LingQ pros and cons (Links & Internet Resources) Language Learning Forum

LingQ pros and cons
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Language Learning Forum : Links & Internet Resources

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Švejk
Super Polyglot
Newbie
Canada
lingq.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4604 days ago
29 posts - 77 votes

Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Japanese, French, Cantonese, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese
Studies: Czech

Message 33 of 116

16 April 2012 at 3:50am | IP Logged

Serpent wrote:

Švejk wrote:

3) A person who has a belief in an approach to language learning (or some other
area of activity) and wishes to
build a learning system based on this approach, and does so with his own funds, (i.e. does not lean on government
for a grant), and subsequently tries to cover these costs by charging for these services, is essentially not worthy of
our trust.

Just admit it: you use the average learner's hatred of grammar to convince them they just need to pay and learning
will become fun and easy at once. And what they actually get is nothing special.

As for Esperanto, I just meant this shouldn't be assumed. It seems much easier to stay away from "ideological"
texts in Esperanto if you don't like them (I don't either) than on LingQ, especially if you aren't willing to pay.

BTW it's annoying to receive emails despite not visiting the site for ages.

Oh and I remembered another thing. I registered when I was starting Portuguese, but I think I didn't find any audios
for European Portuguese. And of course I had to register and waste a lot of time before I figured out. If you ignore
Portugal at least say so.

as 4 da rule: its disrespectfull of the learner's who's native language isnt englis h too right like this, dont u think?
The high standards are there to make it clear that writing this way isn't tolerated.

Now let's see.

1) Many learners, but by no means all, find a focus on grammar learning frustrating and discouraging. I am one of
those and prefer to learn in a different way, not ignoring grammar, but putting the focus on listening and reading
and vocabulary growth. LingQ facilitates this kind of learning, for some people, even for people who enjoy
spending a lot of time on grammar. For those who do not like LingQ, LingQ is nothing special. For others it is. It is
up to each person to decide where to spend their time and money, obviously. People tend to think for themselves,
especially people especially interested in language learning.

2) Some of the content at LingQ is designed to explain our method of learning, since an understanding of the
method increases the likelihood that the user will make proper use of the site. Such content is a very small
percentage of all of the lessons at LingQ, and is clearly identified as created by LingQ. With the exception of some
third party content from Linguaphone, ESL Pod, or Il Narratore, all the rest of the content is free to all members,
including to free members.

3) Users can unsubscribe to any and all emails and notifications from LingQ in their Settings page.

4) Our content is largely member contributed. At first we had very little content in Portugese, and especially in
European Portuguese. We have more now. In any case the regional accent, Brazilian or European, is indicated, as is
the case with other languages.

5 The owners of this Forum can do what they want, obviously. At LingQ all manner of writing is "tolerated"
including spelling mistakes and incorrect usage. As I said earlier, I do not think there is any pedagogical purpose in
sterilizing the content on a forum. In fact, poor writing, poor word use, sloppy logic etc. has at least as much
chance of negatively impacting English learners as incorrect spelling, in my view. I would hope that whatever these
learners encounter at this forum
is only a tiny part of the reading they do in the language.

Edited by Švejk on 16 April 2012 at 3:52am
3 persons have voted this message useful

Švejk
Super Polyglot
Newbie
Canada
lingq.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4604 days ago
29 posts - 77 votes

Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Japanese, French, Cantonese, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese
Studies: Czech

Message 34 of 116

16 April 2012 at 3:56am | IP Logged

Bao wrote:

Švejk wrote:

7) There is no need to click on each blue word. On your first few lessons you can
eliminate all the blue words with one click. Thereafter you can also use QuicklingQ to go after new blue words.

I'm not exactly computer illiterate, but at the time I tried lingq (I don't remember when exactly, but it's been a
while) I either couldn't find such a feature or it wasn't yet implemented.

We have always had either the "I know all" button or the "Ling'd" button. We have more people who click on this by
mistake, and complain, than people who complain about having to individually click on each blue word. We are
looking at a number of navigation and usage issues. The site today is better than 2 or 3 years ago, and we hope,
will be better in 6 months. It is a long process, and there is a lot happening at LingQ. It is not just a Forum, nor just
a community, nor just one language. It is all a lot of work.

I am sorry if the interface confused you. You are not alone in this. We are looking at how to make it clearer, given
that people do not read explanations or watch demo videos.

