LingQ tip # 3 Don't worry about what you forget

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Ilya has asked me to talk more about my approach to language learning methodology and the reasons for the functionality that we have built into The Linguist and LingQ. He made the following comment.

"Sometimes I feel like your own favorite methodology, that is of enjoyment in language learning and massive reading and listening of the user-chosen content, is not enough supported with the functionality, neither by the Linguist nor the other language systems."

An important tip in any language learning effort is to remember that you will forget. You will forget words, no matter how you learn them. You will forget them whether you use flash cards or not, whether you review them or not. I believe that most of any learner's time should be spent happily listening and reading. We make it easier to do that in LingQ.

In LingQ we have made sure that any words you have saved are highlighted to remind that you once looked them up. You can check the meaning immediately, again, and again. In your LingQ box you can change your hints and phrases to help you remember. You can change your tags and you can change the status of the word. And later on there will be other functions there. Do these things but keep reading and listening.

You can review your words in many ways, as I discussed in tip#1. Bit still you will forget. You may forget the meaning of a word when you next see it, in context or out of context. You will forget the word when you want to use it. It really does not matter very much, in my view, what algorithm is used for flash cards or other memory systems. You are going to forget and should not let it bother you or detract from your enjoyment of the language.

The main purpose of the functions we have put into the Linguist and LingQ is to keep you studying. By saving words you create statistics, and with statistics you can measure progress towards goals. Looking at different lists of your saved words, or looking at flash cards, are just different ways of keeping you in contact with the language and with the words. Reading and listening are other, usually more enjoyable ways of doing so. We think that our functions, the lists, the highlighting of saved words, the personalized databases, etc. all increase the efficiency of the learning process. They also provide a greater variety of tasks to entice you to continue your learning. They all serve the function of the rabbit at the dog races. They keep you going.

So just keep going! Don't worry about what you forget. If you do not see a word for a while you may well forget it. So click on it again to bring up your LingQ box! Review it again. If it bothers you enough you will eventually remember it.

Our focus now at LingQ is to create a pleasant language learning world for each learner, customizable to the tastes and interests of each learner. We want as much useful and effective language learning resources to be available as possible. We want it to be fun. We want people to interact with each other. All of this will be more obvious next month in the new LingQ.

Language is a fuzzy logic, holistic  kind of thing. Learning words is the key, but the way we learn them  is not a straight line process. Our emotions are a big part of language learning. Many parts of our brain are involved. Keeping happy and positive is more important than any grammatical explanation, test or memory system. So learn to have fun while forgetting what you learn. All of a sudden you will find that you remembered something that thought you had forgotten. And you won't know why.

Comments

[Alexandre Rafalovitch]

I find that without using flashcard system, I forget too fast to be happy.

I find that using LingQ's flashcards is better than not having flashcards at all, but it frustrates me when there are too many words.

I find that flashcards systems that use Spaced Repetition methods allow me to work with larger sets of words easier, faster and with less frustration.

I believe LingQ could strongly benefit from one of those systems and not sure it would be worth paying for it without one.

[Steve]

Alexandre,

You and I disagree on many things when it comes to language learning. This is evident from previous comments. You think grammar learning is important in language learning, I do not.You are attending a school to learn Spanish, something I would not do. You like spaced learning Flash Card methods of vocabulary acquisition. I believe that they are not very significant.

You believe that LingQ would not be worth paying for. You have not yet seen all the functions, it is still in partial Beta.

You do not understand the teaching philosophy. You do not even know the cost of LingQ. All you want is a Flash Card system based on some so-called scientific theory. Well go and get one.

I believe that in learning we need to go from the general to the specific.The general is the content, interesting content, a pleasant language learning environment. The details of the Flash Card system is a relatively minor matter.

But as I said, Alexandre and I rarely agree.

[Ak]

Alexandre,

Supermemo 98 is a free software(spaced repetition) if you want to use it. Thelinguist system is much more than that. You can organize your learning. You can talk to tutors. You can get a help from them if you have a problem with a specific sentence or phrase. Their price is not heavy on your pocket. That's the great part. If you don't like it in the middle of your learning, you can leave it anytime at your free will. It's a win-win situation for users in any case. If you are new to a language then I must say that steve's system is the best place to start for making an early breakthrough. Language learning is a longlife process but most students give up on it at their early stage. So I advise you to delve into his system more deeper than pass on a blind statement or request. If he can incoporate a spaced repetition software with his system then he will deserve to charge more money that you can't afford to pay. So you need to look at things from different angles.

[Steve]

Thanks for the moral support Ak. Of course if there is a better algorithm for our Flash Cards we will look at it and incorporate it. But if I look at where I spend my time in language learning, and what influences my attitude towards the language I am learning, and my acquisition of the language, it is overwhelmingly listening and reading and gaining more and more of a feel for the big picture of the language, and eventually speaking it.
I just do not spend that much time on Flash Cards. So what we offer now, including the different ways of looking at the saved words etc. does provide some benefit. If we bring in an even more efficient algorithm, it will not have that big an influence on the enjoyment and efficiency of the overall system, in my opinion. It is certainly not, in my view, the decisive factor in deciding on whether or not to use LingQ. It could be a decisive factor in the purchase of a Flash Card system.

