Native speaker tries LingQ Afrikaans app and it was weird
VloĆŸit
- Äas pĆidĂĄn 3. 07. 2024
- So... LingQ released Afrikaans in Beta as one of their new language options and I just had to check it out. Afrikaans gets such little representation in language learning resources and I wanted to see if they did it any justice. Disclaimer: I'm not so much reviewing the platform as a whole, but the quality of a content that a beginner will see in the beta mode. Yes, people can upload their own content, but what is on here already is not the best.
This video is NOT sponsored by LingQ - these are my honest thoughts.
My Afrikaans CZcams channel: www.youtube.com/@afrikaanswit...
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
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As LingQ CEO, I want to thank you for reviewing our Afrikaans! For sure there are improvements to be made there. You should be aware that Afrikaans was added at the request of our community and the content shown was entirely provided by the community. Now that the language is live, our community and users will slowly add additional content. We would love to take you up on your offer to help us find and upload more good Afrikaans content including your own more recent CZcams videos of course. North, from our team, will reach out directly to try to get the conversation started. I'm sorry to hear you messaged us previously and felt we did not respond. In general, we always do respond but sometimes things can slip through the cracks.
Fake
@@CjericJkim Not fake at all. I have been using lingQ for 6 years and they are always on top of answering people complaints in the forum section.
@@markchavez738
Howdy: I just wanted to say thanks for LingQ and I have been with you and love updates and changes so I will give you all my thumbs up always. Keep on keeping on!!
I've been using lingq for years and they have always gotten back to me quickly and been very helpful and more than fair with me.
I do use the platform. It tends to be much better in other strong or popular languages. I do believe it will get better as people start adding more contents; the users themselves can contribute to importing contents they like. It's an exciting start!
the users contribute to the content and pay money ?
Other users can contribute content, but most people donât. Most people upload their own content for their own personal use.
The purpose of the app isnât to use the content on it (although if thereâs something of interest there of course you can use it), itâs to find your own content (books, articles, podcasts etc) and use the app to make it comprehensible.
I appreciate the honest review, and how your experiences mirrored mine. I gave the app a try like a year or two ago, since I kept hearing so much about it, but it did NOT click with me. Before I could figure out what I was even doing, I got hit with a paywall and was unable to do anything else. I couldn't even grasp what value the site had before it stopped me from looking any further. The UI was really confusing to navigate. It's a shame it looks like it hasn't changed. The idea of it seems promising though, but way too much of a pain for me to use. I could spend that time studying instead xD Definitely wild that they posted a video of yours right off the bat though. I get how that might feel uncomfortable. But cheers for the video!
Yes! Even if Iâm a UX designer and after they redesigned the site, I honestly donât get it. That being said there are a ton of LingQ worshippers who swear by it.
đ
Agreed.
The paywall is definitely the worst part as it completely prevents beginners from understanding the platform properly. I took on me to pay $15 for 1 month just because the platform looked promising but if they had a 1 year subscription only I would never have subscribed. I am sure they loose dozen of users just because of that 20 LingQs limit.
The problem is a setting in the user preferences that automatically adds all new words (highlighted in blue) to your Lingq list. This makes you hit the paywall very quickly before you even notice what you are doing. Especially when you just browse through the content like in this video. When you switch this option off (and maybe clean up your word list), you can browse the content more freely.
I love this đLindie is just so bubbly and it's amazing. Thank you for being who you are â€
YOU COFOUNDED WIKITONGUES????
Yes! I still work on their board now đ„°
@@LindieBotesNO WAY
This direct slightly edgy review is great đ€Łâš Go Lindie! đ
1 when they have developed a language more and you click a word, a bunch of definitions pop up
2 anyone can upload a video or content, so linq directly did not necessarily choose your video or those songs (they could have)
3 you can upload any Afrikaans content you find and learn from that
4 you do not scroll to see more, there is an arrow on the right, there are pages
5 sentence view is not to view the rest of the sentences, it shows you the translation of the sentence you are on
6 with more developed languages, you can listen to the video without watching it
Their Afrikaans course is extremely new so I am sure they uploaded the content. Itâs disappointing content so Iâd love to add better stuff. Would it just show for me or does it add to a repository for others to see too?
â@@LindieBotesI have seen a lot of content uploaded by other individuals, though I'm not sure if you have to do something special to do so
Ps. I added a few more notes to my original comment!
@@LilyAlcee Do you have to pay for a subscription to add content? The website is totally unclear.
@@LindieBotes Yes, you do.
â@@LindieBotesPaying users can import for their personal use (others can't see). Librarians can upload content visible to others, or if it is copyrighted content can essentially create a "link" whereby other users can import for their own personal use.
I use and like Lingq not because they select interesting content, but it's a platform that helps me read in my target languages. I mainly use resources I found and uploaded myself. So for me main part of a language being present in this app is a dictionary in that language.
