“My new app“

Hallo ihr lieben,

and welcome back to our Advent Calendar, door number 22 with the title

My new app

Now, if you’ve been following the calendar you’ll have noticed that the titles are usually somewhat cryptic or even misleading and you might expect this one to be anything…. except a new app.
But in this case, it’s actually true.
I do have a new app. And I need some of you as

beta testers :)

Wooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooo!
Now you’re of course all wondering, what kind of app.
Well, do you remember those two exercises we did in the calendar where you had to pick the right prefix verb? Turned out that was quite hard because prefix verbs with their many random meanings are pretty damn confusing and they don’t get enough attention.
Sure, we’ve talked about the most important ones here in detail, but what’s missing is a good, quick, comprehensive reference.
And that’s what my app is going to be!
It’s basically basically a cross between my explanations and a dictionary… or as I like to call it…

“Explictionary”

A normal dictionary just gives you all the translations and maybe some examples. But translations are often misleading because you need to know the specific context and sometimes there just isn’t a direct translation.
My app takes a different approach.
It’s not the translations that are in the center, it’s the underlying ideas. Each prefix verb is broken down into distinct core ideas, that each may have several similar translations. Some verbs just have one, others have like three or four.
For each core idea, you get a short description of it, its grammar (if specific) and what it has to do with the prefix and the base-verb.
Once you understand the idea and WHY the verb has it, remembering the translation will be much more intuitive.  Much like I do in the articles of my Prefix Verb Series, just shorter.
For each idea, you also get grammar information, related words and examples with translations and audio, so you can see the idea in practice.
And you also get the r-version (if there is one). So the entry for aufgehen actually CONTAINS the word raufgehen.
And to top it of, you can also look at the base verbs themselves and at the prefixes.
AND you can leave comments for each entry, so we can clear up anything that needs clearing up.

So yeah… it’s basically THE reference for prefix verbs that you’ve always wanted :).
Here’s a screenshot…

Click here, for some more impressions (jpeg)
(view 1 is the prefix view, 2 is the prefix verb and 3 is the base verb)

This is the entry for the verb ausgehen. It’s one of the verbs with the most ideas. But hey, when you look it up on dict.cc you get like 40 translations just for the verb (and phrasings with the verb).
Group “m” list more noteworthy uses and words that don’t fit any of the other groups. And “r” is the entry for rausgehen.

Now… I have only made entries for gehen and nehmen so far, and only for six (I think) prefixes. And the whole thing itself is still very much in beta, so the navigation and the interface and everything needs work.
But that’s mainly why I wanted to get your feedback, so I can actually do it in a way that YOU find useful.
So yeah… I’d like to invite about 20  of you guys as beta testers.
Why not everyone?
Because of server resources, security and also to build up suspense :)!

What do you have to do to apply?

Just leave a comment telling me one random piece of information about you. Can be your hair color. Can be what you had for dinner. Can be what you’re wearing. Can be a story from your life. Can be what kind of toothbrush you prefer. Anything, as long as it’s PERSONAL!
It’s Christmas, god damnit :). 

If you’re a beta tester, I’ll contact you with more details.
So yeah… that was my big surprise for this calendar :). Let me know in the comments if you like the idea and if you would use the app.
I’m really curious for all your feedback!! Schönen Tag euch, und bis morgen.

Now… one more thing:
I kept calling the whole thing an app. That is wishful thinking. In actuality it is a wordpress based website at this point. So you need to be online to use it.
Making a native app you can download from the app store is beyond what I can do with my coding skills :).