Всем привет and welcome back to another Tip Thursday with me Conor Clyne this
is the Tsar Experience and in this video we're gonna be discussing LingQ it's
a software program I'm using to help me with my vocabulary and learning
vocabulary with Ukrainian in particular I'm speaking to you from Odessa in the
Ukraine earlier in the year I was learning Ukrainian in Lviv which is in
the west of the country and I used LingQ their software program to help me with
Ukrainian while I was there a little bit so let's get into today's video drop the intro. Boom!
So LingQ it was created by my good friend fellow polyglot Steve Kaufmann who's
actually from Canada in British Columbia I did a few videos with Steve in his
office we discussed lots about his influences what influenced him of course
to create this platform and he is a huge fan of Dr. Stephen Krashen's work now Dr.
Stephen Krashen has published a lot of research about what he calls the
comprehensible input method now that basically involves getting a lot of
input which is like listening to a lot of content in your target language of
the language you're learning also reading a lot of it and with that you
basically and start to absorb a lot of words in the structures and it's a
necessary step if you're actually going to be able to learn the language
effectively it's called comprehensible input because
you need to be able to understand enough of the language in order to get some value
from it if it's too difficult basically and you have to keep looking up words you
don't understand for the context then it's too hard and you won't actually
learn effectively but the opposite is true if it's too easy then you don't
really learn anything new from it so you need to be challenging yourself so need
to be just a little bit too difficult there is some discussion about what
percentage of comprehension is optimal I'm not gonna go into that it could be
70% it could be 90% so that's actually what Steve has used and integrated onto
the platform when he designed LingQ it actually goes through all four competences
which are reading writing listening and speaking today it did start off with
just mainly input in that sense that you could actually just listen and read now
it actually comes with all four of them and basically that's what Steve has
designed so enough of me rambling on about the theory in the background let's get into
actually showing you how LingQ itself works as a platform and why you should
consider maybe taking a look at it as well so what are the pros and cons of
using link it's definitely very effective
for remembering vocabulary because you're reading so much and you're
getting to see exactly the words that you already know and the ones that you
don't and then basically the software brings those words back up to you in
context periodically so that you don't forget them so that's a really really
big advantage and that stuff is the best I've seen from a platform in order to do
that so this has been the core of what the system is about the fact that
they've added an option that you can actually book a tutor through the
platform is also great because then you don't have to go to another platform and
that makes it more like a one-stop shop as I was saying that they haven't quite
got there yet but I still think that's a nice add-on
I'm really encourage that you get a tutor to help you at all this because all
these software programs matter what it is even if using something Duolingo
which I'm not a fan of I think it's just a gimmick but no matter what it is
whether it's one of these programs like here we're reviewing the LingQ of course
but it's even the other ones that I have on my channel yet you've seen they will
help you different parts and all of them add something to you but they're all
complementary you know there's no substitute for going out there and
speaking to real people and if you don't have those around you all the time like
I'm here in Odessa in Ukraine so I can actually speak Russian non-stop if I
want to but even then a tutor is really helpful for just fine-tuning things and
I really encourage that you go and do that so the fact that LingQ is moving
towards that kind of having everything integrated as I said now they have you
know an option of writing listening and speaking of course with the tutor in
addition to the original main strength of the platform is great and I think
that's another reason for you to look at it so I think that's a big pro for the
site now the cons honestly it can be bit boring unless you've got the right content
that's really interesting for you that's always a tricky thing because I don't
think you should really spend a lot of time working on something that's not super
interesting for you because you'll just get bored and then not be motivated I always
think that what makes you come back and do that exercise again the next day is
actually the most useful for you so even if it's not technically the most
effective in terms of vocabulary it would still be better to keep you
motivated and at times through these platforms you know I'm just not feeling
it and I think that's maybe where gamification could come in with all
these points and lingqs and I know that's what fuels a lot of the popularity of
Duolingo for example and that's something that I find a big
gimmicky but if it helps you then yeah it helps you motivates you to come back
then go for it also found the platform not very matter in terms of its
interface in terms of the graphics and stuff that's just my taste and I think a
lot of other sites just are just aesthetically a lot more pleasing to use
than the current version of LingQ and I'm speaking to of course in September 2018
so just bear that in mind it may have gotten more aesthetically pleasing nicer
on the eye bit more modern in the meantime and always these platforms are
of course complementary as I saying that's not really a negative is just
something to bear in mind when you're making a decision so it definitely
helped me overall with learning Ukrainian which is what I was using for
when I was in Lviv and especially with reading that really helped because it's a
different alphabet I wasn't so used to having to read in Ukrainian when I
was there so just bear all that in mind when you're making analysis and of
course I have it linked below so go and check it out.
So big question is do I recommend LingQ? Now I outlined the pros and cons to using the platform and
I see it more as a complementary product then something that you can use you know
as a one-stop shop for learning languages. I did say they have expanded it to
include other elements and language learning away from its original input
print method I just seen reading but I still think that's a strong point
that's a strong suit we're going forward they may actually spend on those
elements like speaking listening and of course writing and then it can really
become just a one platform so it has a membership plan you can go check it out
I have a link of course in the description so go how to take a look at
it if it's you you go use it especially if you plan to read a lot or maybe at
that intermediate phase and I think it's really really really strong I used it
for Ukrainian when I was starting out but I do speak intermediate Russian so I
was able to understand a reasonable amount of Ukrainian written so it did help me
but I think your a complete beginner then I might be a little bit more difficult
so just bear all that in mind that's the end of today's video if you have used
LingQ then let us all know in the comments section below because it helps everybody
out not just listening to me but also your thoughts and if you have your own
personal experience please share it below and if you enjoyed this video
big thumbs up strike the like button and if you're not a subscriber
squeeze that red subscribe button and whack the notification bell so that
you're notified whenever I upload a new video here on YouTube and boy do I have
lots more exciting videos coming for you in the next few weeks I've got
lots of great content coming from here so many videos gonna have my final
travel vlogs and then I will be traveling a bit more here in Ukraine and
maybe back to Belarus let's see what happens so that's it and I will see all
of your smiling enthusiastic faces for Eastern Europe
soon in the next video it's до побачення and до свидания from Odessa, Ukraine. Ciao!