Android app for memorizing words

[Smarti]

Hi there
I have a mobile application for learning English, designed for Russian native speakers. It has a lot of positive feedback from Russian and Ukrainian students. And currently I'm working on multilingual version of the application. There is a link to the first version:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=club.smarti.learn.words

Why is it posted here?
I love learning languages, but I'm not linguist and do not have linguistic background.
The content of the application is prepared by professional translators, but not native speakers (except German language). Therefore, I'm not 100% sure about its correctness and I would ask you to evaluate the idea and actual implementation. Maybe you will notice some errors or typos in translations. It would be great to know your opinion. Criticism is also welcome.

The idea:
1. Provide built-in dictionary with a few thousand the most frequently used words for beginners. So they can train translation, writing and listening for these words.
2. Provide empty "My dictionary" section for more advanced learners with some special tools. Users can add words manually, copy them from the built-in dictionary, import 3rd party dictionaries, or add words from other apps on the fly. I.e. build their own vocabulary.

Note:
This is a free application, but there is limit on daily training (10 trainings per day or up to 160 words). If it's not enough, you can increase single training length in the application Settings from 16 to 99.
In the next version, I'm going to implement promo codes support and grant them for the most useful feedback.

Thank you in advance for any feedback, bug reports, ideas and feature requests!

[Serpent]

Welcome and thanks for getting in touch before posting

I haven't tested your app yet, some questions/comments:
-I'm sure you're familiar with apps like Duolingo, Memrise and maybe some older ones. Does your app use spaced repetition? If not, what kind of algorithm does it use?
-The description on google play says it can be used for learning multiple languages, while one of the screenshots says "you can change the language later". Is it possible to choose multiple languages (and is there a limit?), or does one have to switch repeatedly?
-What is a study session exactly? I assume it can cover only one language at a time. Can it cover multiple lists/topics? Can it be paused and resumed if you have to do other stuff? Any explicit limits?
Does a study session include multiple activities, or is each activity a separate session? And (separate question) can I start a Portuguese session, then pause and start a Spanish session, then go back to the Portuguese one?
-as I've told you privately, the Spanish interface seems a bit inaccurate. At the very least, the capitalization is weird. "*Las comida y bebida" is downright wrong. I also wouldn't use Los Bases for The Basics but I hope a native speaker can give some further feedback.
-the word lists themselves seem fine. Nice that each noun is explicitly listed with an article (rather than f/m for example, or no indication of grammatical gender)
-is it possible to opt out of the rating if one doesn't find it motivating?
-what are the levels based on? (beginner, elementary, pre-intermediate...)
-And 17 more languages (like Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian) with reading, writing and listening training supports. Just add your word list and exercise.
What kind of features distinguish them from a completely unsupported language? Or in other words, if someone's learning a language you don't support, can they pick any random language and create custom wordlists?

[Smarti]

Thank you!
I will try to answer all the questions:

1. Yes, there is a spaced repetition system with increasing intervals. The app remembers the words you need to repeat and it will try to test your knowledge during the next training. If you open profile page, there are several counters displaying your progress:

The main difference from Duolingo and similar apps, there is no push notifications. I.e. there is no every day reminders pushing you to open the app and repeat the words.

2. There is no any limits in language selection. You can train words for one language and than switch to another language. Learning statistics is saved separately for each language. As described above, the only limit is 10 trainings per day.


3. Any step of the training doesn't depend on the previous or next steps. So you can interrupt it at any time and do not loose current progress.
As regards the languages, you have "target" and "native" language pair. If you like you can set the second target language instead of the native one and train "target-1" / "target-2" pair. I'm not sure whether it is convenient, but you can try))

4. I will fix all the wrong translations and findings in a hour, if you say me a correct one.

5. No, it's not possible to opt out of the rating. But it's not public and nobody knows it except you.

6. Built-in dictionary is filled in accordance with word usage frequency. But as I said before, the default dictionary is for beginners, so lower levels have more words than higher levels. Because it's not possible to populate Upper-Intermediate dictionary with some universal words. I mean, all the beginners study the same set of words, but advanced students are interested in building personalized vocabulary (e.g. IT terms, legal dictionary, finance, etc.)

7. Language support
Words memorizing is achieved with translation/writing/listening trainings. For the Writing training Smarti provides special keyboard. The keyboard is specific for every language (letters, layout, ...). If there is no keyboard for the language, you can't train it.


If you like the app and would like to learn any other language (not mentioned in the list), tell me the language. I will create a keybord for it and it become "supported" language.

[Serpent]

1. Yes, there is a spaced repetition system with increasing intervals.

What is the maximal interval? I know that in Memrise it's 90 days (unless they've changed it), so once you've mastered a word you revise it every 90 days. (btw, "repeat" is not the same as "revise" in English)

2. There is no any limits in language selection. You can train words for one language and than switch to another language.

