Is all this capital, energy and opportunity cost really worth displacing tutors who are already pretty cheap and demonstrably effective? I put AI language apps somewhere near fad diets, in that they appeal to the convenience mindset.
Launch HN: Issen (YC F24) – Personal AI language tutor
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Re: Launch HN: Issen (YC F24) – Personal AI language tutor
#52I tried the Web Version. Started, then tried to create an account, but it kept looping, informing me that my email address does not exist in your system. Well, the “Create New Account” got kicked off and gets me in a loop of “Do not Exist”. I just went through the whole process again, and I'm back to the beginning. I’m going to assume this works better on the App.
Unclear what issue you hit, we'll look into it. Thanks for sharing.
Re: Launch HN: Issen (YC F24) – Personal AI language tutor
#53Edit: Never mind it seems to be an issue on my device. The faq wont expand on tap for me on android firefox. Dm me if you need more info. Looks like a great app and I can't wait to try it for Japanese! Can the cards be exported to anki?
Exporting to Anki is something we're currently discussing, as various users have already requested this feature!
Re: Launch HN: Issen (YC F24) – Personal AI language tutor
#54It would probably be better to pick one or two languages, actually work with native speakers to make sure it's right.
These "we cover every single language" tools get it like 75% right at best.
Re: Launch HN: Issen (YC F24) – Personal AI language tutor
#55I'm a second-gen Korean-American; my korean is weak but conversational. I am intrigued by the reasoning model that analyzes my speech and points out various mistakes I'm making. It's a good first attempt at separating the 2 tracks of actual conversation vs mistake-correcting.
I think showing the raw reasoning text is not quite the right UI; maybe highlighting the specific text in red and showing a suggested correction would work better?
It's also a little awkward that the conversation is live; I don't really have any breathing room to read the reasoning traces on what mistakes I made / could have done better. I hung up the first time I tried to figure out how to pause.
Re: Launch HN: Issen (YC F24) – Personal AI language tutor
#56The ChatGPT mobile app in hands-free voice conversation mode works quite well for language practice with one important call-out: you have to give it a topic at the beginning otherwise it won't be able to drive the conversation forward and will stick to banal pleasantries.
What I usually do is pick a random blurb in the news and paste the entire thing along with the Reuters link at the beginning and inform ChatGPT that we'll be carrying on language practice specifically over that topic of discussion.
I've used this to carry an hour long foreign language practice in Spanish while walking my husky. Just put the phone in my pocket and go. If you're an intermediate/advanced learner, it's a pretty decent solution.
In fact, you can actually instruct ChatGPT that you are going to speak in your native language, but ChatGPT is only allowed to respond in the target language if you just want to focus on practicing listening comprehension.
I'd be interested in hearing how significantly improved Issen is over this.
Re: Launch HN: Issen (YC F24) – Personal AI language tutor
#57Thanks for working on this! Language learning really needs a breakthrough. Now, I tried the web app and chose to learn Greek as a beginner. And while I had better experience with your app than with ChatGPT or Gemini voice modes, I still got lost 5 minutes in because the AI tutor doesn't seem to have a plan for me, nor does it "see" my struggles. For example, after asking me about a hobby, it gives me a long sentence…
I think the point here is for you to practice (i.e. develop "muscle memory" for speaking), not to learn.
Re: Launch HN: Issen (YC F24) – Personal AI language tutor
#58Thanks for working on this! Language learning really needs a breakthrough. Now, I tried the web app and chose to learn Greek as a beginner. And while I had better experience with your app than with ChatGPT or Gemini voice modes, I still got lost 5 minutes in because the AI tutor doesn't seem to have a plan for me, nor does it "see" my struggles. For example, after asking me about a hobby, it gives me a long sentence…
I paid for Memrise to polish up French. The scripted lessons alwere great but it dropped me into an AI conversation assistant that did exactly the same. It forgot the vocab and grammar level that the scripted lessons had taught, and often broke into idiom. I haven't picked it up since.
Re: Launch HN: Issen (YC F24) – Personal AI language tutor
#59I appreciate your comment about gamification. I’ve kept a streak alive on other apps for no other reason than keeping a streak alive. Not learning a thing.
Yeah, this is the biggest gripe we hear about much of the existing language learning landscape. That they're effectively gaming apps masked as language learning apps.
Re: Launch HN: Issen (YC F24) – Personal AI language tutor
#60Alright, having tried this with Japanese I can say it's frustrating. As a near complete beginner the tutor kept speaking in Japanese even when I said "sorry I don't understand" repeatedly and then when I asked it to start in English and then gradually transition to Japanese it lasted all of one sentence in English before switching back. I can totally see how this would be useful conversation practice if you've progre…
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