Hi,
I wonder how the limit of active assignments (free account) limits the learning.
Is making most of lingq also possible without paying? Or rather it’s such a restriction that it’s no sense using it without paying.
Regards,
Greg
In my opinion the limit doesn’t limit the learning that much.
I may spend up to one hour on this site per day (including reading, saving words et.c.)
I usually have just one active assignment per language (i.e. three at the most, since I study three languages)
I listen to each content for about 90 minutes in total (usually up to one hour on a good day, so it means)
If the text is is particularly long I might listen to the audio just a few times the first day, in order to spread the LingQ-saving over the week (I simply can’t spend several hours a day on saving LingQs)
I wouldn’t say that the major benefit of a paying account is the bigger “allowance”, but rather the fact that you get points to spend on writing submission/online tutoring via Skype.
Thanks for the answer.
I was thinking it over and I think I have understood it. I don’t lose the words, I only lose source texts, am I right? That’s not so bad.
Thanks for sharing your way of learning in lingq, very handy.
And it’s great to know that one can learn more than one language at the time.
I just wonder how it looks like on the beginner level - what’s the use of reading a text if I don’t understand any words?
Regards,
Greg
I forgot to add: Assignments would be worth to keep for reference.
Hi, Greg,
I used lingQ as a free member for some months, and learned a lot. You don’t need to delete your items, you can archive them. Go to “View Item” and in the end of the page you have the “archive” button. This way, you can recover the item if you need.
Greg,
you aren’t limited in learning, the limit are the number of items on your WorkDesk respectively in using. But you can avoid this with archiving.
jeff wrote the most. Here once again:
Only if you want to have a tutor, asking questions the tutor, conversations, writings… you have to pay for. But some of these activities you can have buying points. And I think if you want to learn harder it would be better to have these possibilities.
Remember, you can change from time to time the status!
Yes, you can do a language from scratch… I’m doing this with French. In the very beginning, you are going to “lingQ” every single word, and feel a little lost. Don’t worry. This sensation will gradually vanish.
Get the first item of some of the “for beginners” collections and give them a try.
Thanks, tutors
Anapaula, how on earth do you deal with French?
I guess lingq provides recordings of the texts, but how about learning words? Are recordings provided during flashcards work?
I cannot imagine learning French without listening to it. Its pronunciation is so far away from the spelling.
greg again,
you don’t lose text if you archive them. With the filter you can bring it back on your WorkDesk (if the allowed number make it possible).
You have not to learn all words for using the next item. What you have only to do is, to listen to the same text again and again.
Steve told when he began a new language he listen to a new text (not too dificult!!!) more than 30 times! That is what your brain make changing and open for the sound and the structure of the new language.
We do prefer to have members pay something since we have to pay the salaries of our programmers and other staff. However, we first have to grow our site and demonstrate value to many more users. The inconvenience of having to archive items is merely to provide additional value to those who do decide to become paying members.
Some of these things may change in the near future. We will always make it possible to learn at LingQ without paying, but it will always be less convenient and less effective than if you pay.
As people have pointed out, you can archive the items you don’t want to study anymore (but may want to keep for reference - for later downloading to your mp3 player, if nothing else). I have archive most of the material I have gone through. In the beginning (a year ago) I “studied” some really advanced Russian content of which I didn’t understand much. Who knows, perhaps I should have a look at some of them now and see if things have changed… 
Another thing regarding the active assignements “limit” is that I don’t find it particularly useful to have five occupied slots - you will most likely only listen to/read one at a time (well, maybe save LingQs from another text), and since many texts have hundreds of new words I want to save my fingers/wrist/arm and NOT save too many words on one day. About 13 is sufficient for me.
Greg, I never worried about pronunciation while studying the flashcards. Probably I subconciously think in some sound while reading them, but I never even thought about it. What I could suggest is this: in the very, very beginning, just listen, read and creat LingQs, for later use. Let the flashcards for a later time, when you don’t feel too lost about the pronunciation. The beginning is really strange, but the strangeness disappear faster than you can imagine.
