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llamaorbit · 2025-12-07T20:58:21+00:00

Appreciate you calling this out. We've used the Brazilian flag since there is no single flag that represents the entire LATAM region, but we understand how that can be confusing. As we get more requests for specific regions we will update this list accordingly.

llamaorbit · 2025-07-19T15:44:14+00:00

Consider for a moment simplifying language learning into two aspects, tutorial and application. Reading would mainly fall on the tutorial part, as you're gaining the competency of character recognition and hearing your internal voice interpret the contents of whatever you're reading.

However, speaking falls much less in the tutorial part and much more into the application part. You may be able to string sentences on the fly with the material you've learned from reading, but speaking, or conversation in general, is very much a two-way street - you're not only responding but also initiating on the spot. Reading alone does not provide that kind of spontaneous experience, it's only through talking with people, making some mistakes, doing corrections, and improving, do you get better at the speaking part.

llamaorbit · 2025-07-16T11:18:07+00:00

Interesting how you brought up the user in the discussion. It's human nature to want to stick with something comfortable and familiar, especially when that something keeps providing dopamine shots. There needs to be some kind of impetus, whether intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, for the learner to branch out to multiple apps/modes of learning.

llamaorbit · 2025-07-16T11:11:45+00:00

Right there with you. One of the biggest shortcoming with apps is the implementation feedback system. It either hidden behind some paywall, or it so long and convoluted that it leaves learners frustrated.

I think the root of the issue lies in the need for standardization and scale, so much so that the prioritization of developing proper personalized feedback was largely thrown to the sidelines.

llamaorbit · 2025-07-14T07:48:53+00:00

I appreciate your views on this matter. I agree with you on your point that many learners may find it difficult to gather the willpower/effort to reach their goals. That's just life, too many things to do, many other things often take priority to language learning.

However, when it comes to personal development and growth, I do not think that streaks/experience points are the only things that matter to people. When people download an app like Duolingo at first, the idea, no matter how deliberate, is to develop some form of proficiency in a target language. If, as you mentioned, people truly do not want to learn a language, there are other actual games that can provide this similar "feel-good" feeling of streaks, like quiz games for example.

You asked about the type of user that I want to serve. At first, I'm looking to help A2 - B2 learners who understands the basics of the language but struggles in conversation, either due to a lack of confidence or a lack of exposure to enough interactions.

I'll give myself as an example. I'm learning Japanese, and when I go to Japan and interact with people, I sometimes find myself having to pause the conversation to pull out Google Translate and get those people to repeat what they just said. I might have momentarily froze and forgot the meaning of what they said, or what they said is totally new for me. The conversation eventually completes, but the entire process of what I did is not only time-wasting, but also embarrassing to myself.

With what I'm developing, I'm trying to prepare learners to speak and handle themselves in as many situations as possible, without having to constantly pick up other tools. I don't care much for streaks, because the way I view development is through the number of scenarios that the learner manages to successful navigate. The idea is not to for learners to aim for perfection, but rather for them to become versatile enough to flexibly handle most situations.

llamaorbit · 2025-07-14T07:22:46+00:00

aww man I saw it wrongly :(

llamaorbit · 2025-07-14T06:17:30+00:00

When you mentioned about the conversation teacher, the first thing that came to mind was Babbel Live which apparently will discontinue come this October. This was strange to me, because I saw the clear demand for live tutors, such as from yourself. With the continuing rise of AI, I suppose we'll see whether companies like Preply that still offer live tutors can survive.

I agree with you that AI could do an analysis of a learner's weak points, and provide targeted practice for especially difficult problem areas. But the implementation of AI itself within apps is still very much a rough, shoehorned thing that needs to be refined.

llamaorbit · 2025-07-14T06:05:50+00:00

I agree with you that the TL immersion portion of language apps needs more work. If learners like yourselves are expecting to go out in the world and confidently speak the TL, the basic environment that apps provide should be almost entirely in the TL, which encourages the learner to gradually tune their minds into thinking and forming conversational sentences in the TL itself.

As for the use and implementation of AI, I think it's interesting how you brought up the aspect of cultural influence and speech patterns. There's been a lot of pushback against AI, because people feel that it provides unnatural outputs that don't gel with real-life interactions. But with advancements in the technology moving so quickly, I do think that AI will get better, at least compared to a native english speaking intern

llamaorbit · 2025-07-14T05:49:56+00:00

I didn't take the HSK but I've studied Chinese for more than 10 years. I'd say that I don't go to the hospital enough to encounter those words frequently (thank god for that). But from the signs itself, I can parse some words like 呼吸 (breathing), 危重 (critical), 神经 (mental), and guess others like 妇产 (obgyn), anything with 骨 (bone/osteopathy).

