Here’s my review of the Flashcard app, I think that as many of us as possible should rate it 5 stars, and write positive reviews, and thus expand the LingQ community.
Having waited (litterally) years for this app, I’m happy to say it has done its job incredibly well. The easy-flashcards-on-the-go make, in my opinion, the already great LingQ system, greater, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Admittedly this app is the first step - it does what it says on the tin (very well) and not much more. You can review flashcards, you can learn, and you can improve your language skills. However, the developers are active on the LingQ forum, and responsive to feedback, and so I have given this app 5 stars, not only because it deserves it for what it provides now, but because I know it will provide so much more - audio, creating LingQs, reading articles and whatever else the developpers dream up.
P.S - I could have written this review in French, Spanish or Russian thanks to the LingQ method.
Thanks elysander. Yes I would like to hear from more users. Here is my reaction.
It is pleasant and convenient to use.
* Holding the iPod Touch while sitting in a chair, is comfortable.
* The design of the interface and the colours are pleasant.
* It is easy to choose a language, and customize the Flash Cards.
* With the touch of a finger I can edit my saved phrase and my Hint, so I do it more often.
* It is easy to change the status of words, and therefore I have moved a lot of words to Known.
I concentrate better on the words and phrases now.
* The Flash Cards are based on the active lessons in my LingQ account.
* Reviewing the words reminds me of the lesson they came from.
* I can focus on vocabulary of interest, by choosing which active lessons to keep on my workdesk.
* Since I now edit more of the captured phrases, I pay more attention to them.
* I now enjoy my Flash Card review much more, and therefore paying more attention to the language.
I really like the app, but I also think it should be expanded on (or another app released). The hardest thing for me is not being able to get the reading done on the lessons as much as I would like. My suggestion is to allow us to see the content of our lessons so we can also read on the go if needed. I don’t have a printer so the print option on this site doesn’t help me.
I would really like to see this made available in the future, maybe even a full site app where everything is available, but that will take alot of programming and time.
Can the iPod / iPhone not display text or PDF files?
I have a virtual PDF printer installed so it’s easy to “print” out LingQ lessons as PDF files and put them on my ereader. In fact that’s how I do most of my LingQ reading.
As a first step I think this app is great! A full site app sounds incredibly complicated and unnecessary for such a small interface - I think the power of the app is definitely in reviewing LingQs, so that should be focused on.
I prefer other flashcard systems and algorithms myself, but based on what Steve says of he prefers this system, it works well within that set-up. I personally would prefer to have the option to mix up all my LingQs rather than only be able to open the ones relevant to lessons, and especially to follow SRS-style frequency distribution. I’ve had to export for use in Anki to really be able to do that. Nevertheless, I have used the app and found it easy to use and navigate.
One thing I do think needs to be added however is the “reverse” system, as it appears also on the website. On the iPhone app I can only see what words I recognise, whereas I’d like to test my ability to produce those words myself (once again, this option is already on the site - it would be very simple to implement in such an app). This very slight change would make the app much more useful in my opinion.
Also, a slight change I’d also recommend is not requiring two clicks to change the status number. Maybe smaller buttons labelled 1,2,3,4? You could get through it faster that way. To me it’s totally illogical that even after I view a LingQ it remains as “New”. Surely that should change to status 2 “Can’t remember” by default?
@idragon - You can choose what you want to see on the front and what you want on the back of the flashcard. Therefore, you can reverse them if you want. Show the Hint on the front and Term on the back.
Ah yes, I see this now. I have to choose “hint” rather than “term”, ok that answers that query! I think phrasing or presentation of this option could be improved, as it’s not quite the most intuitive way to switch the language, but it’s great to see the option there!
Cheers