That is the difference between theory and practice. In theory we could have months with no bonus to providers. It has not happened yet.
Statistically it is impossible as well, seen as it is very unlikely that just one person will use exactly 500, 1000, 3000 points etc., never mind all the members at LingQ (that is if they do both writing and speaking).
I am not trying to calculate thhe likelihood that this would happen. I am just trying to point out that the 2 intenions contradict each other.
I myself consider paying for the system rather than the content. Content tries to make itself free. This is a law of Internet economy.
This is interesting. On one hand, we should take it “easy” and not feel any pressure; and on the other hand, we should take action NOW (before the points expire!).
We think it is in the interest of the community that people use their points to engage with tutors, rather than hoard the points. 3 months is sufficient time to use them without feeling any pressure.
I can continue answering comments here, but we are not going to change the system for the foreseeable future.
I think I have made it abundantly clear that for me this is NOT about money! You’re right Jay, if it were I wouldn’t have recorded the content in the first place.
@Steve,
you never offered me anything at the time I submitted the content, neither points nor cash, I can send you our email exchange from that time to refresh your memory. The content may have been loaded all at once, but I produced and submitted it to Lingq over a longer period of time.
How easy it is to use up 9000 points in 3 months depends on many things such as your timezone, your language and how much free time you have over a certain period of time. It is not on you or Lingq to judge that.
@Jeff:
Yes, the 3-month rule puts unecessary pressure on the learner which I had pointed out above as well.
Friedemann, please send me the email exchange. It has been a long time and I have no recollection of our initial discussion leading up to your creating content, how it all came about, nor what transpired thereafter. It has been over two years.
@Friedemann - I agree that it’s a lot of pressure. It takes a while to get “enough” points, suddenly “older” points expire, and then I don’t have enough for the conversations. Generally, I think I’ve lost more than I gained from my lessons. Recently I’ve started offering 1-on-1 conversations to make sure I don’t lose that much, and so far I’ve been lucky regarding time zones. I just hope that I’m able to spend all my points before they disappear. I’ve been told that it’s possible to reschedule in case the tutor or I will be busy, but it hasn’t always proved that easy.
jeff, you say you earn points, but not fast enough to get enough for a conversation. If you only rely on points from lessons you have created,
this could take a while in Swedish. However, without the three month time limit there would be no points income from that source.
There is no guarantee that providing lessons to the library, or tutoring, will provide enough points to pay for all your tutoring needs in the languages you are studying. Therefore, most people rely on bought points and treat this other income as a bonus, or supplement.
If you cannot find tutors in convenient time slots, though, please let us know. There is even a Forum for that. Or just post on tutors’ walls.
I might add that I am using our tutors more and more. I find that the quality of the discussions and the reports that I get back really help my learning. My preferred length of discussion is 30 minutes. Even one discussion a week will use up points pretty quickly. If I want to talk to more than one tutor, or submit writing, there is no trouble in using up the points, quite the contrary. They key is to stay active, and that is part of the rationale for the 3 months limit, to encourage learners to be active, support our tutors, and not hoard points.
I just checked native French and Chinese tutors: next week no conversations possible between 8 and 10 am CET.
So I will again lose 2000 points on April 2. Or I have to write more…
Let me see what I can do to find you some tutors for these time slots. You could also post on the Conversations forum, the French forum and the Chinese forum.
Steve, thank you for your efforts.
I posted already … French Conversarions Between 8 And 10 Am Cet - Language F...
No success.
I will write some French texts.
Which is the greater priority, French or Chinese or both? I should be able to find someone.
I think matching our members needs with tutors is important. We are going to be looking at what we can do in this regard over the next few months. One of our problems is that tutors post times, and then if no one shows up for a while, they get discouraged and stop posting times. Sort of chicken and egg.
Meantime I will see what I can do.
Hi Hape,
Do you want me to schedule a slot on Saturday,26 or Sunday, 27 at 9 am. If these days fit you, you could use your points the way you want instead of “wasting” them in writings?
@Steve - French.
@Serge - 9:00 h CET March 26 would be great. Please create a conversation slot and I will book it. I just submitted also a short writing for correction.
Thanks a lot Serge! Are you still looking for a Chinese tutor Hape?
@Steve
No, maybe later.
But it would be great if you convince some more Chinese natives to offer more Chinese conversations…
I’m fully aware that I can post in the Conversations forum to ask for other time slots (and I’ve done that too). As I wrote some time ago, I wouldn’t mind if I lost points now and then if I had thousands of them (a better “cash flow”, so to speak), but when you have below 500 or 1000 it’s frustrating to lose points.
Even if I theoretically could book conversations for the rest of my points, it’s impossible to know a week or two in advance whether I’m really able to attend (at that specific time). Anything can happen within a few days/weeks although a time slot in April might look good “today”.
As Friedemann said:
“How easy it is to use up 9000 points in 3 months depends on many things such as your timezone, your language and how much free time you have over a certain period of time.”
You are learning 5 languages if I remember. Which ones are you unable to find a tutor at a convenient time for?
We are looking at ways to introduce more flexibility in the way discussion times are made available.
We are not going to change the 3 month expiry period for points for reasons already stated.