Hi guys!
Up until a few days ago, if I selected several words I would receive a translation of those words as a whole. This was quite helpful for learning about words which function together in a particular way. For some reason however I can no longer receive a translation, it just shows blank. Individual words still translate as normal however. I haven’t changed my browser, or done anything else different than normal.
I am using Google chrome.
According to Hape, this is a recent change by Google Translate, not by LingQ.
(remove any spaces)
Oh dear. So how can we work around this? Is there a setting I can use to make some other translation service the default?
We’re looking into this. Give us some time to get things sorted out. We’ll be sure to post here with some updates.
It’s still possible to click on the google translate in the dictionary window, isn’t it?
Yes. This only affects the integrated Google Translate on the blue popup, but the regular dictionary will work.
Yes. If you want to look up many phrases, you can open the print lesson window and highlight copy/paste to a window with Google Translate. However, this makes it a bigger pain to lingq. If you want to make lingqs through google’s dictionary, you have to open that dictionary popup.
I think that most users are too quick to hit the hints. The preference seems to be for single word translations. I tend to go with several word hints, because languages are not 1 for 1 translations of each other and the web of meaning in the other language needs to be learned.
For me, being efficient with LingQ, doesn’t mean simply doing things quickly. I do things thoroughly instead and that makes for much more efficient learning over the long term.
I tend to look at it as, the more times I see the word, the quicker I can zero in on the exact meaning. More reps, less weight so to speak. But if I get to a word that makes me want to ponder for some time, then I do. Regardless, spending time doing extra, unrelated work, detracts from learning no matter how fast you are moving through the material.
Yeah, I agree that the more times you see a word, the quicker you learn it. Obvious really. What I was getting at is that people will click on a hint, even though the hint only covers a narrow range of the word’s real meaning. For example “shmaykhl” in Yiddish means “laugh,” “smile” and also as in “(I) laugh/smile” verb in the 1st p sg present tense. Here on LingQ, people will typically click on the definition ‘laugh’ and not look for anything beyond that. I couldn’t do that and be satisfied with what I’m doing. Putting all 3 in is the only way for me. I almost never click the hints for French; they are all too narrow.
It’s obvious, yet you prefer to spend time entering multiple meanings for words? It would seem that either you don’t think it’s that obvious or you would rather progress more slowly (both are legitimate options in my opinion).
I’m not so worried about how other people utilize their time. You seem to be suggesting that people aren’t smart enough to realize that the hints are only hints. I prefer detailed hints, but I’m not too concerned if this or that hint doesn’t capture the whole meaning. Editing the hints takes extra time that could be spent looking at the next word/phrase. Tagging is more helpful in my opinion, but even that takes time. I will analyze words or phrases only if I’m genuinely curious.
Sorry kcb, but you’ve not understood me quite right. Maybe you’re having a shitty day. I’ll forgive you for being a little grumpy. If it’s something I said, well I don’t apologise, but let me describe it better to you, so you don’t get the wrong idea. 
You said that you want to see a word often to understand its meaning. I’m 100% with you there. Personally, instead of single word hints, I go for multiple word hints (when required). I still see those words many times. The time it takes me to enter the words is pretty small, in reality. It’s a trade-off - and I gladly do it the way I do it. 1 second and get a single shade of meaning, or 10 seconds to get a fuller picture of the word which can help me in multiple contexts. I try to add just the most important, core meanings. At the end of the day, I’ve still done over 7000 LingQs in less than a month and a half - still a huge amount compared to the majority of users. I’ve heard Steve express dismay at the fact that users don’t LingQ enough. I totally agree there.
I don’t tag, because I don’t see the tags while I read and don’t do the flashcards. I considered doing it once, but after having a go I learned it wasn’t for me.