But if they select materials I agree it should be better, especially for the language that isn't popular.
I love that with my knowledge of Dutch (limited as it is), I can sometimes understand Afrikaans.
Same !
LingQ user here.
About the content. LingQ relies heavily on user added content to build a library. So, the content that is already on there will have been mostly added by users. They offer tools to help you add CZcams videos to the library. These videos/audio act like a CZcams link, so the videos will grow in views from being listed on LingQ. If the CZcams video has good subtitles added to the video in the native language, then that will transfer over to make the LingQ transcript.
If someone wanted to, they could add your better Afrikaans videos to LingQ as well.
You can even keep content private, instead of adding to the public library, to add things like Audiobooks and paid content that you shouldn't share for free. And LingQ has been very active in taking things down if the owner of the content would like to have them removed.
I like lingq and I am using it to learn Hungarian and will be using them to learn Japanese also and then German. I am a big fan of Lingq.
Would love to learn Afrikaans one day! Hope youâre well Lindie. đđœ BtW, I have used LinQ and it was a big part of my learning Italian. Highly recommend it. đđœ
I used LingQ for several years. I liked it a lot, although the software did feel kinda clunky and the Android app also had issues. They finally did a big update a year or two ago but I decided to cancel my subscription bc I rarely got a chance to sit down and use it. Life just got in the way of me having many chances to sit at my computer for a hobby like this, let alone consistent enough to make any progress. I have since moved on to Pimsleur method and just listen to the audio lessons while I drive, eat, or do other simple tasks, and I've definitely gotten more use out of it than I did with LingQ. Still broke my heart when i had to cancel my LingQ account and delete all the vocabulary for all the languages I had saved over the years đ
forget lingQ learn with books paper and a notebook it is all what you need. I dont like it either to sit in front of a PC. Vocabulary?I write them down by myself. I had LingQ for one year snd used it maybe 5 times for 100 euro. Waste of money
@@juliannaruffiniI think it depends what language youâre learning, the resources that are available in that language, and how advanced in the language you are when you find it.
I found it when I was already B1 level in Swedish. It wasnât right for me and I continued to learn outside LingQ.
But then I started learning Turkish and I can honestly say it has been the most amazing resource. I genuinely couldnât have learned Turkish without it.
OMG THE MUSIC VIDEOS ARE SO ANCIENT I USED THOSE IN PRE SCHOOL đđđđđđđđ
BRUHHH
Wat se jy! goedforoem...
Lindie shats....laat ons gaan!
i definitely want to learn afrikaans one day but yah it's hard to find content for listening and reading
To be fair, at least there were no videos of Die Antwoord xD
By the way, I think Afrikaans sounds beautiful. I'm a German native speaker and was super confused when I first heard it because I thought I understood some words here and there but didn't know which language it was.
Tomorrow I'm doing skydiving for the first time and I needed some entertainment and I loved it haha. Take care!
Amazing! Have fun!!!
@@LindieBotes You too! Write anytime!
It seems you're adding the English translations to the Hungarian dictionary. You can change the dictionary in the settings and it's independent from the interface language. If you change the dictionary language to English, there will be translation. You cannot only choose a dictionary language but also the dictionary.
The content is mostly contributed by users. LingQ also automatically suggests content you can import from the internet based on what you chose in the interest settings. The mini stories are by LingQ and most to all other content is usually provided by users. Keep that in mind.
I know the mini stories are by them and Iâm definitely impressed!
On the bright side, I just knew that you've got A WHOLE CHANNEL where you teach Afrikaans đ€Łbtw I do want to learn Afrikaans but I am an upper beginner in Dutch, when in your opinion should I start Afrikaans ?
I think once you are intermediate or upper int. in Dutch it could be a good time to start!
@@LindieBotes Thank you girl ! Looking forward to that then !
Hi, you need to know that the users do the upload of the lessons! Just the Mini Stories are provided by LingQ (but they are made by a user who wanted to have Africaans on the table). And users are not allowed to publish youtube videos without asking the content creator first! So modern music videos are usually not allowed to be published there! But as a learner you can unload any content you like for your own studies WITHOUT sharing in with anybody.
And as a new beta language the users create the dictionary with every entry!
I use the plattform for more than a year and I love it. But it is just ONE tool I use. So I use other methods too.
