I assume there must be a post like this somewhere, but the search feature on this site is awful (no offense, but it really is; please fix it) so I can’t find it.
What are the specific criterion for trying to add a new language? It said on the New Languages on LingQ page that they require:
2 audio hours of Beginner lessons
5 audio hours of Intermediate lessons
5 audio hours of Advanced lessons
This site is a lot of reading, so what do they mean by that? Do they mean you need to gather a lot of reading material that you yourself will record audio for? Just saying “X audio hours” is a bit vague. What format do files for upload need to be in?
My current language of focus is Albanian, which is not on this site. But I like the idea of trying to create content for an Albanian course in the future when I am closer to fluent (meaning I could start collecting now if I find material!). I know there is a community of Albanians out there who are passionate about helping people learn Albanian so I suspect there is help available, too! Maybe I could convince my Albanian boyfriend to help me submit content. But it seems possible!
I guess for now I will have to use this site only for German. But I a have more reason to learn Albanian, personally.
Based on the “Mini-stories for all languages” thread it seems like they are more determined to have beginner material than higher level material, and in particular they want to collect translations/recordings of standard LingQ offerings like the mini stories and Who Is She.
Who Is She is only a half hour or so to listen to, and they released Malay as a beta language with just that. I hope they don’t regret that and would do it again.
Collecting those 2 audio hours of Beginner lessons is the most challenging task, because such easy texts eather cannot be found in internet or are copyright protected. It’s much easier to find long chapters which are in a public domain.
Are YouTube videos considered appropriate content? Because I know of a YouTube channel with roughly 6 hours worth of 10-minute fairy tales in Albanian. It’s intended for kids, so I suspect it might be appropriate for beginner level?
I, of course, say this not being a fluent speaker.
I recognize that kind of content might not be terribly interesting for adults, but if it’s enough to start a beta course then that would make it easier for others to contribute, right? Or perhaps I’m too optimistic?
You would want permission from the channel to put their content on the site. I think the content itself is fine, though a bit hard for a beginner I think. Beginner content is not usually too interesting, I wouldn’t worry about that issue.
I agree, putting anything up at all makes it feasible for others to contribute.
