Show HN: Learn Chinese - fun, fast and effective | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Learn Chinese - fun, fast and effective

I've recently launched a startup called Native Tongue. Our vision is to make language learning fun, fast and effective.

We've released our first product "Mandarin Madness", which is to learn Mandarin Chinese vocabulary. Its available on android and iOS. Its for beginners to intermediate, including those with no experience.

Please go here for more information and to download the app: http://mandarinmadness.com/

Our company website is http://nativetongue.com/

We would love to get some feedback on our mobile apps. We would also like to speak to people interested in language learning and education.

Thanks!

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Congrats - it looks like a great app.

I like your approach to repetition, the design looks engaging and the fixed scope of the app makes it seem more accessible (learn 230 words for the price).

Is this your first app? How long did it take to develop? What's your coding experience? (I checked your about page first, but if you have time I'd be interested in this, too)

Xie xie!

thanks!

We feel that if you can progress through each stage (which contains 15 levels each) and get to the end of all 3 stages (45 levels), you will have learnt the words pretty well. Right now, we're focused on teaching vocabulary.

Glad you like the design and pricing point as well. We want to make it affordable.

Yes, its the first app we've developed. We've been working on it since September 2011 and released on android first.

I don't have much coding experience. My role is business and operations. One of my co-founders has worked on mobile development previously at a sports mobile application startup.

I see that you are also involved with languages. Would be great to speak to you.

The app looks nice! :) Have you checked out DuoLingo? Seems to be running on a similar but slightly different idea.

I've heard of DuoLingo, its a great concept. Really good intro video on the home page too.

Language learning is ripe for disruption. Rosetta Stone sucks. Pimsleur is just okay but can be improved.

Yes, we believe the same thing about disrupting the language learning market!

There are a lot of well known products out there like Rosetta Stone but there are opportunities for startups to create more compelling and entertaining products at lower price points. We really wanted to create something that was also fun and addictive to play which is different to traditional language learning products.

I like Memrise, but I don't know if it's disruptive as much as it is convenient. It does similar things to Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur (though I think it's more effective). Spaced repetition, pronunciation, quizzes, diverse methods of testing your understanding. It's gamified with leaderboards and points.

I don't work there, I just use it, but I think it's great for non-tonal languages (as in, it doesn't do Mandarin great).

I've checked out Memrise for the first time. I like how it teaches you and then question you to see if you've memorised it. Adding game elements also helps to make language learning more engaging. The difference with our app is that it was built as a game and you learn the language as a by product and we're primarily focused on mobile.

A short video of the app in action would be nice. Looks like a great concept.

We're planning on doing a demo video which will showcase the app, which we'll post on the website and on this forum.

ah great to see more startups launched focused on educational apps for a change

The education sector has tremendous opportunities for disruption and startups in this area are able to make a difference at the same time.

We can make a change in the way people learn and at Native Tongue we're also creating a more connected world as more people learn a new language that allows them to communicate with other people. That's what keeps me motivated!

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