What is the problem with LingQ.com?

Please, no tests. We already have this list:

No Knowledge - You have no knowledge of the language
Beginner 1 - You can say and understand some words and phrases
Beginner 2 - You can travel and shop, and talk about familiar subjects
Intermediate 1 - You can function at a basic level at work and in social situations
Intermediate 2 - You are quite comfortable in most situations even if you lack full control
Advanced 1 - You can understand and express even complex ideas in most contexts

I am not in favour of tests. Most people an self-evaluate quite easily I think, as Jeff says. I copied this list from the European Language Framework.

But please tell me how big an issue speed is and where it bothers you the most, if at all.

After having considered the problems raised here, I feel the best path for us is the following:

  1. Fix up the levels and categories in the Library so that the search becomes more accurate. Anyone who wants to help please volunteer and we will give you Editor access to go in to the Libraries and improve things. That will make the Library work better.

  2. Rather than having the Library as the opening page, we have to find a way to make the Home page faster. We want people to go there. We have sped up the Library, now we have to hope our programmers can do the same for the Library.

Thanks for all the comments.

Great stuff. I look forward to improvements in the library and will chime in from time to time if anything else strikes me.

Have just discovered that it is possible to import things and keep them private -eg all those annoying work emails I can’t read properly. This is a huge thing for me, as it is already helping me to master the bureaucratic vocabulary that pervades them, but again, I wasn’t aware of this :wink:

I know I am coming across as a bit of an idiot, but perhaps some kind of dummies guide (written, not on video -am I the only person that hates ‘how to’ videos? I much prefer to read instructions) could be put together?

All the best

sendaiben

I’d be glad to help with the library, Steve.

@Ben

Instructions as to importing are under ‘?Help’ in the very top right corner of the page, but you have to find them as they’re at the bottom once you’re there.

Another issue I had to overcome here is the idea that flashcards support input. In other words, it is more important to read and listen to texts than to master flashcards. I knew it in theory, but when it came to the practical usage of the site I found the perfectionist in me trying to master flashcards rather than just using them as a kind of massage for my brain so that I can master listening and reading texts. This led to boredom, because basically mastering flashcards is content-less and therefore not much fun. I sense this is a common challenge people are facing.

We want feedback and active participation on the forum. Glad to have you aboard sendaiben.

David, thank you. We will set you up as an editor and let you know when that happens. Thanks again.

@David

Yep, found the instructions yesterday (that led to me furiously importing emails). However, it wasn’t very obvious without delving into the innards of the FAQ. Perhaps a welcome screen that includes all the essential information could be made to pop up the first couple of times new members log in?

Something like:

Here are the main things you can do on LingQ

  1. choose content to read and listen to → link to relevant easy explanation
  2. import content to study with —> link to relevant easy explanation
  3. find a tutor to practice speaking and writing —> link to relevant easy explanation

etc.

Dooo,
The studing of flashcards is boring on LingQ because the opportunities of its using are too poor. When I open any flashcard I often don’t remember, how this word sounds. I know, that it is better to listen a whole text, but sometimes I want to repeat only one word and I would like at least to hear it or see a transcription.

It would be nice to have sound on the flash cards and it is on our list of things to do. I am not sure that I would use it that much but I think many people would.

I doubt I’d use it for anything other than Chinese, Japanese, and Russian, but I sure would like to have it for those three.

I think a wiki user guide would be an excellent idea and would be happy to contribute to it. There are loads of useful tips all over the forums, but they aren’t easy for a newbie to search.

The ability to import your own lessons really sold me on LingQ, but I didn’t figure it out from studying the site. I think I got fed up with reading the help files and skyped Steve, who explained it all to me. It was such a powerful tool that I couldn’t believe it at first, and got very excited when I realised I could import e-mails, web articles, and extracts from ebooks!

Svetlahna (and David)

I think sound on flashcards would make it more boring…You are not supposed to study and master the flashcards.But trying to do this is a very strong tendency in myself and a lot of others.

Yes a wiki would be awesome!

Then any member could contribute to it!

In addition to LingQ Plaza, I think it’s a great way for members to give tips on using LingQ and such.

And like Helen pointed out you could compile all the really helpful and informative forum posts into one wiki!!!

It sounds like an excellent idea. I’d be willing to contribute if it gets set up!

:smiley:

I like the idea of an option for sound on flashcards.

Just how would we go about setting up a Wiki on LingQ in different languages. I am open to suggestions.

  1. Find a wiki host. They are free. The best I have seen is PBWiki.
    2)Set up an account with them
  2. Start deciding on topics for pages and edit them. And invite others to edit them and set up more just like in Wikipedia The theme of each page could be a frequently discussed topic in the forums or a topic in the Help section. Example, How to Import. or How Many Times Should I Listen. As moderator you can delete or flag pages that are inappropriate or getting off topic. For each topic set up pages in as many languages as you want.

Essentially a WIki is just a more organised version of this forum. Instead of having a lot of redundancy and useful information spread around, it encourages people to reflect on what has been said and add to it in a constructive fashion.

PBWiki => PBWorks

We have LingQcentral, we have Help, we have the Forum. I do no think that a lack of information about how to use the site is a major problem.

People do not like to read manuals. People expect to figure things out.

Our number one issue is traffic, in my view. We need to get more people to the site. That is where we need everyone’s help.