[Ro]

Steve, I find myself somewhere in the middle on this one. I agree with a lot of what you say about language learning and making it an enjoyable process but I was actually going to write something similar to what Alexandre said.

People learn in different ways. Some people, like me, find flashcards a good way to learn. Alexandre's point is not so bad. Reviewing words you already know over and over can get annoying which is the idea behind the spaced system. You can dedicate more time to those words that give you trouble. These programmes have an uncanny way of bringing up a word just as you were beginning to forget it.

At the same time, I can see your view on this Steve. People can get lost in arguing over the details of learning rather than just getting on with the job. It may also make it less enjoyable for certain people. I don't know. But I do have to admit that personally, I enjoy content much more when I remember the words I saved last time!

There are several very good and free examples of "intelligent" flashcard programs. I would be happy to send you the links.

Anyway, spaced repetition or not I am enjoying improving my French on Lingq and look forward to seeing some good content for Japanese, Italian, German and maybe one day Chinese!

Rohan

[Art]

I agree with you, Steve. Massive input of a language is the key. By the way, I got this idea from you, Steve. The idea not to rely on grammar and get used to a language I got from my Arabic teacher who spoke flawless Russian.

The best means for massive input are reading and listening. But a learner should read and listen in the right way. That’s where Krashen steps up with his n+1 theory. Also concerning reading it is very important not to be distracted by dictionaries.

I was a proponent of flash cards and space repetions methods. I gave that up. For the long run I doubt the effectiveness of those methods for the language learning process. They are ok to learn small chunks of information occasionally. To me I have found a couple of problems with all this stuff. 1) The bigger your database of words is, the more time you spend repeating them no matter how mature a method of spacing the words in time is. I prefer to spend that time just to read and listen to something in English. 2) No matter how well you know words in a system and score high remembering them, in the real content the words are not recognizable. Preparing the words in context for a system helps little.

Flash cards and similar stuff would be ok for those who get little input of a language. For those who cannot get enough input to absorb words through accidental encounters in various contexts.

The massive input “method” is not in favor because it is hard to measure the progress of language learning using it, almost imposible. The amout of input spook people too, even maybe that's why people not favor this “method” – one should read and listen really that much and always a bit more than that. But at the same time, how did we get our first language?

Steve,
We have our differences (regarding grammar, etc). I did not talk about them in my comment.

Specifically, I talked about flashcards that you have already chosen to include in your system. When I read your article, I thought your opinion was that such functionality will not be developed further as it is not particularly useful. I felt that the functionality would be much more useful with a different implementation. I am glad to see from your later comment that maybe I took your statement too far and you will at least look for more effective algorithms.

Ak,
I am aware of Supermemo, Pauker and other systems. To use them effectively together with LingQ would require easy export functionality from LingQ. Otherwise, you are duplicating the efforts of collecting word lists and all the benefit is lost.

I am not sure where your scathing opinions on my earning capacity and levels of familarity with LingQ comes from, so I will not respond to that part.

[humberto]

Hi Steve:

I have been away for a while from your podcasts (and maybe also from The Linguist) as I had to come back to a Canadian college to upgrade my Venezuelan enginnering degree. I have been so busy! But, after reading this podcast and all these comments I would like to say something based on my English learning experience using The Linguist. I have not found a better language learning system than The Linguist (now Lingq) so far. I have been living in Canada for about four years. When I first came to Canada I took ESL lessons for about 14 months in a very famous Canadian ESL school. When I left the school I was unable to hold any conversation in English! Listen up! I studied in a Canadian ESL school (excelent native English speaker teachers), and more than that, I was living in an English language environment, and yet the traditional English learning method did not work out at all for me. I was frustated to tears. When I had decided to go back to my country as it would be imposibe to make a good living in Canada without speaking a "decent" English, I found The Linguist. It was as a miracle for me!. In only five months I made a major breaktrough in my English learning. The Linguist, almost inmediately, made me feel very confident regarding my English skills. I started to speak English fluently. I was also admitted in a Canadian college (Fanshawe College) after passing several English tests (including two conversational tests). After a year in this college, I am getting a diploma in Manufacturing Engineering with a GPA of 4.05 out of 4.2. I owe all my success in this college to The Linguist.
I have heard you many times saying that every person may have different ways of learning a new language.
In my case, I have no doubt that your language learning system is the best ever!
And I have to give you a lot of thanks for that!.
Now, I am getting ready to start my French studies (through the Lingq, of course!)

[Steve]

Congratulations Humberto!

That is a tremendous result. Thanks for the kind words about LingQ and The Linguist and I look forward to talking to you in French.