Can't use lingq for free

Support & Feedback Forum
21

@Peter

Sorry, this may appear way out of order…

No offense on the contradiction of google translate. I do think it’s improved quite a bit over the few years I’ve been learning. I remember when I was first learning, I inputted “I am turning on my computer”. I don’t remember the exact translation it returned, but in effect it had me “spinning on top of my computer”. It does much better now.

Of course it isn’t perfect, but it is good enough to usually get the gist of things (again it does much better with phrases or sentences where it appears the context helps with the translation a bit). It doesn’t do great with colloquialisms or idioms usually, but I find that other dictionaries do better for these…dict.cc and pons, which one can always turn to if something doesn’t sound quite right.

This is all made easier with LingQ having these dictionaries right at your fingertips, but it’s certainly possible to access these tools from outside of LingQ if one didn’t have the resources to pay for LingQ.

22

Let’s be real, LingQ isn’t a beginner’s resource. It’s more catered for the intermediate/experienced users than the casual learner. When it comes to a beginner’s resource like DuoLingo or the likes, LingQ loses by a long shot.

23

" Also my guess it does take up space every time a new person creates an account on their server that saves all of our information. "

If this is an issue with this site, that kind of worries me. That’s like worrying you have too many Word documents on your computer taking up disk space.

24

“What I would be curious of, though, is if it really amounts to long term commitments to the system. Or might they be turning away people who might be long term subscribers.” (Eric)
Interesting question, indeed!
In general, I´d like to know what the churn rates are of LingQ and other online language learning platforms / apps. I read somewhere that it is sometimes more than 90 per cent.
This isn´t a problem for apps where you just play around for fun. But, it´s a problem for platforms like LingQ that require a long-term commit- ment.
Gamification strategies can help in these cases - to a certain degree. But, they often can´t solve underlying problems, e.g. no learning habits, no planning, no (good) learning strategies, etc. In other words, a fool with a tool is still … Or, as I prefer to say: no method and no tool can save us from ourselves :slight_smile:

BTW, I used LingQ for more than 9 months (if I remember correctly) after the trial period of 20 LingQs ended: just reading and listening. That was more than enough to get a feel for the software. In the end, I also wanted to use LingQs because they are more fun and effective (in combination with Anki).

25

@Eric
Probably, we need more experiments / tests and stats on how much “Google Translate” has improved over the last few years. Otherwise, it´s simply “opinion vs. opinion” or “anecdotal evidence vs anecdotal evidence”. And that´s not a good basis for a discussion about the quality of AI translation tools.

And as you wrote it might depend on the language. For example, when I last used Google Translate for Latin texts in LingQ, the translations from Latin into English, German, etc. sentences were almost complete nonsense. But, again, that´s anecdotal evidence.

it’s certainly possible to access these tools from outside of LingQ if one didn’t have the resources to pay for LingQ.
I agree. But, I´m not so much defending LingQ here, but rather the “content-flexible audio reader” tool category itself. If someone is tech-savvy, but doesn´t have the money for a monthly / yearly subscription on LingQ, I´d say: “You should check out LWT. It could be an interesting option for you”.

From my perspective, the main advantage of an Audio Reader à la LingQ is that it can be combined with other tools, platforms, and services. That is: AI translation tools, dictionaries, SRS (the internal SRS or Anki), Youtube videos, Kindle or other e-book formats, all kinds of texts (articles from news sites, blog posts, academic papers, texts from writing forums, etc.) audio files (from Audible & Co). and Netflix videos. In this sense, LingQ is a kind of hub in a zoo of devices/gadgets and media products.

@Rabenwald:
Going old school, we could simulate this with printed (bilingual) books, audio files (on a Walkman, if MP3 players are already too high-tech), bilingual or monolingual dictionaries, and a Leitner cards system. But this is neither cheaper nor more efficient. Often this old-school combination is / was just “frustrating” because of the media gaps (“Medienbrüche”).

This isn´t a “tech revolution”, but simply the next evolutionary step in language learning, like the shift from processing paper-based invoices to processing electronic invoices (diirectly or by means of machine learning tools).

26

For about $10 a month LingQ is worth adding as a learning resources, a dedicated language learner values what LingQ offers for so little. As I have stated in other threads I teach English as a Second Language and I see the value this program offers, but it is not for the casual learner. It takes time to learn how to use all of the bells and whistles of this program. I invest more in books, magazines, dictionaries, and meet-ups monthly than I have paid for LingQ. When I attend the meet-ups I have to drive for 30 minutes and then I spend money eating or drinking with the group. LingQ is the cheapest resource that I use and I use it daily.

I no longer spend hours trying to collect all of my resources for learning each week. Once or twice a week I might spend 30 minutes importing what I want to focus on for that week. This has streamlined my learning and gives me more time to focus on learning. Also the LingQ community always shares resources that I have not yet found or have not considered.

It is my hope that I can purchase subscriptions for my students next year. Really my students could raise the money for them to purchase it if our district approves a bake sell for LingQ.

27

An interesting question is how much extra value Lingq offers to the array of similar apps, e.g. https://www.readibu.com/

In oder to stay competitive, Lingq needs to up its game to remain the top choice (we are all waiting for the new release).

28

That is a great site for Chinese thank you for sharing. And this is why I love the people on Lingq everyone has a great set of resources that they share.