I am aware of that yes, I was just mentioning that the content already on there isnât great and someone coming in for the first time will see Afrikaans in this light. Like I mentioned the mini stories are excellent! But users have to pay to upload their own content so free users have to make do with poor quality resources
Lindie, you mentioned in another comment that since the language is new you believe the content has to have been added by LingQ. Actually, itâs unlikely LingQ added most of the content. The way new languages at LingQ works is that one or two long term users of LingQ (people who have perhaps used the system to learn one or more languages) make a big push to get a language they want to learn added. LingQ has a set of minimum requirements for that user to meet if they want the language added. Those requirements are (and I canât remember exactly, but this is close), all 60 mini stories translated and narrated by a native speaker, at least one other beginner âcourseâ (which can be anything really, and itâs common to just use childrenâs songs) and a link to a news channel. The onus is on the user who wants to language added to find a native speaker to translate and narrate the mini stories, as well as to find the other minimum content. LingQ checks the quality of the mini stories, but thatâs about it.
So no. Probably not LingQ who did most of this work, but a single user who wanted to learn Afrikaans and who did what was necessary to meet the minimum requirements. That user is also unlikely to use any of the content there, as as a long term user of LingQ they will likely have sourced a lot of their own content and will use that. Often individual user content is copyrighted in some way so it canât be shared (e.g I can upload an audiobook and a book and use LingQ to help me translate words. But since itâs an actual audiobook I canât share it, so other learners of that language will never have access to the material I use). The individual who met the minimum content required for Afrikaans to be set up on LingQ will be using their own material.
LingQ just made what that person had done available to everyone in beta mode.
For me, youâve highlighted that thatâs the mistake LingQ made. Beta languages shouldnât be available to everyone initially. There should be minimum content for beta mode, to be used by long term users who will slowly upload more content, followed by a secondary threshold to have the language made public.
Itâs clear they also need a mandatory walkthrough when joining even in âfreeâ mode (I was nearly screaming at the screen when you couldnât see the giant arrow beside the text to move to the next page, and this is the kind of thing that just needs taught), as well as either more free âLingQsâ (perhaps 100?) to trial or simply a weekâs free premium trial.
I recommend LIngq but with many caveats. As long as one chooses to only study the Lingq supported languages, it can be a valuable resource. I use it to study Hungarian and Hungarian is NOT a priority for the Lingq management. I cannot even properly type Hungarian without copying and pasting some vowels. I also have a problem with my definitions getting overridden by other users or a default setting. As yet, there is no builtin mechanism for identifying verb forms. I have also tried in vain to flag other problems with the basic 50 stories, but as I have noted, Hungarian is not a priority language. Even as I wait for Hungarian to become better supported by the platform, Icelandic already is. Yeah, it is frustrating
One positive aspect of LIngq is that a user can upload his own material as long as it has a text component that can be 'lingqed'. More than likely, am Afrikaans learner uploaded the Botes' video for his own use and then made it public for others. Learners must often use whatever they can find regardless of the quality since subtitles in .svg files are routinely used by content creators in many languages
Hello Lindie, would yyou please recommend some Afrikaans TV shows available on youtube? Baie dankie!
I met you from Afrikaans with Lindie and I did try to learn Afrikaans, but it's hard because there is few content in this language and I have no one to speak this Language.
Unfortunately that is so yes. You can try see some TV snippets by KykNet on CZcams maybe
Lindie haven't you spoken to Steve Kauffman in the past? Maybe you can reach out to him again about your suggestions.
We are acquaintances yes. He doesn't run the platform though, he has a team. They were not very receptive to me in the past.
Oukei, om eerlik te wees, die keuses in musiek op platform is nie te sleg nie, ek hou van my outydse musiek, al is ek nou eers 20, (ek sluit nie F*k*f polisiekar hierby in nie). Ek is bly daar is opsies daarbuite vir mense wat Afrikaans wil leer. Ek was baie opgewonde toe ek sien daar was mense wat Afrikaans op Duolingo wou sit, ongelukkig het dit nog nie gerealiseer nie. Maar nou ja, hoe dit ookal sy, fantastiese video!
Credit to you for honesty. I worry that Polyglots are all spinning to peddle programs and products and that it is a 'club' with an understanding among its 'members'. But you are putting lie to this. Thanks..i get cynical too easily. It's silly of me sometimes.
lmaoo I'm the one who posted your Wikitongues video on there. btw I don't work for LingQ, I'm just a normal user (everyone can share lessons on LingQ)
Thatâs so funny, what a small world! But you have to be a subscribing user to share lessons right?
@@LindieBotes No, anyone can share lessons even free members. And sorry for sharing that old video but it was the only non-copyrighted Afrikaans video I could find
@@pia_mater I donât mind! Itâs CC licensed đ
Lindie, I guess the content that shows up on lingQ is added by the individual users rather than the platform staff itself, since lingQ allows importing content. I didn't know you cofounded WikiTongues, kudos to that.
I'm not sure that putting something like *bleep off Polisiekar* in a beginners course is a great idea.
Skoolvak is pronounced "skullfuck"? đł Sorrie, couldn't resist...
Haha...not exactly, but close enough!
