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Comment on You can now translate sign language automatically with these amazing Raspberry Pi glasses in ~tech
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Comment on Why it’s time to stop worrying about the decline of the English language in ~humanities.languages
Hello Link ParentDo you have any examples? I have some familiarity with sign language linguistics and am unaware of any sign language in widespread use today that could be classified as a conlang.Do you have any examples? I have some familiarity with sign language linguistics and am unaware of any sign language in widespread use today that could be classified as a conlang.
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Comment on Dad jokes - I'm in need of something fresh in ~life.men
Hello Link ParentI don't understand the second one. Is it important to know some fact about George Michael to get the joke? I've never heard of him before.I don't understand the second one. Is it important to know some fact about George Michael to get the joke? I've never heard of him before.
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Comment on Russian President Vladimir Putin says prosecution of Donald Trump shows US political system is 'rotten' in ~society
Hello LinkGot it, so prosecuting a political rival is rotten, but poisoning them with Novichok is just fine.Got it, so prosecuting a political rival is rotten, but poisoning them with Novichok is just fine.
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Comment on She wasn't able to get an abortion. Now she's a mom. At 13 years old, soon she'll start 7th grade. in ~life.women
Hello Link ParentI agree with the overall thrust of your post, but I'm just curious about the legal ramifications if the father is also under the age of consent. If two 13 year olds have sex with each other, and...I agree with the overall thrust of your post, but I'm just curious about the legal ramifications if the father is also under the age of consent. If two 13 year olds have sex with each other, and neither is able to consent, does that mean that they were both raped?
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Comment on Grand jury in the US state of Georgia returns indictments in Donald Trump 2020 election case in ~society
Hello Link ParentRules are usually created in reaction to a situation, and since this is a fairly unprecedented situation in the US it's not surprising that rules haven't caught up with it yet. That being said, I...Rules are usually created in reaction to a situation, and since this is a fairly unprecedented situation in the US it's not surprising that rules haven't caught up with it yet.
That being said, I think disqualification just based on being indicted (not criminally convicted) would run afoul of the principles of due process and innocent-until-proven-guilty.
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Comment on The actual danger from AI is mostly not what is getting talked about in ~tech
Hello LinkSo the article says that misalignment and reinforcing bias are minor problems that are not in the same league as COVID-19 and nuclear weapons. But then the problem that is in the same league as...So the article says that misalignment and reinforcing bias are minor problems that are not in the same league as COVID-19 and nuclear weapons. But then the problem that is in the same league as those is that people will become too lazy to use their judgement skills?
To me, that seems like a problem in the same league as every other invention that has made people "lazier". The invention of the printing press made people too lazy to memorize stories that had previously been passed down orally. The invention of the calculator made people too lazy to do calculations mentally or on a piece of paper. The invention of the car made people too lazy to walk. The invention of lawn mowers made people too lazy to develop their scythe skills.
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Comment on Without saying where you live, where do you live? in ~talk
Hello Link ParentThe US isn't the only place in the world, could also be the Sahara.The US isn't the only place in the world, could also be the Sahara.
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Comment on Without saying where you live, where do you live? in ~talk
Hello Link ParentI've known some BBQ snobs who say that if the meat is cooked properly then it doesn't need any sauce, and the purpose of sauce is just to mask the flavor of poorly-cooked meat. (I'm not one of...It's the sauce that makes a good BBQ
I've known some BBQ snobs who say that if the meat is cooked properly then it doesn't need any sauce, and the purpose of sauce is just to mask the flavor of poorly-cooked meat.
(I'm not one of them, but it goes to show how controversial BBQ opinions are)
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Comment on Megathread for news/updates/discussion of ChatGPT and other AI chatbots in ~tech
Hello Link ParentTo be fair, it's probably a human-complete task too. If everyone around you is convinced the president died of a spontaneous combustion, then it's likely you will be too.To be fair, it's probably a human-complete task too. If everyone around you is convinced the president died of a spontaneous combustion, then it's likely you will be too.
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Comment on I'm working on an app for learning Chinese, anyone interested in helping me test it? in ~tech
Hello Link ParentI think I've fixed this now, but if you see it again let me know. Thanks again!I think I've fixed this now, but if you see it again let me know. Thanks again!
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Comment on I'm working on an app for learning Chinese, anyone interested in helping me test it? in ~tech
Hello Link ParentHey, thanks for the suggestions! Good point. I'll consider adding a raw APK link to the home page at some point, but in the meantime you can try this:...Hey, thanks for the suggestions!
