I can’t update my stats anymore for writing/speaking. It still works for listening/reading (although that is pretty much taken care of automatically, unless one reads and listens a lot outside LingQ).
I also noticed some new information under “Progress snapshot”, namely my current level and my “Activity Score”.
At first I thought that the system had suggested that I would change level (possibly due to the fact that I was close to recommended “target” words/hours/et.c.) - on the other hand, I can probably figure out myself when it is time to change level.
I’m very upset about this unavoidability of updates for some stats. I can speak or write outside lingQ, why can’t I update my stats? This simply does not make sense from the learning point of view.
If the issue is about the score for rewarding the most active members, as I suppose, you could leave options of writing and speaking inside and outside LingQ. For rewarding purposes, only inside scores would be considered.
Certain things have changed, both intentionally and unintentionally. We need your feedback. We would ask you to assume that the changes we are making are all going to improve the experience for our members, even if there are some hiccups along the way.
I have a notebook which I use for other languages than those currently available here, so in the meantime I’ll write down the spoken minutes/written words there.
By the way, I think the overall LingQ performance has gotten a lot better over the past few days.
I think I read something about premium members being rewarded according to their activity here. That’s fine by me.
I have noticed an improvement as well, but this is not because of the major changes we are planning (how certain calculations are done, ajaxifying etc.) but rather some of the upgrades in databases or software that the developers are using. I think it can get a lot better. Thanks for the feedback.
We will gradually introduce the “reward” system and it will be based on activity level, and this activity level will not include manual input of activity of listening and reading. We are hoping to introduce the manual record keeping elsewhere, perhaps in the learner’s Personal Profile that is now being developed.
We are looking at how to make it easy for members to keep track of their activity outside of LingQ, while at the same time measuring members’ activity within LingQ. One of the things we need to do is encourage and stimulate members to do more. This is not a problem for keen learners like you, but it is an issue for most of the people who sign up at LingQ and then do very little.
We are not a classroom, but we have to create more of the conditions of pressure, including peer pressure, motivation, social interaction etc. that one finds in a classroom. That is why for now we are only going to keep track of activity within LingQ for the purposes of rewards.
We are looking for other ways to keep track of your activity outside of LingQ.
So please keep your own records now and I think later you will be able to add it back in.
Ok, Steve, I’m glad to know you at lingQ are concerned about this and planning to make it avaiable in any form. I find the activity tracking functionality very useful, so I was very frustrated from having lost it.
I agree you need more motivational functionalities at lingQ. Indeed I’m strongly self-motivated, but I’m aware most people are not. I believe social functions like communities, users blogs e a forum easier to keep up with would be very useful in this respect.
Steve wrote:
“(…)this activity level will not include manual input of activity of listening and reading”
In fact it does include manual input of listening (which is good - let’s say you have downloaded the very LingQ related audio and listened to it hundreds of times on your Ipod). For that matter, you can also listen (and read) outside LingQ, and enter those values.
I think it is a good habit to take notes, so I am keeping track of my own statistics just in case.
In fact, we are not going to include listening or reading statistics in our Activity Score calculation. We will add the ability to input your outside writing and speaking activity again but this has required the creation of additional database records since we will be including writing and speaking done in LingQ in our Activity Score calculation. Previously, we just kept one combined number for these activities.
We have now added back the ability to enter both writing and speaking time for activities away from LingQ. We are now keeping this number separately in the system from the numbers measuring your writing and speaking activities on LingQ. Thanks for your patience.