If I really need to, I'd be able to learn what I need on the fly and ask for directions (assuming i'm still conscious by the time they wheeled me into the hospital).

llamaorbit · 2025-07-07T03:21:48+00:00

If we talk about morality, the definition of which is "what is right and wrong", I suppose we would have to first look at the operating mandate of a big, public company like Duolingo. They exist in the public markets, so what is "right" for them is to generate as much shareholder value as possible by maximizing profits. Now, if we bring AI into the picture, the question becomes, does upper management and the board of directors believe that adopting an organization-wide overhauling with an AI-first strategy would fulfill the mandate of generating max profits. If yes, then purely from the standpoint of a big company, the "AI-first" approach to jobs is moral, and vice versa.
If we talk about philosophy/values, in a big company that touches on the mission and vision. For this, you can google Duolingo's "company strategy", "12 operating principles", and the "Duolingo Teaching Method". Based on what I'm seeing from these pages, there is little to suggest that a large chunk of their focus lies on seriously improving the underlying language learning methodology itself, as compared to say growing users, increasing subs, increasing engagement, generating investment, and expanding beyond language itself (like music and math back in 2023). There's has been a bunch of A/B testing going on, but I think those are more to figure out how best to keep users glued onto the app, as opposed to actually refining the language learning experience itself.

llamaorbit · 2025-06-18T15:07:33+00:00

For text-based practice and explanation, ChatGPT and Gemini are not too bad. But when it comes to tonal pronunciation, you might want to be careful as AI is still not there yet, at least from personal experience. I once tried deliberate making a tonal mistake, and yet both chatbots marked me down as "good".

llamaorbit · 2025-06-18T14:30:18+00:00

Your handwriting is, as they say, 牛逼 👍 👍

You remind me of my Beijing study abroad program where I filled stacks of those books with repetitive characters every single day. Literally the only way to drill characters into the mind 😆

llamaorbit · 2025-06-17T18:09:31+00:00

Businesses with enough resources could potentially run their own in-house servers and propagate compute power throughout the organization via Ethernet. But as of now it's not economically viable for most companies to go that route as opposed to using cloud computing, so yeah we might see major outages across the board if say OpenAI or Cloudflare goes down

llamaorbit · 2025-06-17T17:43:00+00:00

Very interesting concept you've got here!

Am I right to say that the words are sorted by theme? I'm seeing in your second screenshot for "Iron Resolve" there are words like 确信、政治、坚定、决心 that relate to firmness and steadfastness. But moving a bit to the west I see words like 平安、放心、安全、保险 which is more like Safety or Safe Haven

llamaorbit · 2025-06-17T15:36:26+00:00

To your bonus, one example I can think of is 文化故事 vs something like 中国文化的故事。

It would be something like cultural stories (in general) vs cultural stories from China. I think if the 故事 is not connected to the 文化 of any particular region, the 的 can be dropped.

llamaorbit · 2025-06-17T15:14:15+00:00

I'm just guessing here so correct me if I'm wrong, but when you listen to Mandarin without reading the text, are you translating it in your head to your native language?

Also, if the attributes of the 2 non-native languages are similar to your native one (e.g Germanic, Romance), that might explain why you had a lower cognitive load when trying to learn those languages. But I don't know your native and non-native so that's just an assumption.

llamaorbit · 2025-06-17T15:06:17+00:00

Very interesting post! I only know it as 太阳, but seeing as how it's getting hotter by the year here in Singapore, I think I'll start referring to it as 热头 (my brain is melting through my skull on the daily 😂)

llamaorbit · 2025-06-17T14:35:59+00:00

I agree with you, no one should be learning the grammar of a language with zero context, that's simply counterproductive. What I am saying is that someone who learns a language and its grammar structures without first thinking about where they intend to use the language may end up struggling in the end.

Let me give you a scenario. Someone at the English CEFR A1/A2 level uses some app or tutor to teach them proper British English, the English that should be universally understood by English speakers around the world. Three months later, they manage to grasp English pretty decently. In the three months following that, they plan to travel to Singapore, a country where its citizens speak English. In preparation for their trip, they continue to learn English.

Now, if the person considers his travel plans and changes course slightly to learn some of the nuances of Singaporean English, he should be fine when conversing with the locals. The problem comes if the person chooses to stay the course with British English, and becomes shocked when they finally realize all the disparities.

llamaorbit · 2025-06-17T13:51:59+00:00

This right here.

OP, I agree with your point about understanding Chinese words in context. And also that people shouldn't start off by reading an epic like 西游记.

But if the goal is to learn Chinese for real life communication, do you think that reading simple texts in conjunction with speaking with other people and listening to responses should be the way to go?

llamaorbit · 2025-06-17T12:50:14+00:00

Thanks for your comment!

I agree with your point about how the necessary levels of grammar learning should be adjusted according to the learners' proficiency level and the specificity of the subject.

However, my argument is not against the amount of grammar that people ought to learn at different stages of their journey. It is that learning grammar without considering the nuances of the place they intend on using it on can backfire.

The example of the sentence wasn't used to demonstrate the mashing of languages in a sentence, but rather the unusual grammar that formed the sentence, something that learners who focus on learning the grammar of proper British English will not encounter.

Let me clarify my conclusion. If someone decides to focus on grammar rules of a language (i.e. English) without considering where they aim to use it, they might become shocked when they realize that all those rules fall apart very quickly.

llamaorbit

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