Ciao ๐
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it feels like i'm recommending this more and more at the moment...
it's something I've been using on and off alongside Duolingo for YEARS ๐ฏ
Duolingo's always been my primary tool
but this one has always been there right alongside it
i've been using it loads over the last couple of weeks as I'm jetting off to Naples tomorrow ((gotta brush up on that Italiano ๐ค))
and following some recent updates, it's better than ever before...
"it's like Duolingo, but with stuff you're interested in"
the tool i'm talking about is called LingQโ
you might remember me bigging it up in previous newsletters
it lets you learn your language the way you want, allowing you to learn from content that is meaningful to you ๐ฅฐ
((think: books, podcasts, tv shows, music etc))
it's had a bit of a glow-up over the last year or so, introducing a bunch of game-changing features that allow you to learn from more content types that ever before...
recently i've been spending a lot of time with its YouTube importer
i'd known about it for a while but I've only just discovered how powerful it is...
it basically takes an entire YouTube video in your target language, strips the audio and turns it into a transcript
you can then go through each word in-sync with the video, see what the words mean, and save them to your vocab database...
these words will then appear highlighted in future lessons, along with a rating of how familiar you are with them ๐ช
this in itself is really useful for keeping track of your vocabulary and properly committing it to memory...
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but the really exciting thing for Duolingo nuts is that LingQ can turn these words and phrases into Duolingo-style lessons and games ๐คฏ
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flashcards, complete the sentence, match the pairs, pronunciation practice -- all using vocabulary from the content you've imported...
it's Duolingo -- but with words and phrases you care about and actually want to know.
like apple pie and ice cream ๐
so, does this mean it's a full-blown replacement for Duolingo? ๐ณ
absolutely not.
the user interface is clean but it's nowhere near as nice as Duolingo's
it doesn't have the same gamification vibe either -- so there's no leagues, quests, XP or anything like that
I suppose that might appeal to some users, but for many it's a big part of Duolingo's charm, the thing that sets it apart from everything else.
LingQ just cannot replicate that.
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however, when it comes to learning a language, I think LingQ is pretty unparalleled right now.
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like I said, I've only recently started using the YouTube feature and it's blowing my mind a bit
my current strategy is to import the video, listen to it like a podcast a couple of times, then return to it and follow the words on-screen
I can then save them to my database and play those Duolingo-like games to commit them to memory ๐
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yeah, i'm loving it
it's a great tool to use alongside Duolingo. they complement each other really nicely ๐ค
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if you're interested, you can take it for a free spin here ๐
the Premium version is $10 a month if you pay yearly, which I think is pretty good value when compared with what Duolingo is currently charging for Duolingo Max
so yeah
as I mentioned, I'm off to Naples tomorrow. it's somewhere I've wanted to visit for years so I'm absolutely buzzing. pizza every night I reckon ๐คค
I'll be there for a week so there will be no newsletter next Monday unfortunately.
don't worry though, I'll be back in November! ๐ซก