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Comment by monospacegames | Hacker News Reader

I'm sorry but I can't help but be critical. This seems more like an advertisement for a duolingo-for-math than a serious personal undertaking. I am not sure if this level of proficiency is something you want to boast of at the end of 1000 days of self-directed study, regardless of what level you started at. Do you think you'd be better or worse off with just doing two days a week with a personal tutor?

Also I am fairly certain that not taking a day off has hindered your progress rather than improved it. This is not a productive attitude and ritualizes the study instead of encouraging self-reflection.

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Your criticism is poorly informed. Math Academy is definitely not a "Duolingo-for-Math". As a platform it's far from perfect, but as a program it's a serious and complete secondary school to undergraduate university math program, with excellent explanations, reinforced by well-thought out exercises. It's definitely competitive with the top-rated math textbooks in each of the areas it covers.

As for the OP "not taking a day off"... for some of us ritualization is productive because it's what we need to stick with a difficult program. Maybe for you that's not the case. To each his own.

(I have my own criticisms of Math Academy: The platform should be more flexible in pacing and allow repeating sections. It should have built-in spaced-repetition features. And the company is uncommunicative and aloof. I'd be willing to overlook most of these faults at a lower price-tag, but for what they charge it really rubs me the wrong way.)

My criticism is about OP's attempt at getting better at math. I have no knowledge of or concern for the Math Academy curriculum. But reading this post obviously did not give me a favorable impression of it.

its clearly some kind of ad, not direct yet an ad

In what country do you live that a personal tutora two days a week is financial compareable ?!

I wrote it on the assumption that it would be something that OP could reasonably pay for, a possible alternate path for someone who wanted to improve at math and was willing to make an effort, specifically less of an effort than what they seem to have ended up doing in terms of time-commitment. Considering how much they value their time it may have even been more cost effective.

Do you actually have any concrete issues with Math Academy, or do just want to bitch?

So tired of posts vaguely criticizing instead of naming any tangible problems.

Math Academy is not the main subject of this post. The main subject of this post is OP's attempt at getting better at math through 1000 days of self study, in which that site is an instrument. My criticism is about how his approach may have been ineffective and may not be an ideal guide for others. It is the said ineffectiveness that made me question if his attempt was genuine.

I hope this has been clear enough for you. Let me know if you need more.

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