Though, I do have an Android device, I do not have access to the Google play store. It would be nice if there was just an APK download.
Good point. I'll consider adding a raw APK link to the home page at some point, but in the meantime you can try this:
http://data.dong-chinese.com/apk/dong-chinese.apk
I just uploaded it now, so I haven't actually verified yet whether or not it will function correctly. I think everything should work normally, except that I'm pretty sure that the log-in with Google function will not work since this APK file isn't signed with the Google play key.
That way the second 是 can't be copied from the revealed 是 if the first one is skipped.
If the user writes the first 是 incorrectly, it will be already be marked as incorrect for that sentence and they won't get any credit for writing the second one correctly. Given that, I don't see any harm in letting them copy from the revealed character.
As I find I learn better when I have to type it, and it's more fulfilling.
That's something I'll consider, the only thing I'm worried about is people who don't have a Chinese keyboard installed and don't know how to input characters in a text field. By default I'll probably leave it as it is now, but maybe I'll add an option in the settings to enable something like that.
Are there any plans for a listening section?
I have thought about it a number of times, but there are a few details that make me unsure of how to design it properly.
- How to make a listening exercise where you can't "cheat" by reading. If I have a fill-in-the-blank exercise with visible characters, the user can just read them without having to listen. The only thing I've thought of is multiple-choice where you have to listen to each option, but I suspect that it would be rather tedious for the user.
- How will listening progress interact with reading/writing progress. Right now, if you only write characters, it will also increase your reading scores because you can probably read a character if you can write it. The reverse is not true - doing reading exercises will not increase writing scores. I'm not sure whether or not listening should be treated as a completely separate skill.
Thanks again for the feedback, I really appreciate it!
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Comment on I'm working on an app for learning Chinese, anyone interested in helping me test it? in ~tech
Hello Link ParentHi, thanks for the comments. Just a few things I'm having trouble reproducing or confused about: I just tried taking a test and canceled it midway. When I started it again it started afresh from...Hi, thanks for the comments. Just a few things I'm having trouble reproducing or confused about:
Cancelling the test midway and the restarting doesn't seem possible.
I just tried taking a test and canceled it midway. When I started it again it started afresh from the beginning.
Were you expecting it to start in the middle from where you canceled it before?Would prefer entering a full sentence instead of one word at a time, which I find really slow
I'm not sure I envision what this would look like. You would write the characters small enough to write the whole sentence in the box?
Might be nice to be able to skip a single word and not the entire writing question.
Are you talking about the test? If you tap skip during the writing test it only skips one character (and marks it as wrong).
Suggestion - maybe add ability for someone to write a quick explanation or fix sentence when sending feedback if they choose
In the feedback form there's an "other reason" text field where you can write anything. Did you have something else in mind?
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Comment on I'm working on an app for learning Chinese, anyone interested in helping me test it? in ~tech
Hello Link ParentOh, yes that's an issue. I know why it's happening, it should be a fairly simple fixOh, yes that's an issue. I know why it's happening, it should be a fairly simple fix
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10 things I learned about ancient China from studying Chinese characters
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Comment on I'm working on an app for learning Chinese, anyone interested in helping me test it? in ~tech
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Comment on I'm working on an app for learning Chinese, anyone interested in helping me test it? in ~tech
Hello Link ParentThere are a number of differences that I think set apart my app from other apps for learning Chinese: Full sentences: A lot of apps are basically flashcards that drill memorization of individual...There are a number of differences that I think set apart my app from other apps for learning Chinese:
- Full sentences: A lot of apps are basically flashcards that drill memorization of individual words, but don't show how words are used in full context. Dong Chinese searches for full sentences containing the vocabulary that has been introduced to you and quizzes you on them. Similarly, most apps that have handwriting practice only drill individual characters, but when you do writing on Dong Chinese, you have to write complete sentences.
- Based on frequency statistics: many apps introduce vocabulary either thematically or according to HSK word lists. Dong Chinese introduces words based on frequency, so that you learn the most common words first.
- Data-based progress reports: Dong Chinese is the only app I know of that will estimate the percentage of characters in books and movie subtitles that you understand, and show graphs of your progress over time.
- Media recommendation: Dong Chinese recommends things to watch that are comprehensible to you based on what words you know.
- Explanations of character origins: When a new character is introduced to you, it explains how the character is formed and what its component parts are.
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Comment on I'm working on an app for learning Chinese, anyone interested in helping me test it? in ~tech
Hello Link ParentAs Fierre said, the simple answer is that it means "understand" in Chinese, but actually I wrote a blog post about this topic.As Fierre said, the simple answer is that it means "understand" in Chinese, but actually I wrote a blog post about this topic.