I just found a misspelling at 7:00. "terrug" :DDD You didn't notice?
I love LingQ. One thing I will add is that a lot of the content is uploaded by users who are using that specific material to learn.
I tried it to start learning Belarusian but I didnât wanna have to pay
I've been learning Afrikaans for about a year and a half. To be honest, there are better resources out there than this, but I can see myself using it for review purposes. I've learned more with music and TV, to be honest.
Hi you were also in my Hungarian exam-
Iâm sorry what do you mean?
Im trying to learn dutch on linq but all the advanced stuff is like old books about afairs and stuff not very interesting so i just watch Netflix mostly
But you can add your own content if you can find it
Eks so bly om te sien daar is apps wat Afrikaans ook leer!
spoke with a employee on a cruise last month in afrikaans a little. she was blown away and could tell immediately that i wasnt native but i dont try to add an accent. i talk regular. she said LAAKER and i said LEKKER. LOL
"terrug" lol...
Aside from the mini stories most of the content on lingq is added by community members (thats why popular languages have more content). You can become a librarian and add content yourself.
Ek is Afrikaans translate? IM AFRICANS
Ek woon in Pole en hou om in Afrikaans te praat
But this is an interesting question: "If you are a non-native speaker of a language, it's hard to find content in that language, how do you do that? Any tips?" For example I have no idea how to find Czech, Hungarian and Afrikaans real content on CZcams. Even Japanese, maybe if I type something in Hiragana, I don't know.
there are tons of material try the assimil series way better than online resources
"maybe if I type something in Hiragana" Yes, that's exactly it! You can use a dictionary or translator to get you started, but just look up topics of interest in whatever language you want to find content in. It's much easier than you think :)
@@juliannaruffini Yeah, Assimil is amazing, Living Languages, Teach Yourself, etc. but sometimes we want to see some content creator, or real content, for example, the best resource with clear French for me is "36.9 - RTSsante" it's a Swiss TV/Radio.
@@sambeawesome Yeah, makes sense, unfortunately all the suggestions to me are in English and Portuguese, I will try it.
I think its an awful website. I tried Norwegian in the past and I paid for a pricy subscription considering the amount of content available at the time and the user interface was complicated and distracting if not annoying. Idk if it worth paying for something google translator does for free and also has the same amount of inconveniences... And I call it "LIN CUE" I don't care, it sucks anyways.
Many (not all) of the LingQ resources are added by the actual users (including definitions, videos, etc). In a way, a distinct chunk of it is crowdsourced by the users. It's a pretty small company (a quick search shows 17 employees, with revenue of about $1.9 million, which sounds like not much to keep the lights on, honestly, but who knows how accurate that is). This is how they've been able to develop and support resources for so many languages.
People add content they want so there is a range of stuff, you can add your own and watch and read stuff that interests you, you could add some music you like if you want.
5:00 "This is still in beta mode". Everything is in beta all the time. Don't cut them any slack (seriously, I'm a developer and it's been a trope to put a diagonal "BETA" label on your site/app logo since the beginning of "Web 2.0" in 2005. It's a lazy cop-out)
Oh this is very painful to watch. LingQ is by far the biggest language learning aid I am aware of, but they do make it unnecessarily hard to onboard as you've discovered. It's very worth paying for and figuring out, though... đą
It takes some time to get used to the platform but after watching a few video of Steve Kaufmann, and paying attention, it's getting better and better. It took me a week or so. And yes the free 20 LingQs limit is a bit ridiculous, it would be better to have a 1 week free introduction. If they only had a one year subscription I would never have subscribed.
Understanding the difference between page view and sentence view is important. There are different ways to review vocabulary and the review system is fully configurable.
And understanding that LingQ does not necessarily provide all the content one want is also important. It's a platform that helps manage our language learning process. A lot of the content is provided by the community, including translations, so they can be incorrect. For less common languages it can be a problem if no dictionary is available.
Fokofpolisiekar is great though
I bet your fiance is playing league of legends
it was WoW lol
First
Ok
:'((
Ag shame
At what? đ
@@LindieBotes vir die fame sonder die fortune.... so ver.
no one needs this app. Learn with books and save money
Different people learn in different ways. I donât think itâs fair to say no one needs it. I didnât need it for Swedish, but I needed it for Turkish. Depends on the learner and how they like to learn, the language, and the type of content you like to learn from.
people learn differently, books personally just don"t stick
@@uriurw8630 All these apps pretend to be the ultimate, the best tool for learning a language. What you need is time and diligence.
I think to each their own. I know a ton of people who absolutely love this app and it works for them and they do progess in their languages! I do prefer textbooks and other apps though
@@LindieBotes sure it works but it is very expensive and when you have a pen and paper you don't need LingQ anymore.
This is not african it is dutch!
lol ok