“that they don’t really believe in it.”
Yes, I agree.
But the problem is that “the reading (while listening) method” in itself has also its drawbacks because the degree of engagement is lower than reading (while listening) plus some more active strategies. Selective SRSing based on “active” recall is one of those strategies.
Therefore, I´m quite thankful that LingQ offers the SRS option - even if they may not believe in it. It´s enough that clients like me know that “selective SRSing” can be quite beneficial when used wisely.
Or, to paraphrase an old proverb: "The angler doesn´t have to like what the (client) fish pleases
Reg. LingQ version 5.0:
I understand the frustration of S.I. and other LingQ users. But I’ve come to the conclusion that the main advantage of version 5.0 is its higher adaptability - in the future. And that’s a good thing, because working with legacy systems can be a real nightmare for software developers.
Personally, however, I´ve decided not to try LingQ v5.0 for the next few weeks until the dust settles a bit. Therefore, I´ve switched to ReadLang and LWT.
Moreover, I’ve always wanted to test both audio readers in depth.
“that if you’re only here to read and to make Lingqs (the core philosophy)”
That has been my (Unix inspired) tool philosophy for many years (“Make each program do one thing well” https://homepage.cs.uri.edu/~thenry/resources/unix_art/ch01s06.html)
This means in this context: Just give me an elegant content flexible audio reader software that supports reading all the texts in my target language that I want to read - that´s all! However, I don´t need LingQs, streaks, avatars, content shared by others, writing forums, etc.
In my opinion, LingQ´s problem (beyond the SRS option) is that LingQ tries to be a complete language learning platform. That is:
- a content flexible audio reader
- a library with pre-existing content
- a language exchange forum for speaking and writing
- a gamified app
and
- an SRS solution
The logical consequences of this “business decision” (!) of creating a software version of the German “eierlegenden Wollmilchsau” (The Egg-laying Wool-Milk Pig | Hackaday) for language learning were in v4
- a cluttered user interface that many (esp. new) LingQ users found hard to understand
- an over-complicated software base that was hard to maintain
- feature creep
But if this basic business decision remains intact, it´s only a matter of time until LingQ version 5.0 suffers from similar defects - despite it´s higher degree of adaptability.
It´s up to Mark and his team to change that