Hi everyone,
so after a forced creative break in August, I am taking a little voluntary creative break now.
Well, that’s not completely accurate actually, because I am editing old articles. And man… some were REALLY way to long :). If you want a list of the edited ones, let me know in the comments.
The one I am editing at the moment is the one about Main Sentences and I actually had kind of a little epiphany.
Nothing big, just a little way of thinking about sentences that might make the side sentence structure a bit more “natural”. I’m NOT going to tell you today though ;).
I do have something cool, however, because while editing that article I was reminded of something else: the navigation sucks.
I always thought it would be cool if in each grammar episode you could see an overview for all episodes in that grammar module, but I never felt like I was ready to do the necessary coding.
Until this week! Because this week I actually did it.
It’s not perfect and there’s a REALLY weird glitch in the module on adjective endings but overall I am pretty happy with it and I think it’ll make it much easier for you.
You’ll of course see it on the site but here’s a screenshot:
The list unfolds when you click on the menu icon and it shows you all the episodes in the module and if you’re a member, you’ll also see which ones you’ve completed already. As you can see, I have completed them all. That’s why my German is so good.
Now, I want to add the information which module this is but I have to decide how to do it – quick and dirty or long and proper.
And I also have a question:
Right now, when you click on “See all grammar modules” you’ll be taken to the main grammar page (which also really needs a do over).
I could also make it, so all modules unfold right there and you have links to ALL grammar episodes.
Let me know in the comments if that’s a feature that’d be helpful.
And speaking of new features… that brings us to the questions I have.
Questions about features
I have a few ideas I need your opinion on. I’ll explain them first and then I’ll do a poll.
Font and Font Size
I have been seeing the site on a bunch of different screens in recent months and my reactions ranged from “Ewww… everything is so huge” via “Man, this is iPhone of language learning websites.” to “Oh my God, the font is way too tiny.”
So I want to gauge the sentiment out there – do you like the font I am using or would you want me to change it, and what do you think about the font-size.
Answer below in the poll :).
Flascards?
So one of my longest dreams for the site is a vocabulary trainer. Since we finished the glossary, the groundwork is actually there, but it might take a while until we get to finish it.
So I was thinking about having my horde of unpaid interns create decks for each article on an external site like Quizlet or Memrise.
But even though they’re unpaid, these interns drink a LOT of coffee, so the question is first of all how many of you would even use it. And then, which platform would be the best. I think many have an import-export feature, but we’d pick one of them for a start.
TL DR Cards
This is another idea that has been on my mind since literally hundreds of years. And for a long time, the reason I didn’t do it was that I didn’t want to.
I am talking about a TL;DR-type summary for each article…. kind of like an info-card. You’d get the vocab of the article with translations as well as a really really short info about family ties and the most important usage notes.
The reason I have never mentioned this, let alone done it is that I was scared people would then not read the articles anymore. If you can open a “Short Summary”-card, would you then still have the same fun reading the article? Honestly, I don’t think so.
It’s a bit like me watching movie reviews on Youtube before watching the movie… I’m not as interested in the movie anymore.
But objectively, it would be a really really nice and helpful feature to have, so I am thinking about slowly starting to add these.
Let me know in the poll :).
Cast your votes
So yeah… here’s the poll. I’m really curious for your feedback.
Danke euch, habt eine schöne Woche und bis zum nächsten Mal :)
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Hi Emanuel! This is my very first comment and I’d like to say thank you a lot for all you do here in your blog! The content is always exciting and interesting. And it’s so nice that we can read your old posts and they always fit perfectly into the problems of a german learner…
About your pools, I’d like to give my perspective of two points.
Firstly, the font size is damn small on my screen. :-( I use a Firefox on Linux on a 1366×768 screen and I need to zoom in your pages always at 133% at least, so I can read well without needing to get closer to the screen.
Secondly, I’d say that the idea of TL;DR summarised flash cards are indeed good. But, as I’m a developer, like you do, I’d like to ask you: what about something like a cheat sheet? I know you always write something simple like that at the end of each post, but maybe a cheat sheet like those ones we use while programming could be very nice. I don’t know. I like that format a lot, because it’s always very straightforward to look and catch just what we need. (And I usually print them as well.)
(Btw, the “Follow” button right here below is kinda buggy for me. The rect simply toggles between dark gray and light gray when I click it. I’m not sure which one means a true to Follow.)
Could you actually give me an example for such a cheat sheet? I thought cheat sheet is a general term for “short overview” :).
As for the follow, I think that’s the comment-follow, so you get a notification when I answer.
The comments system is a plugin software and I haven’t customized everything :)
thanks to all members especially who donates a little extra , im too happy to join you and learn with u its a great website !!
Hello! Just wanted to say that I’d love to see the list of updated articles. There’s loads I still haven’t read and it would make sense for me to start with the updated ones. Great work as always!!!!
Hello Emanuel, I also don’t see the “hamburger” menu you mention ad yes I am a logged in subscriber. I do see a nav bar across the top with entries Home, About, ….. Members. I can send you a screenshot if you wish
Nah, another user also mentioned it wasn’t there, so I guess I actually turned it off at some point. It’s useless for this site anyway, except that you can immediately see if you’re logged in. But I’ll see if I can find another way to indicate that.
Hello! New German learner here. Nice to meet you all!
I wanted to help everyone who donated money to the site so that people like me can afford to learn German. I appreciate it a lot.
You are the best!! Vielen Dank!
Text Size:
I was thinking that perhaps the questions on text size was a little off for website users since with CTRL-+ or CTRL-= We can change the screen size, and thus the font size. So not sure what the results for website/computer screen users would indicate for you. I don’t know about phone users though, it is a pain to resize the screen and that doesn’t always work well.
