Hi guys, Yes, I have been away a long time. I've been taking care of a lot of stuff... A lot of it good stuff, that I look forward to sharing with you, but there's some not so great stuff as well. However, if you miss my gorgeous face, I did record a video with Laura from Couch Polyglot. It's in Swedish (with English subtitles) and my Swedish is kind of rusty because April was the last time I really had any exposure to it. Laura's Swedish is super good for how long she's been studying... Anyway, here it is:
Yes, I know it's going to get "better". But it's not making us better. I recently had the time of my life in the UK filming a video that AI will soon be able to do "for me". But ask yourself... is AI doing it for me or does it GET to do it, instead of me?
Duolingo never worked before. If it did, millions of people around the globe would be fluent in languages that they didn't know before. But that hasn't happened, because it doesn't work. But now, Duo is openly stepping into the elements of it that do not work and doing more of what its users don't like and don't need. It is also charging an obscene 30 USD a month for the "privilege" of these features; features for which there is no evidence as to the efficacy of. Their most genius business strategy was the streak. It says "You're not learning if you're not using our product." Why do you think they are so lenient on you about what constitutes a streak? You don't want to lose it but they REALLY don't want you to lose it, because it might mean they lose your business. The streak is the reason that Duolingo is now worth $24 billion (with a B) rather than what is actually worth to its users: nothing.
In short: Duolingo was never great, but it was free. But it's now a terrible app that will not teach you a language, you don't like using and you mightn't even be able to afford. Prove me wrong.
OK this is niche but I generally work best to a certain kind of music, and I find that a lot of "lo-fi" (i.e. study/work music), is a bit too upbeat for my taste, and changes far too often. So when I heard the music in the credits of "Glaskupan", I decided to throw together a study track aka lo-fi track out of it. I forgot to drop the volume but you can always do that yourself by just turning YouTube or the browser down. So for anyone who likes their study/chill/immersion tracks to be that little bit dark, I made this for you:
I just picture Louise's responses to what she was up to that day. "Oh, you were recording. What kind of songs?" "Well, one's in Swedish, written by an Australian guy. And the other one is an American song written by an Italian and arranged by an Australian. We recorded this in Somerset, UK... obviously."
Days and Words
Days and Words
Hi guys,
Yes, I have been away a long time. I've been taking care of a lot of stuff... A lot of it good stuff, that I look forward to sharing with you, but there's some not so great stuff as well.
However, if you miss my gorgeous face, I did record a video with Laura from Couch Polyglot.
It's in Swedish (with English subtitles) and my Swedish is kind of rusty because April was the last time I really had any exposure to it. Laura's Swedish is super good for how long she's been studying... Anyway, here it is:
https://youtu.be/DJc4dzHZdIc
1 day ago | [YT] | 7
View 5 replies
Days and Words
Some of you guys might have seen this video. One quote from it:
"A study from MIT showed that people who use LLMs tend to have less brain activity."
https://youtu.be/6aVRQDKJ9Dg
Ya don't say...
2 months ago | [YT] | 21
View 6 replies
Days and Words
Yes, I know it's going to get "better". But it's not making us better.
I recently had the time of my life in the UK filming a video that AI will soon be able to do "for me". But ask yourself... is AI doing it for me or does it GET to do it, instead of me?
https://youtu.be/Io3zZQIDkSE?t=58
3 months ago | [YT] | 20
View 5 replies
Days and Words
Duolingo never worked before. If it did, millions of people around the globe would be fluent in languages that they didn't know before. But that hasn't happened, because it doesn't work.
But now, Duo is openly stepping into the elements of it that do not work and doing more of what its users don't like and don't need. It is also charging an obscene 30 USD a month for the "privilege" of these features; features for which there is no evidence as to the efficacy of.
Their most genius business strategy was the streak. It says "You're not learning if you're not using our product." Why do you think they are so lenient on you about what constitutes a streak?
You don't want to lose it but they REALLY don't want you to lose it, because it might mean they lose your business.
The streak is the reason that Duolingo is now worth $24 billion (with a B) rather than what is actually worth to its users: nothing.
In short: Duolingo was never great, but it was free. But it's now a terrible app that will not teach you a language, you don't like using and you mightn't even be able to afford. Prove me wrong.
4 months ago | [YT] | 66
View 95 replies
Days and Words
OK this is niche but I generally work best to a certain kind of music, and I find that a lot of "lo-fi" (i.e. study/work music), is a bit too upbeat for my taste, and changes far too often.
So when I heard the music in the credits of "Glaskupan", I decided to throw together a study track aka lo-fi track out of it. I forgot to drop the volume but you can always do that yourself by just turning YouTube or the browser down.
So for anyone who likes their study/chill/immersion tracks to be that little bit dark, I made this for you:
https://youtu.be/nSnGgQoCVh0
Enjoy, and let me know if you'd be interested in more of this sort of stuff. Future mixes will be better than this quick edit.
4 months ago | [YT] | 12
View 4 replies
Days and Words
QUESTIONS????
I'm with Ben from @Refold . Ask your language learning* questions and we'll both give our takes on them.
*Questions can also be about Magic: The Gathering, Icelandic film music or Beethoven and we'll probably have a go at answering them too.
5 months ago | [YT] | 41
View 33 replies
Days and Words
I just picture Louise's responses to what she was up to that day.
"Oh, you were recording. What kind of songs?"
"Well, one's in Swedish, written by an Australian guy. And the other one is an American song written by an Italian and arranged by an Australian. We recorded this in Somerset, UK... obviously."
5 months ago | [YT] | 62
View 0 replies
Days and Words
That weather tho...
5 months ago | [YT] | 85
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