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A few weeks ago, I shared a side project on HN about how I improve my Dutch vocabulary: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42521773

Based on the great feedback I received, I expanded the tool to allow users to learn any language at any difficulty level. Personally, I am now using it to learn Dutch words at C1 and Spanish words at B1 level.

Yes, there are better ways for sure. This shall just be a small piece in the puzzle :)

I think that's spot on. It's not about writing perfect software for learning a language. It's just a little extra to keep you engaged and reminded!!

I see your point! I also wouldn't see ChatGpt as the ultimate source of language learning. I just occasionally used it to generate some words for me, and I found it helpful, so I just automated that. I like the idea of getting something out of transcripts, that would make it more realistic and practical!

Yep, might be a bit overkill, but as mentioned in other comments, this project was more for fun and learning, less for efficiency :)

Fair enough! As mentioned earlier, one reason I used AWS/Terraform is for personal learning. It may not be the most efficient approach, but I built it this way because it was the most enjoyable for me. :)

I want to do that if I ever find the time. Adding a date to the database entries, and some code to throw an old word in here and there based on spaced repetition best practices.

I agree that spaced repetition is essential and Anki is just the main player. I think the ideal product would combine: a flashcard app like anki, automated emails you can reply to, audio nudges and more ...

Honestly I was thinking about that. Or how to best display the new words, so I totally see your point. I might change this in the future, but for this first iteration I just thought: leave the English translation in and see how it works ...

I wouldn't argue that it's rather complex for what it does. The reason I still did it this way was that I want to get them automated, without doing anything manually. Even if I would need to just open my laptop, or run a script once, I think I would just stop at one point, and I don't think it would ever become a habit. Are there other tools that could probably get this project done with less complexity? Probably, but I have the pride of an engineer and wanted to brush up on my Terraform ;)

The words are generated by ChatGpt Api, and I store them in DynamoDB.

I did some language courses, so now I just want to improve my vocabulary. I used anki for a while but once I got out of it I found it hard to get in again. That's why I like those emails, they don't take much time and you can start every day again. Otherwise I just try to immerse myself in the language with youtube, netflix ... :)

Indeed, it's peanuts :) I didn't calculate it as I find that cost insignificant.

Everything runs on AWS. The infrastructure is set up with Terraform. The Lambda retrieves three C1 level words in Dutch, their translations, and an example from ChatGpt. Those words are stored in DynamoDB so they will not be sent again. They are then sent to my email.

I didn't want to pay for expensive vocabulary apps that often start with beginner words while I am looking for advanced vocabulary, so I built it myself.