So will it count as 1 training/study session? And can you do different tasks within the same session? I mean recognition/typing/listening.
Also, can you just browse the lists and does that count as a study session?

3. Any step of the training doesn't depend on the previous or next steps. So you can interrupt it at any time and do not loose current progress.

Does that mean you can't accidentally waste a study session by clicking the wrong thing/misunderstanding an option?

As regards the languages, you have "target" and "native" language pair. If you like you can set the second target language instead of the native one and train "target-1" / "target-2" pair. I'm not sure whether it is convenient, but you can try))

Good to know. But I meant simply switching between different languages within, say, 20 minutes or so.

5. No, it's not possible to opt out of the rating. But it's not public and nobody knows it except you.

How prominently is it shown? Like, do you see it whenever you open the app?

6. Built-in dictionary is filled in accordance with word usage frequency.

Cool. Where did you get the data about the frequency from?
Thanks for the new screenshot. Is IPA only available for English?

[Smarti]

What is the maximal interval? I know that in Memrise it's 90 days (unless they've changed it), so once you've mastered a word you revise it every 90 days.

There is no limit))
Application has some default intervals: ... 2 months, 3 mo., 6 mo., 9 mo., 1 year, 1.5 y., 2y., 3y., ...
But it actually depends on your progress. If you really know the word it appears less often. If you forget it, you go a few (or many) steps back. I mean, it's not a hard coded discrete scale, but floating.

"repeat" is not the same as "revise" in English

Do you recommend to replace it with "revise" for this context?

And can you do different tasks within the same session?

You can't switch to another language in the middle of any training, you have to interrupt it to do this.
Outside of the running test you can do everything - switch languages, navigate the dictionary, add your own words.

But I meant simply switching between different languages within, say, 20 minutes or so.

There are only 2 clicks required to switch the language, so you can do it as often as you like)))

How prominently is it shown?

It's shown in Profile and at the end of training. Why you do you want to hide it?

Cool. Where did you get the data about the frequency from?

Python script + a few books + some News portals.
But this work is not complete. Where are many words and categories (like "City", "Transport", "Work") which have not been published yet. I have raw data and need to sort them, group, translate, ... A lot of work.

Is IPA only available for English?

Yes, currently it's only for English.

[Serpent]

"repeat" is not the same as "revise" in English

Do you recommend to replace it with "revise" for this context?

Yes.

And can you do different tasks within the same session?

You can't switch to another language in the middle of any training, you have to interrupt it to do this.

And do you need to leave a session unfinished and start a new one if you want to switch between recognizing and typing?
Also forgot to ask, can individual words be ignored/suspended/etc?

There are only 2 clicks required to switch the language, so you can do it as often as you like)))

If one of your languages is at the end of the list, do you have to scroll every time or are the recent choices displayed at the top?

Why you do you want to hide it?

I don't care but I think some users might find it demotivating if their ranking is low.

Python script + a few books + some News portals.
But this work is not complete. Where are many words and categories (like "City", "Transport", "Work") which have not been published yet. I have raw data and need to sort them, group, translate, ... A lot of work.

Oh, so you generated your own lists. Did you generate the English one and translate the rest?
What kind of books did you use? By news portals do you mean sites like BBC and CNN?

[Smarti]

Thank you. Changed the button label to "revise".

And do you need to leave a session unfinished and start a new one if you want to switch between recognizing and typing?

Correct

Also forgot to ask, can individual words be ignored/suspended/etc?

If we are talking about the built-in dictionary, there is no way to exclude a word. But if it's your own list of words, you can delete the word or move to another dictionary. I know, some users create "Well known" list and move mastered words to that list.

If one of your languages is at the end of the list, do you have to scroll every time or are the recent choices displayed at the top?

OK, two clicks and one optional scroll))

Oh, so you generated your own lists. Did you generate the English one and translate the rest?
What kind of books did you use? By news portals do you mean sites like BBC and CNN?

Yes, BBC and a few less famous sites. As for books, I do not remember the exact titles, but it was something modern. Other languages contains the same list of translated words.

[Serpent]

Thanks for clarifying!

And do you need to leave a session unfinished and start a new one if you want to switch between recognizing and typing?

Correct

Ok, I think I'm starting to get it. So you can start multiple sessions and pause/resume them, but every task (recognition/listening etc) applied to every section of the dictionary is a separate session. Right?

Sounds like the words from the built-in dictionary can't be moved to the "known" list?

[Smarti]

Ok, I think I'm starting to get it. So you can start multiple sessions and pause/resume them, but every task (recognition/listening etc) applied to every section of the dictionary is a separate session. Right?

Everything is much easier

Example:
- Opened the app
- Navigated to the required list of words (built-in or your own)
- Started a Listening training and completed it
- Switched to another language
- Navigated to another list of words
- Passed a few tests for Writing
...

Actually, there are less limits than you imagine

[Serpent]

And will that be two study sessions? Regardless of whether the words are in the same language or not?