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Comment on I'm working on an app for learning Chinese, anyone interested in helping me test it? in ~tech
Hello Link ParentI tried to implement some spaced repetition concepts. It does remember the history of when you last saw a character, and whether or not you got it right or wrong, and makes decisions based on...I tried to implement some spaced repetition concepts. It does remember the history of when you last saw a character, and whether or not you got it right or wrong, and makes decisions based on that. One challenge that makes it more complicated than Anki flashcards is that I show full sentences instead of individual words, and the user will have a different "readiness" for each of the words in the sentence. Also, when I introduce a new word, I want the user to see it in more than one sentence so they can see how it's used in different contexts, but at the same time I don't want it to be too repetitive. Anyways I'll see if I can tweak my sentence selection algorithm some to add more variety.
When you tap on a character twice it will show a gloss (short definition), which might or might not match the context of the sentence. If you tap it again it will show the dictionary entry with more details and all the different meanings.
I'm writing down a note about the "Don't cancel"/"Cancel" - that's an easy change I can make quickly. Did you notice anything else like that?
For example one test it gave me was just asking how to write different numbers, which is probably HSK 1 - HSK 2 level content, if that.
Had you done a writing proficiency test? Writing and reading are treated as separate skills (for example you can be a beginner in writing and advanced in reading). If you are a beginner, numbers are the first thing it will introduce to you, so it sounds like it started you from the beginning in writing.
If you only do writing it will actually increase your reading score, since it assumes that you are able to read a character if you can write it, but it doesn't work the other way around - being able to read a character doesn't mean you can write it.
And thanks for all the feedback! I really appreciate it - it's very useful to me.
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Comment on I'm working on an app for learning Chinese, anyone interested in helping me test it? in ~tech
Hello Link ParentWow, thanks so much for all you feedback! It would be interesting to see the difference between the strokes you make and the font strokes. For the writing part I'm using a nifty open source...Wow, thanks so much for all you feedback!
It would be interesting to see the difference between the strokes you make and the font strokes. For the writing part I'm using a nifty open source library for matching the user's strokes to the characters. I've suggested a few improvements there in the past that they've made. I'll think about suggesting an option to see the user's strokes.
It is true that some of the sentences are off, sometimes the translation doesn't quite match or the Chinese or English isn't completely grammatical. The sentences come from a variety of sources varying in quality. For example, the sentences that come from UN documents are usually accurate, but not very interesting, whereas sentences that come from movie subtitles are more interesting but often not very accurate. I've used some tools to try to filter out the worst matches, but in such a large corpus it's hard to capture everything. I hope to gradually improve it through feedback though - you can flag bad sentences, and I will periodically review them and edit or delete them.
Yes, the spaced repetition is a good point, I'll mention more details about that in response to the other comment.
I also thought about adding grammar explanations, and introducing them to the user as they encountered new patterns. I was starting to work on a tool to analyze sentences and try to automatically identify what grammar concepts it uses, and keep track of what the user has seen before, but it was a rather ambitious project that I set aside so I could focus on the media section more. Hopefully I can get back to it sometime in the future. My favorite resource for Chinese grammar is the Chinese Grammar Wiki on AllSet Learning - they might have explanations for some of the words you saw.
I also lived in China for a while and am familiar with the VPN issues. I wanted to find a different way to embed videos without having to host them all on my server and create my own video player, but unfortunately I couldn't find any good options other than YouTube. I am curious though, other than the videos, does the rest of the app function correctly without turning on the VPN? I made the decision to not use Google products in a few instances precisely for this reason, for example I the Microsoft text-to-speech API instead of Google's, and I doesn't use any scripts hosted by Google (except for YouTube :( )
I would love to also release it on iOS, but Apple app store is a bit trickier and costly, and I'll need an Apple computer and an Apple developer license in order to publish there. In the meantime, hopefully the web version is usable enough.
Thanks again for all your feedback! I really appreciate it.
Not sure who the intended users of this would be. This apparently only work with fingerspelled letters, which is a tiny part of sign language, so it could only work if somebody communicated entirely by fingerspelling every single word, which pretty much nobody ever does because ain't nobody got time for that. Saying that you can "translate sign language" with these glasses is about as exaggerated as saying you can "translate Chinese" if you know pinyin.
After watching the demo video, it looks even more useless, because it looks like the hand has to be held in position rather carefully and held for a fairly long duration, which will be hopeless for understanding Deaf people who tend to fingerspell very rapidly and use a lot of shortcuts.