29

Peter - Sure, but I feel what gets a bit lost is that this whole conversation started when somebody pointed out that it’s unaffordable for people from poorer countries and then lots of people piled in telling them off with various “advice”, where I feel perhaps it wouldn’t have been wrong to show a bit more cultural sensitivity and understanding that money can be a problem.

As I said earlier, LingQ is a company and in a free market economy they can decide how much they charge and who they sell to, but if LingQ is so genuinely useful, one can still make a case that a responsible company should find a way to make it more easily affordable for disadvantaged people.

I don’t disagree with your comments about learning methods at all. But my own experience about the usefulness (or not) LingQ is just about my own personal situation, interests, abilities and experiences and I don’t claim it to b a statement about language learning styles in general. So I won’t say much more about that other than that I currently feel it’s not worth the high price.

However, relating this to the responsibility issue, I am generally willing to pay a higher price to responsible companies if this then helps to make their services more accessible to others. So corporate responsibility certainly comes into it when I decide whether I want to pay my subscription or not.

30

“e.g. https://www.readibu.com/”
Maybe I´m wrong, but this isn´t a content-flexible AudioReader. It´s only a reader with a library (i.e. a “fixed” number of web novels). for one specific language.
I don´t know about you, Jan, but I want complete content control. And that´s where LingQ shines.

Does LingQ have to improve? Of course. As you wrote: “we are all waiting for the new release”.

31

It is true, but to be honest, the audio reader function of Lingq is not useful as long as it does not synchronize with the text. In order for it to be useful, I would want to be able to click anywhere in the text and the audio plays that section.

ChineseZerotoHero solved this beautifully:
e.g. https://www.zerotohero.ca/en/zh/youtube/view/-Kk_u_qV8BQ/?t=100
You can click anywhere on the subtitle and the video will jump to that line. This lets you click again and again and loop a certain phrase if you want to.

So, currently I am just reading on Lingq and I am listening to the audio files outside of Lingq.

32

I agree. Language Learning with Netflix/Youtube allows this jumping as well. If I import a youtube video to LingQ it’s really of no benefit in comparison. I ignore it or delete it and just use the audio for listening purposes. Hopefully they can incorporate something similar.

33

@Rabenwald
"more cultural sensitivity and understanding that money can be a problem "
Sure, money can be a factor. But, nowadays, it´s no longer the deciding factor when it comes to acquiring more or less challenging skills (programming, AI, data science, math, language acquisition, building a startup, etc.).

The Internet has been a real game changer in this regard. Much is freely available (open source software, information/knowledge, etc.). When it comes to digital “stuff” (especially software), you often have two options: invest time and energy or money.
Spending money is in many cases the easier, the more convenient and more efficient way. In contrast, developing your competence by investing time and energy is also worthwile because you tend to learn “so much more” than than if you just buy something… But, it´s definitely the "harder " way.

The “real” problem in terms of skill acquisition begins when learners have neither the financial means nor the willingness to invest time/energy and go the “hard” way.

So, if you want to “simulate” LingQ you could use

  • the open source reader software LWT: https://learning-with-texts.sourceforge.io/
  • Anki as an open source flash card app / spaced repetition system
  • Deepl as an AI translation tool that is free for “shorter” texts
  • several browser extensions (language learning with Netflix, Remembery, etc.)
    But how many learners who complain about the price of LingQ will run away - as fast as they can! - when they hear that the LWT-Anki-Deepl-browser extensions combo requires more effort than simply using LingQ? At least from my teaching experience, especially with teenagers/young adults, I’d say more than 90 percent.

“relating this to the responsibility issue, I am generally willing to pay a higher price to responsible companies if this then helps to make their services more accessible to others.”
As an entrepreneur / startup founder your first focus can´t be “corporate social responsibility”. Instead, you first have to focus on a viable business model. And this means paying customers so that your business can survive. Otherwise, it’s a hobby project or a non-profit organization (that still has to find some financial resources).
Which approach a founder/entrepreneur chooses to finance his/her business (e.g. Patreon, a freemium/premium mix, etc.) should be a pure business decision.
This does not (!) exclude ethical values! But, if you have the best ethical intentions and bad business decisions, there´s a high probability that your business won´t survive for long.

Concrete example:

  • The guy who developed Readlang had to give up further development of the software because his freemium / premium model wasn´t sustainable. He now seems to work full-time for Duolingo.
  • If I remember correctly, LingQ wasn´t profitable in the first few years of its existence. But, now it is - and it´s still there

In sum:
People don´t need LingQ to be successful at language learning. It simply makes life easier for learners of foreign languages. That´s all.
At the same time, the path to business hell is paved with good (ethical, etc.) intentions :slight_smile:

34

Ok, I’m not sure if this was addressed somewhere or not but I didn’t find it so I’m asking. I apologise in advanced as I know this technically isn’t a language learning question per say. I have a free account on lingq thus as the sight repeatedly tells me I can only have 20 lingqs at a time(which btw is horribly unfair in my opinion). To circumvent this, I heard you could just delete your lin https://1921681254.mx/ gqs before you reach 20. I did this and although my account clearly says 4 lingqs ( after I deleted the first 16) the little annoying Steve Kaufman tells me I MUST upgrade. I cannot progress with anything I am not even past my first lesson and I’m really frustrated. Does someone know what to do? https://100001.onl/

35

@SituFangs LingQs limit is a hard limit and deleting LingQs won’t allow you to create a new LingQs instead.
If you need more testing time, we do have a 7-days Free Trial available. You can contact us on support(at)lingq.com for more details.