If you are learning Dutch, Japanese, Portuguese or Korean, we have great news. Yesterday we released new avatars for all those languages.
If you are a regular here, you’re probably already familiar with the cute animated avatars that represent your progress in the language(s) that you are learning, but if you are new to it all, the following should give you an idea.
How Avatars Work
As language learners we know motivation is key, and what the avatar does is embody the actions and successes of your learning progress. While, this might seem silly at first, research has shown that it actually does work; watching your avatar grow stimulates motivation.
If you haven’t noticed the avatars before, here’s how they work: at first the avatar appears as an egg on a plain background. Very quickly, as you learn new words, your avatar starts growing. As your avatar grows, and you learn, you earn the right to select cultural items, fitting the language you are learning. These can be articles of clothing, or other cultural artifacts.
An Avatar Fashion Show
For the Dutch female avatar cultural clothes mean wooden clogs, a skirt with an apron, a chemise with a ‘kraplap’, blouse, a beaded necklace and kerchief, and of course, the cap. The Dutch male avatar wears blue pants, a red shirt accented by a predominately black scarf, a jaunty fishermen’s hat and of course those trusty good old Dutch clogs.
The Portuguese male avatar is also very traditional. It is pretty straightforward; Black pants, a fancy red sash, black jacket and of course a cool black hat. He looks quite the gentleman. He has already got a female counterpart on LingQ.
Our Japanese male avatar is a tough little guy and a samurai warrior. He has got a samurai hair-do, zori and tabi (shoes and socks), nagajuban (under-kimono), kimono, hakama (apron-like clothing), and kataginu (sleeveless jacket with big shoulders). Shoes in his sandals - Oh yes, he did!
Last, but definitely not least, is our Korean male avatar. He is literally dressed as a noble prince. He wears a jeogori (jacket) with two fronts, bound together with a strap. His pants are called bajis, which are tied with a strap on top of white socks. The piece of clothing with the wide sleeves is a Chinese dopo (an overcoat). The outfit is complemented by a hat with a gatkeun (string of gemstones added by members of nobility to show their station). His Princess has been waiting.
Let The Avatar Motivate You
When your avatar is fully developed, you can expect to be able to speak your new language well and if that isn’t motivation enough, think of it this way; you wouldn’t want your avatar to be naked in an egg when he’s got all these fancy clothes to wear – so good luck and get learning.
See the new avatars here: Web Server's Default Page
