First of all, I really enjoy the site, and am glad that someone is taking strides to make language learning more enjoyable and affordable. I'm hoping it will put scams like Rosetta Stone out of business (not likely, but I can dream).
My question is regarding the method of teaching. I understand that the site is dependent on translations for revenue, but many people (including myself) believe that translations can be harmful in language learning after a certain extent. It is important to create your target language as a separate entity in your mind, rather than entangling it with English. Also, how do you plan to incorporate languages that are almost impossible to directly translate? I feel like the current model has limited itself to its current offerings (the romance languages and German. Although Scandanavian languages could work.)
For example, the direct Russian translation of the formal "hello" is "Be healthy!" These kinds of things are all over the language. I imagine it is even worse for east Asian languages like Mandarin and Japanese, which are among the most popular for learners.
Any comment on this method of teaching and its incorporation into languages that aren't necessarily translatable to English?
CapslockEngaged12340 karma
First of all, I really enjoy the site, and am glad that someone is taking strides to make language learning more enjoyable and affordable. I'm hoping it will put scams like Rosetta Stone out of business (not likely, but I can dream).
My question is regarding the method of teaching. I understand that the site is dependent on translations for revenue, but many people (including myself) believe that translations can be harmful in language learning after a certain extent. It is important to create your target language as a separate entity in your mind, rather than entangling it with English. Also, how do you plan to incorporate languages that are almost impossible to directly translate? I feel like the current model has limited itself to its current offerings (the romance languages and German. Although Scandanavian languages could work.)
For example, the direct Russian translation of the formal "hello" is "Be healthy!" These kinds of things are all over the language. I imagine it is even worse for east Asian languages like Mandarin and Japanese, which are among the most popular for learners.
Any comment on this method of teaching and its incorporation into languages that aren't necessarily translatable to English?
Keep up the good work!
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