Edited by Švejk on 16 April 2012 at 3:56am
1 person has voted this message useful

Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6595 days ago
9753 posts - 15779 votes

4 sounds
Speaks: Russian*, English, Finnish^C1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

Message 35 of 116

16 April 2012 at 4:18am | IP Logged

It isn't about a negative impact. It's just about respect.
3 persons have voted this message useful

Švejk
Super Polyglot
Newbie
Canada
lingq.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4604 days ago
29 posts - 77 votes

Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Japanese, French, Cantonese, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese
Studies: Czech

Message 36 of 116

16 April 2012 at 4:51am | IP Logged

Serpent wrote:

It isn't about a negative impact. It's just about respect.

Incorrect spelling is a matter either of ignorance or of carelessness. I don't see it as a sign of disrespect towards
anyone, since neither ignorance nor carelessness is deliberate.

Refusing to "tolerate" people, because of their lack of knowledge or an inadvertent slip, is a greater sign of
disrespect, in my view. But, hey, whatever turns your crank.

Edited by Švejk on 16 April 2012 at 4:51am
3 persons have voted this message useful

Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6595 days ago
9753 posts - 15779 votes

Message 37 of 116

16 April 2012 at 5:06am | IP Logged

To clarify: I don't think de facto the standards are as high as the rules state. But they have to be like this so that we almost didn't get those barely comprehensible posts in the most extreme forms of netspeak.

Carelessness may well be deliberate. "I'm understood anyway so why should I bother?" Even ignorance can be deliberate - "that's too complicated so I won't even try to understand, I'm not a professor".
5 persons have voted this message useful

tmp011007
Diglot
Senior Member
Congo
Joined 6067 days ago
199 posts - 346 votes

Speaks: Spanish*, English
Studies: French, Portuguese

Message 38 of 116

16 April 2012 at 5:14am | IP Logged

Serpent wrote:

It seems much easier to stay away from "ideological" texts in Esperanto if you don't like them (I don't either) than on LingQ, especially if you aren't willing to pay.

I love exaggerations. domo arigato xD

Serpent wrote:

as 4 da rule: its disrespectfull of the learner's who's native language isnt englis h too right like this, dont u think?

not in the slightest.. I am certainly not a native English speaker and I have no problem with those real English variations.. maybe some other no native English speakers do have a problem with that (it seems to be you are one of those ones).. maybe not (I'm not good at statistics)

anyway, it is a rule and I don't want to be banned (it's kinda hard and boring trying to find a good proxy nowadays)
1 person has voted this message useful

frenkeld
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 6941 days ago
2042 posts - 2719 votes

Speaks: Russian*, English
Studies: German

Message 39 of 116

16 April 2012 at 7:36am | IP Logged

Serpent wrote:

Just admit it: you use the average learner's hatred of grammar to convince them ...

I remember when lingq first appeared in this forum, and as an old-timer I can vouch for the fact that Steve hates grammar at least as much as the 'average learner', and most likely a good deal more than that, so I have no doubt that the tool reflects his true beliefs on language learning, at least as they stood then.

For the record, I tried lingq briefly back then and never went back to it. My biggest reason was that when I get into a language, one tool I consider essential is a top of the line commercial electronic dictionary or two (or three), and any language learning tool which employs perhaps usable, but lesser dictionaries will just not be attractive to me.

Regarding e-mails from long-forgotten places, I get them from any number of sites which I haven't visited in years. Most of those e-mails have a link at the end which allows one to unsubscribe. It usually works. :)

Edited by frenkeld on 16 April 2012 at 7:38am
3 persons have voted this message useful

Švejk
Super Polyglot
Newbie
Canada
lingq.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4604 days ago
29 posts - 77 votes

Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Japanese, French, Cantonese, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese
Studies: Czech

Message 40 of 116

16 April 2012 at 7:51am | IP Logged

frenkeld wrote:

Serpent wrote:

Just admit it: you use the average learner's hatred of grammar to convince
them ...

I remember when lingq first appeared in this forum, and as an old-timer I can vouch for the fact that Steve hates
grammar at least as much as the 'average learner', and most likely a good deal more than that, so I have no doubt
that the tool reflects his true beliefs on language learning, at least as they stood then.

For the record, I tried lingq briefly back then and never went back to it. My biggest reason was that when I get into
a language, one tool I consider essential is a top of the line commercial electronic dictionary or two (or three), and
any language learning tool which employs perhaps usable, but lesser dictionaries will just not be attractive to me.

Regarding e-mails from long-forgotten places, I get them from any number of sites which I haven't visited in years.
Most of those e-mails have a link at the end which allows one to unsubscribe. It usually works. :)

I don't hate grammar, I just don't think it is possible to learn it up front. After enough exposure to the language, it
starts to make sense. That is the time to focus on it.

As to dictionaries, we have a lot more dictionaries than we used. Before we relied only on Babylon, now we have a
wide range for each language. I use Lingvo for Russian for example.

1 person has voted this message useful

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