sharp11

I recommend https://supercocoapp.com - it’s my app, so I’m biased, but it has great content and one of the few apps that really focuses on listening and speaking.

Ok, thanks. Sounds like you are not a fan of mixins! :)

I’m curious to know why... Looks like typical mixin pattern, no?

If you object to high CEO compensation for large NGOs, support small NGOs. They are typically run on a shoe-string, and the leaders are idealists who are definitely not in it for the money. One of my favorites is the Alliance for Tompotika (http://tompotika.org), run by a true visionary and very effective.

One of my favorite initiatives is the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund [1]. They identify ecological hotspots and convene (and fund) a diverse team of local organizations. If you read their description, you'll see that they view sustainable development for humans as an integral part of nature conservation. IMO, this is now the mainstream view among most conservation NGOs. (Twenty years ago, perhaps, it was not; but it is now.)

[1] https://www.cepf.net/our-work

Support conservation orgs. The best ones are not just focused on nature but on sustainable systems that include humans.

Always love to be in touch with like-minded folks. Let me know how to contact you. My email is in my profile.

I feel that we're alive at a unique moment in human history, when humanity must either "figure out" how to live sustainably on a finite planet or suffer the consequences. It's a daunting but wonderful challenge. I can't imagine living at this time and not being part of this project.

For the past (almost) 15 years, contributing in some way to this project has been my "mission". In that time, I've experienced the highs of having an important purpose; and the lows of not achieving enough; and burnout.

After having worked on various projects (climate, ecological footprint, bikes, etc.), I've come to be focused on one aspect that has particular resonance for me: biodiversity conservation. This blends my higher (intellectually motivated) purpose with my selfish desire to enjoy and preserve what I love most in the world. I find this combination is the most sustainable for me personally.

Using low-contrast elements to create hierarchy looks nice, but bear in mind that it breaks accessibility for many low-vision users.

Title is clickbait. There's no how; the article is simply a history of "molly" bars in England. When suppression became intense, the bars disappeared.

Michael Nielsen also has a really nice, accessible series of intro videos: http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/quantum-computing-for-the-det...

Lots of food for thought in this article, but the part I find most interesting is his distinction between "soft" and "hard" forks. (Viz., are you "forking" in order to collaborate or in order to go your own way?)

If collaborate, it would be nice to lower the barrier to participation ... more like Wikipedia. I know that I often don't bother to submit a PR for small changes bc of the overhead of setup. Whereas I fairly often make small edits to Wikipedia changes, because it's so easy.

Good idea, but instead of free trial perhaps you should have a free tier. More startup-friendly and in the long run you will build mind share.

Here's a better write-up (in Science), to avoid the hassle of Forbes' web site: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/08/all-clear-decisive-tr...

As a birder, this looks like a failed experiment to me. Or I don't understand what their goal was. The groupings make little sense in terms of what these species sound like. I'm guessing that's an artifact of the way they sampled the sounds, losing macro properties. Kind of like grouping the words 'paramour', 'enmity' and 'hamster' together bc they all contain /m/ sound.

If you don't know about Reveal app, you must. Indispensable. http://revealapp.com

Great point! That's one of the reasons that I designed SuperCoco (app for learning Spanish) to teach in full context.

Thanks, very helpful!

In case I'm not the only wanting to know what a "word vector" is: https://blog.acolyer.org/2016/04/21/the-amazing-power-of-wor...

For skill learning, look into Anders Ericsson's book "Peak". There's much more to say than just "practice a lot" :)

The rule of thumb is that retention interval correlates directly to spacing gap (ie., the longer you wait to practice, the longer you retain). That's one reason that SRS systems use expanding intervals.

I'm building a very opinionated iOS app for learning Spanish. It teaches primarily by ear and in context (rich conversations). http://supercocoapp.com

Yes! Highly recommend Carl Safina's Beyond Words.

Just to add one more perspective, and not making any assumptions, what have you done to assess your accent? It's a really tough thing to self-assess.

Is it possible that it's heavier than you think? Depending on the role, if your accent is heavy enough to add cognitive burden for listeners, it could be part of what's holding you back. Fortunately, it's something that can be addressed - it takes work, but it can be done!

I read Garnett and P/V translations side by side for a while and found P/V to be remarkably more vivid.

Have to suggest my app: http://supercocoapp.com

Would love to get your feedback. It's designed to give you practice actually using (speaking) Spanish. Totally different from Duolingo, Memrise, et al, which I find unbearably tedious.

OP here. This is the language learning app that I've always wanted: no typing and tapping, lots of listening and speaking.

Would love to get feedback from HN community!

Thanks for the link to that paper -- I hadn't seen that. I agree that SR and learning in context are not mutually exclusive--but they're challenging to integrate. Duolingo is not a good example -- they teach through random sentences, out of context.

Your examples - concrete nouns - are where you miss the least by simply mapping onto English. But I would suggest that this is the very easiest part of learning a second language.

I think many learners underestimate how much of language is not derivable by plugging vocabulary into grammar rules. There's so much that is just "that's how we say it". And you need to pick that up in context.

I believe SRS is overused. The spacing effect is, of course, real and quite important. However, it lends itself to decontextualizing what you're learning.

For example, foreign language vocabulary is best learned in context (ie., in sentences, within conversations). That's the only way to know how it's actually used. Otherwise, you're just learning a mapping between first and second languages.

There are other benefits to learning in context, as well. It's more fun, sustains long-term interest better, and these emotional benefits enhance memory as well.

Most interestingly, there are efficiencies to learning in context. For example, one can learn two new words in one sentence.

For all these reasons, I believe it's quite unfortunate that the first language learning tool everyone grabs is some kind of SRS flashcard system. And similar arguments apply in other domains.

OP here. This is the language learning app that I've always wanted: no typing and tapping, lots of listening and speaking.

Would love to get feedback from HN community!