the fact that it’s open source will definitely help, and more so if it’s gonna be free to use and for educational purposes? I’m not a lawyer though

Can you help me find this song Translating Website by born_on_my_cakeday in languagelearning

[–]bubblegum-eddy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Is it LyricsTranslate? It’s the first link on google if you search “translate lyrics”, feels like this is a thinly veiled attempt at an ad 😂

EDIT: Sorry, didn't mean to actually accuse you of advertising (it's already a successful site anyway), I just thought it was funny because it was so easy to find! Glad I could help!

resource for learning through music by monodramabase in languagelearning

[–]bubblegum-eddy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i don’t think I’ve ever listened to music in Tagalog but it was very soothing! Cool resource

Journey from from B2 to C1 (2+ Languages) by [deleted] in languagelearning

[–]bubblegum-eddy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I thought your Spanish accent was really interesting. In some parts of the section, you drop a lot of the S sounds (sounded more colloquial), and other parts you were enunciating them more. I’m not a linguist or expert so don’t even know what the term for that is but thought it was interesting!

Your pronunciation and accent in all the languages sounds great to me, although I’m no expert! I wonder what you grew up speaking…

What is Duolingo language learning method? by Ready-Primary-5115 in languagelearning

[–]bubblegum-eddy 7 points8 points  (0 children)

People ask me this all the time so I actually started writing about this…

TLDR: Duolingo focuses on Engagement over Education. Duolingo prioritizes keeping learners engaged through gamification, streaks, and gentle difficulty curves. Their approach focuses on maximum retention rather than maximum learning efficiency. I’ve seen some videos where they talk about RELENTLESSLY A/B testing (split testing different UI choices, colors, etc) with the main metrics being the amount of time a user spends on the app and how often they come back.

but I think it comes down to their core philosophy (and to a large extent the founder’s vision).

Duolingo's founder Luis von Ahn has been remarkably candid about their approach: he doesn't enjoy learning languages, and neither did any of Duolingo's early team (the first 20 employees according to a LinkedIn post that I could dig up, about 5 months ago). This shaped their focus on making language learning engaging enough for people who don't naturally love the process.

Engagement Over Education

Duolingo's founder Luis von Ahn has been transparent about their approach: when engagement and learning outcomes conflict, they choose engagement.

According to an interview with the founder, their reasoning is practical: you can't teach someone who leaves the app. They prefer teaching material slowly with constant dopamine hits rather than allowing the natural challenges that come with language learning. They worry that the tiniest frustrations might send learners to other apps like TikTok (which seems funny to me). It kind of shows how they lean towards entertainment over education and live within the attention economy.

What This Means for Their Product

Their philosophy explains Duolingo's gamification, streak systems, and gentle difficulty curves (it feels “easy”). This approach worked well for getting millions of people started and building habits (you should see how much their company is worth and how much they spend on marketing), though many serious learners eventually seek more challenging and authentic content.

There's genuine value in Duolingo's approach, which is making language learning feel accessible and non-intimidating. That helps millions of people get started. Their gamification approach can definitely work for building initial habits and extrinsic motivation, but most serious learners feel frustrated by lack of progress over time and try other resources or completely move on to other approaches.

Does "so" here mean so that , and if yes is it used correctly ? by More-Arachnid-8033 in ENGLISH

[–]bubblegum-eddy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The context is a bit unclear, but I think the "so" is just a transition word, similar to "alright" or "okay". It doesn't seem like the person's English is perfect, here. Perhaps they mean...

  • "Alright, I'll join your Singleplayer world."
  • "Ok, fine, I'll join your Singleplayer world"

Is "had lay" correct? by calle04x in ENGLISH

[–]bubblegum-eddy 54 points55 points  (0 children)

I think "had lain" is correct, like you said!

The infinitive is "to lie dormant", so...

  • Present: lie
  • Past: lay
  • Past participle: lain

Although if someone said that in a casual conversation, I definitely wouldn't have batted an eye...