Jeff, I do use to have a LOT of items opened. I like to import entire collections sometimes. Also, I like to use some time when I’m more tired to import several things to the workdesk, download audios, put them into the mp3 player, and so on. Then, I spend two or three weeks listening and reading these items before renewing them. I simply couldn’t stand to listen to the same sole item several times in a row. I prefer to have a bunch of them in the player, listen to all them and then start it all again.
I have no trouble saving over 100 LingQs at one sitting. I must admit that my new Logitech roller ball mouse is a big improvement over my previous mouse.
Jeff and Greg,
You reading and listening, with previously saved words highlighted IS your spaced repetition. Any word you do not encounter again for 6 months, is probably not worth worrying about.
Your content is the main lesson. That is where you get the pronunciation, and the words, in context.
The Flash Cards, the emailed LingQs etc. are exercizes in random review of words, sharpening your hooks that will pull in more words for you.
I also agree with Ana. I often review old items. I also bring articles in in batches. I am always running up against my limit of 1,000 items. I ge annoyed when I have to Archive some to bring in more.
Steve, it’s a privilege to see you answer my questions and explain many things.
I admire your success in learning so many languages. For what I have read I see that you don’t stop learning and you also use lingq.
Lingq seems something new, innovative and entertaining. That’s not another flashcard system or online course (online may suggest modern but in fact such courses are very traditional, I know it at first hand, I teach and create online courses)
So the method is new and fresh, and you can even learn new more than one language.
But, I see that there is still much progress to be done in this system. That will require another topic.
As for membership I’m going to give it a try and buy basic membership (it’s completely affordable) other memberships are offering much more but also cost much more. (BTW, correcting writing is quite expensive)
Anyway, I will use it
greg,
I think you have to see this “BTW correcting writing is wuite expensive” from two sides:
- the sight from the member - then it can be
- the sight from sustomer - then it is no more.
The payed offers are the only possibility to get money for an entrepreneur.
And what cost they have and to have to pay for? Hardware, Software, programmers, employees, tutors and so on.
I think we members have to think about those points too (and perhaps of our whishes what we want to earn as empleyees).
I am a member how the others here. I am retired now but in my working time I was a business women too.
sorry for the spellings: wuite = quite expensive / sustomers = customers
Greg,
Both our writing correction and discussion reports are quite unique in that they come with a report that integrates with your LingQing. Given the work that our tutors do, I do not think the cost is expensive. But there are no doubt cheaper alternatives out there.
i find the 5 active assignments limit for free accounts flipping annoying, because you have to open an assignment to be able to download the audio. I’ve been working through the “who is she?” story in Russian and each installment is about 2 minutes long. I’m finding it hard to meet my targets for listening without opening new assignments 5 at a time and downloading the audio all at once for my mp3 player.
If you want to encourage free users to upgrade (and of course you do!) I would suggest increasing the assignment limit to at least 20 and instead maybe limit the number of words you can be learning at any one time instead. EG maybe a limit of 200 words of status 1 - 3. A keen learner will soon want to lost that limit, less keen ones will have to accept the limitation of having to keen learning their new vocabulary to move it to status 4.
BTW if you allow all users, even non-paying ones, to have an unlimited number of lingQs (and I definitely think that the lingQ system is the real strength of this system) are you in danger of hitting memory problems? or aren’t saved lingQs very memory-intensive?
Hmm, in my opinion the system is good. I started three months ago with Lingq and I found it acceptable that the number of active assignement is limited. But if the number of LingQs were limited I believe that I didn’t try LingQ. I think I would have thougt why should I start and do efforts and than I’m limited in numbers of LingQ.
I think the competition for LingQ is high. There a lot of websites offering Language Learning and I maybee had never started LingQ when I’ve seen this limitation at the beginning.
I tried LingQ for a few weeks and then I was upgrading to a membership.
I don’t know if I’m typical, but I know lot of people that need time to see if something is well.