But I think it is not fair for other members to bring all here, only with copy and past.
Other members spend a lot of time in creating articles with text and audio to earn point for these and the provider from VOA articles has the work of a few minutes.
And it is not good for LingQ to have so many VOA articles - it is not more LingQ - it is VOA now!
Another point:
Why we have there two times “Steves Corner”. One is with Steves face and the other is in the “NEW” part with LingQ singn.
Irene, we can’t control what our members share. We are happy that they do so. VOA is great content. We have some different things planned for the Library in the future but in the meantime we should appreciate what is there.
I agree with Irene. Everybody is able to visit VOA by themselves and download contents without systematically sharing them with other members. I don’t blame them but I think it would be much more interesting if they would release something more personal, about their life, their family or their country.
I agree too. To have some article from VOA is maybe interesting. But such a lot is boring, and visiting the library is no thrill.
Mark, I understand that it is not easy to deal with. I hope that your future plans for the library offers a solution for this problem. Maybe you should show a maximum of 3 items of a collection in the part, where the newest items are shown?
We will be reworking the Library and at that time I think we should set it up so that we do not just see new item after new item in the same collection.
I am looking forward to see a new version of the library. I have to say that I agree with Irene. I think it is not fair, and I think it is not interesting. It is not only we don’t see so many VOA created contents on the new additions section, but it discourages members who have to create contents on their own. I like the library the way it was on Linguist. I want to see more members’ creating contents. If only LingQ can share VOA or other already-made contents, that would be better.
I hear what you are saying, however it is not so easy. In some cases the person loading third party content is doing the transcribing as well.
Maybe we should ask our members to advise us of good content, and then we, at LingQ will upload the content where the sound and text are both available and it is only a matter of uploading them.
As for item after item of the same collection appearing in the Newly Added section, I would like to see a system where members subscribe to a collection and then only see new items in the collections to which they subscribe. Newly created collections could show up separately.
We also want to set it up so that lessons are graded for difficulty and learners see content that is relevant to their level.
At any rate let’s hear all your ideas as we prepare to redo the Library.
Is it still possible to charge for content? If so, maybe the simplest idea to reward hard-working providers is for them to charge a small fee for it, perhaps 20 points per download. In addition they will get a share of points awards. (The points awards are just coming out of expired points anyway.) The only issue, and it is not a small one, is that there is no preview of content as far as I know. You have to buy it sight unseen (and sound unheard).
One option might be to allow tutors who create content to make some content items only available in their own courses. Whether this will result in more points income or not is not obvious.
Much of our original content is for beginners, that is where the greatest demand and need is, and that is where the original content really shines. I think that changing how we feature content in the Library will help a lot.
Obviously the paying for content was not too successful in the past.
I personally would happily pay 15-100 points to download an original item from a central trusted site (LingQ) , depending on length, quality, etc. Basically how much I pay would come down to how much I imagine I could repeatedly listen to the content and therefore profit from the language. The only issue I have is that at the moment you can’t pre-listen to it.
If there was some mechanism to do that, … perhaps a one-day points return guarantee, I think more people would pay.
I realise a points return guarantee would just mean some people would take content, copy it, import it as private and then ask for a refund. But there will be always some honest people who don’t mind paying as long as they know what they are getting.
In addition, if a buyer wants to get his points refunded, perhaps he can fill out a simple questionnaire to pinpoint the reason for the refund.
The statistics for non-returned downloads would be a very meaningful rating system too.
Believe me it is not a matter of the preview. Most people do not want to pay. If we offer some free samples, people will just take those and not come back when they have to pay. To me it is a pity. I think people should pay for someone else’s hard work. I do not see that as a solution.
The problem is that there are enough free resources at the internet. And the demand depends on the offers of other providers. As long as there is a lot of free content available, people would not pay. That is, how a market works.
I think, paying for content is not a solution.
I understand. And I accept that I am wrong about this based on (all of) your experience(s).
By the way, I have not found a lot of audio content in French on the internet that is both transcribed and interesting to me. And I am not willing to spend over an hour looking for it either. So there is maybe a lot of free content available in other languages but not, as far as I can see, in French. (If anyone can give me some tips I would appreciate it!)