By no means was I trying to say that people aren’t smart enough to realize what the hints are. The smartest man in the world can miss something. Realization has little to do with intelligence. It’s that I’ve found that a majority of hints are just simply not detailed enough for my likings. It’s not a feeling of superior intelligence or anything. It’s a matter of preference - and I think it’s more efficient in the long run. At the moment, I have 8060 or so Dutch words as known. This will surely get to 10,000 easily by the end of the year as I’m still finding quite a number which I know in the texts I’m going with. I have no doubt whatsoever, that my 8k words, which a range of knowledge which is larger than 1 definition per word, is better than someone who might know 16k words, but only knows them 1 for 1. There’s no doubt in my mind. I believe I derive better understanding because of it.
There’s no doubt that you’d understand what I mean better if you saw how I actually use LingQ. It’s hard to actually explain the whole process to someone else. Details of hints is one thing, but seeing what I do with that, is another.
I tend to agree with kcb (assuming I’ve understood his position) in that I like to LingQ quickly instead of always looking up the meaning of a word. Sometimes, however, I’m just that little bit more curious and, therefore, I’ll dig a little deeper. Usually, by the second or third time I come across a word I’ll be able to tell if the LingQ (which was probably created by a user hint) is wrong, and then I’ll refine it.
I’m not a fan of putting all the different definitions/translations of a word into the one LingQ. I prefer just to enter the one translation/defintion/hint that is relevant to me so far. To give you an example, in French there is a word ‘dauphin’, which means ‘dolphin’. Initially, I saved it as dolphin. Later, after having ‘learned’ the word, I discovered that ‘dauphin’ can also be an ‘heir’, so I reLingQed the word. In this case, I’ve left both meanings there, but usually if I’m comfortable with the first word, I’ll just use the LingQ for the new meaning. But I’m not really interested in knowing the translations of words from contexts that I haven’t come across yet. I’ll be able to tell something’s not right when the Queen’s ‘dolphin’ is being talked about, so I’ll investigate it then
Peter described exactly the way I do it. To me it is great to have the chance to get a hint with one single click even if it’s only one word vaguely related to the exact meaning. You’ll come across that word again and it is quite easy to notice when something is wrong and look it up.
The good thing is that LingQ allows you to choose, so everyone is happy. I hope we have the popup working again soon.
I am with Peter, Diego and kcb and that is why we call them Hints and not definitions or meanings. I only get a sense of the full meaning after I have seen in real contexts many times. The hint just gets me started.
That said I do find reviewing the Hints, which I usually do in a Vocabulary section session, is helpful in establishing the relationships and differences between words. I search by Tags, by suffix, prefix and root words and then look at what I got.
To each his own.
@danchan and others - We are looking into how best to deal with the Google translate issue but, in the meantime, you can still access Google translate and other dictionaries in the LingQ widget (the pane that opens when you click “Check dictionary”) by scrolling to the bottom of the Babylon translation and clicking on the appropriate link. You can also set any of these dictionaries to be your default by clicking on the Settings link beside the Dictionary link in the top left corner of the widget.
The way you all do it seems very strange to me. hahaha 
Certainly, I’d never do it that way. I’d feel like I wasn’t learning as efficiently as I can be.
So, I’m the odd one out, as always? Damn my life sucks!
I might add that for Dutch, 90% of words have NO hints to select from (and more than half which do, aren’t English…hehe). That’s certainly a factor in what I do. I have to go into the dictionary most of the time. So which definition do I choose? I go for several, naturally. In French, which I started after Dutch, I’ve done things the same way as it’s become a habit already.
Before others start going on about how much of a language learning traditionalist/nutter/sadist I must be because I like grammar and multiple word hints - remember that I enjoy what I do and it works!
BTW, while waiting for our group to come up with a solution to the absence of the instant connection to google translate, I am finding that looking new Czech words up in my Szesnam dictionary is not that big a deal and has some advantages.
Hello Steve, Mark and Alex!
Microsoft offers some translator widgets (look here: Azure Cognitive Services Translator documentation - quickstarts, tutorials, API reference - Azure Cognitive Services | Microsoft Learn ). I don’t know if it is possible to integrate this here on Lingq nor if it could be of any use at all, but maybe it could be an option.