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Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by klakierr on Saturday October 07, 2023 @04:10PM (#37805110)
Not exactly Duolingo alternative, but: I'm currently building an an app for language learning by reading books. It takes an (your) ebook and inserts translations:

—Arthur —dijo con tono cortante, ["Arthur," he said sharply.] y su voz sonó como el chasquido de una ratonera—, [and his voice sounded like the click of a mousetrap.]

There is zero gamification, as it's not needed - you're motivated by the pleasure of reading.

It won't help you to learn to speak (there is an option to read aloud a selected phrase though), but it will help you with vocabulary. I went with it from not being able to read even one page, to being able to understand 70% of a book (intermediate Spanish level) in about a month.

ATM looking for beta users, completely free of charge. Pls leave a contact in a comment if you're interested

Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by markgavalda on Saturday October 07, 2023 @05:16PM (#37805643)
This is an amazing idea! I use a much more rudimentary version of this to read (and learn along the way) multiple languages. My favorite method so far.
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by tba on Saturday October 07, 2023 @06:07PM (#37805952)
Sounds great! My Telegram is ttf92.
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by jph on Saturday October 07, 2023 @06:11PM (#37805970)
Super idea! You are welcome to use my ebooks which are free open source guide books for technology-related terminology. Your readers could learn many professional concepts and phrases.

https://github.com/joelparkerhenderson/ has the guide books. Topics include startups, UI/UX, programming, project management, etc.

Feel free to DM me. I can give you access to the repos, if you wish to add your translations there too. You're on to a really great idea IMHO.

Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by klakierr on Sunday October 15, 2023 @05:23AM (#37888274)
wow, thanks a ton, I will contact you when I'll be adding books directly to the app; ATM I just have the option to upload a book for the users
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by mbbbb on Saturday October 07, 2023 @06:34PM (#37806114)
Seems awesome would like to try! What languages? (I am learning Polish and am approx A2 level)
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by klakierr on Sunday October 15, 2023 @05:36AM (#37888345)
Theoretically any language that ChatGPT "speaks" is supported, but the more popular language the better quality of inserted translations.
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by kej on Saturday October 07, 2023 @06:59PM (#37806228)
This sounds great and I'd love to help test. Kevin at silent planet dot com. Thanks!
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by timwis on Saturday October 07, 2023 @07:25PM (#37806387)
Love this idea and would be happy to beta test. [email protected]
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by joe-collins on Saturday October 07, 2023 @07:25PM (#37806392)
I'm interested- [email protected]

I'm going to guess the translations are mechanical, rather than professional?

Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by klakierr on Sunday October 15, 2023 @05:34AM (#37888335)
Yes, mechanical. It's a copyright issue, I cannot offer translated books, so each user upload will get separate generated and inserted translations. Obviously the quality is not the best compared to professional translations. For that you can try beelinguapp.com or lingq.com, both mentioned in this thread. What's different in my app is that it inserts translations in the text, so no additional clicking, and it allows you to upload your own books.

I've tried using LibreTranslate, GoogleTranslate, DeepL, ChatGPT 3.5 and 4 for translations - in my experience ChatGPT is the best for this use case, 3.5 is good enough and economically viable, 4 is superior, especially if you want translation in a language different than English, but expensive compared to 3.5: ~$20 for a book.

Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by owenpalmer on Saturday October 07, 2023 @07:31PM (#37806439)
Really cool. LingQ.com is a similar idea, you may want to take a look for inspiration.
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by klakierr on Sunday October 15, 2023 @05:26AM (#37888290)
I'm familiar with it, it's great. It's a bit different interface-wise, they do not insert translations intro text, you have to click on words to translate them
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by antforce on Saturday October 07, 2023 @07:49PM (#37806568)
I'm currently learning Spanish at an intermediate level, so would love to try it!

gmail: antforce

Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by atavisticity on Saturday October 07, 2023 @09:42PM (#37807115)
This sounds fantastic, I've been learning Spanish for about 8 months and the most effective tool for building my vocab has been reading. My email is da/vis/jo/nathan38/0 [at] gmail.com without the forwardslashes!
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by ck_one on Sunday October 08, 2023 @01:00AM (#37807983)
Do you have a waitlist?
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by klakierr on Sunday October 15, 2023 @05:38AM (#37888356)
I don't
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by endigma on Sunday October 08, 2023 @09:34AM (#37810321)
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by bogdanos on Sunday October 08, 2023 @10:20AM (#37810676)
Hey you won a new user! odysseas -+ a.t. +- dilmun ¢dot© net
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by bobwaycott on Sunday October 08, 2023 @10:57AM (#37811036)
This is the way I’ve felt is best for learning how languages work and building vocabulary. I’d love to beta (email in profile).
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by prirai on Sunday October 08, 2023 @01:07PM (#37812327)
Looks interesting, worth giving a try! Gmail - idealpriyanshu
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by Achy1les on Sunday October 08, 2023 @07:36PM (#37815399)
Where is your site project? Could you show us the link? Thx
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by klakierr on Sunday October 15, 2023 @05:38AM (#37888353)
ATM there is basically no landing page, and without beta user code you wont be able to use the app
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by davidmonti on Thursday October 12, 2023 @07:55AM (#37855994)
Hi! This sounds exactly like Beelinguapp, have you tried that one? You can read books in 2 different languages with audio as well. https://beelinguapp.com/get
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by klakierr on Sunday October 15, 2023 @05:24AM (#37888285)
Hi, yes I tried, it's great. They do not let you upload your own books though, and for me (as an user) it is important
Re:Ask HN: Any alternatives to Duolingo without gamification? by klakierr on Sunday October 15, 2023 @05:43AM (#37888373)
All the other comments: I've sent you an email with access link & info. Thanks for the interest and sorry it took me a whole week to get back to you!