Font Type:
Not sure; but, I do like the font type being used in this text box for comments a lot. For me it’s clearer, if that’s sans-serif then yeah, it’s easier to read.
As far as flashcards, I’d leave that up to you; whichever app is easier, or I would allow users who know the apps better to choose. I wouldn’t have a clue, you’d have the first flashcards I’d use either way! :-)
Summary cards; well… not sure for sure since I’m not clear exactly what it would be; but, I am curious.
Font Type: When I said text box for comments; I wanted to make sure I was clear; I was referring to the box where I’m typing this; not what appears after I Post the comment, that’s the typical type. But, when I type in the box; that is a very clear text type. I have to add that I use a little Chrome App called “High Contrast” and use the “invert color” settings to give me a black background with white text. I just can’t handle the black text on white anymore for some reason. So, the type being used is OK; but, like this text in the typing box for posts much more!
Deine Artikeln machen immer so viel Spass! Auch wenn es flash cards oder TL DR cards gibt, bin ich sicher dass ich lieber deine Artikeln lesen wuerde (und kann sein nur dass ich auch sehr faul bin, und es einfacher ist!)
Flashcards sound like a dream! Personally I use Anki but I know Quizlet/Memrise are much easier to work with (and I can import sets from websites into Anki, so no big deal) :)
Are you perhaps Baron Tamago by any chance? xd
Hahahaha, had to look that one up but nope, that ain’t the final form either.
Thema : blonde chicks
Vocab:
ausschlüpfen – hatch
das Kücken – baby chick
der Göckel – rooster, cock
der Hahn – rooster
Julia Klöckner – Minister(in) of German Agriculture & FORM-er hotWeinfest babe!
https://www.gettyimages.de/detail/nachrichtenfoto/german-agriculture-and-consumer-protection-minister-nachrichtenfoto/1155138351?adppopup=true
Einführung
1Min.
https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/heute-sendungen/videos/kloeckner-verbot-kuekentoeten-100.html
Aus dem Ei geschlüpft
wurde es so geboren,
ein liebes Kücken
gelb und flauschig nach der NORM.
Als stolzer Göc2kel wird er leider,
nie laut krähen!
Weil bei der Zerschnitzlermaschine,,
schon die scharfen Räder drehen!
Die lovely Klöckner kommt
zur Rettung zu spät an ,
und als Hühnerfutter
erreicht der kleine Hahn
ratz fatz
seine FINAL Form!
13.9’20
Hi, Emanuel.
I love the style of the site, please don’t change anything! I love the way it is.
And I would like flashcards for every article, because I love them and I use flashcards to learn Germany everyday.
At the moment I only use Anki. I don’t know other Apps. Which one do you recommend?
Best regards
Ziye
I’ve only used Memrise to study and it’s bearable. But I am particular with Flashcards. I want a one word question with a one word answer without all that spaced repetition stuff. Like… for me, all apps have too many features.
I couldn’t click on the menu icon or “see all grammar modules,” so I’m assuming that was a hypothetical questions. I do like your website and like the refinements you are proposing. Summary cards would be great; vocabulary I can look up in many places. I have difficulty just memorizing vocabulary out of context anyway. Good work on your topics. I have fun reading them, so it’s a good learning tool for me.
I can click it, actually. Do you remember which article you tried it with? Maybe there’s another glitch :/. In either case, thanks for the nice feedback :)
For summaries ,just an idea, leave blanks for us to fill Inn that might well force us to read the full article.
Nice idea, but then it’d always be missing and when you come back a year later, you’d again see the gap. I can’t make it so it stays filled in for each user individually :)
What are flashcards? Don’t know anything about menrise, quizlet etc. Am I the only one?
The basic idea is that you have a little card with some sort of question on one side and the answer on the other.
We used to call it “karteikarten” in German back in the day.
But “flashcard” sounds MUCH cooler :)
Serifs are supposed to make longer text easier to read – but are a little old fashioned.
I’m easy about the other stuff. I enjoy your work so much you could write it on a blackboard and I’d be thrilled.
Glad you are recovered. Don’t overdo things. All best wishes
I vote you start paying your interns. They do a great job.
Never! They get a proper barista education from working for me. That’s compensation enough. Actually, I am thinking about charging them some.
Der Kommentar von Zuckerbaby hat mich erinnert, das trennbares Verb angeben.
I like the idea of summary cards. I often find myself returning multiple times to articles that I have read, in order to refresh my memory on some use of the word. So I think I would still read the whole article at least once completely, then likely use the summary cards as a quick reference refresher.
Und zu guter letz noch, zu deiner Email hab ich eine kleine Korretur… life-changing :)
Not sure I will ever fix this mistake. I know it in theory, but when I type my brain just doesn’t pay attention :/.
I have an idea if you ever do the anki deck
A deck with everything wouldnt make more sense i think. How about something easy to import at the end of each article (a deck or a csv, i dont know whats easier)
I do create my own cards, but it would be nice to be able to import a deck after a fisnish reading an article
I actually have a csv for each article already, downloadable for members :).
The size of the font really depends on what you set it on, atleast for me. i just change the font size to whatever is comfortable for me in the settings.
I would really love to have summaries because i have to make them myself, for revision.
It does, but if the size on my site for instance is smaller than on other sites and you constantly have to adjust the browser, that would be annoying. I was asking to get a sense of whether I should maybe incease it a little bit, but I think based on the polls, I might just leave it as it is :).
What is wrong with anki? Its improved a lot, specially in the entering new data deparment. I would use your deck for sure. That being said. Its maybe a lot of work to create a deck. I much rather have tl;dr for articles :)
Uff, in my memory, the interface where you set up the cards was visually awful. It made me tired using it. That’s where my apprehension is from :)