BuildMyVocab
Languages and libraries
vocabulary learning
SHOW HN2017
225points
88comments
#131of 2,242 in 2017
Top 6%of 2017 by points
How HN took it
CuriousMostly questions and neutral comments
4 positive, 25 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 7 critical, out of 39 comments about the project. Thread score -0.08.
Idea: 1 for, 4 againstExecution: 1 for, 2 againstDesign: 1 for, 0 againstDocs: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Useful idea for learners and a good groundwork
From 3 comments
Very cool! Although I feel that sometimes you really need a human touch to make it truly comprehended. For instance, I random clicked on "antediluvian":…
AdmiralAsshat on HNWhile I think it needs a little polishing (a lot of wikipedia sentences are fairly hairy), I really like the core idea here. Keep up the good work.
lacampbell on HNThis is good stuff. I like the sentences part but I would put the definition before the sentences. This would be a great foreign language tool too.
WheelsAtLarge on HN
Objections
Definitions are missing or too vague
From 3 comments
Very cool! Although I feel that sometimes you really need a human touch to make it truly comprehended. For instance, I random clicked on "antediluvian":…
AdmiralAsshat on HN1. I don't really understand what this is about. Having a description on the landing page would help. > Barron's 800 Words list with example sentences who is this Barron? 2.…
baby on HNVery cool. As others have said I think you should add definitions for the words (even a link off to an external one is fine) and pronunciation (with audio, perhaps link to…
satysin on HN
Word list includes rare words unhelpful for learners
From 2 comments
This list is to help non-native English learners? Many native English speakers might have trouble with a few of these: abeyance, abscission, accretion, amalgamate, anodyne,…
miles on HNThose are fairly rare words in day to day English. Some of those words I have a "feeling" for what they mean, I've definitely seen some of them in print. Most of those words I…
rabboRubble on HN
Some words not found or sentences missing
From 2 comments
Very nice! Thanks for sharing! Some words are not found: https://buildmyvocab.in/affinity (Just a little correction there: does not exist*)
goshx on HNNeat. ::clicks on a random word:: "We couldn't find any sentences for the word centripetal." So... Why is it one of the chosen few?
Baeocystin on HN
Requests
Add definitions and pronunciation
From 2 comments
Very cool. As others have said I think you should add definitions for the words (even a link off to an external one is fine) and pronunciation (with audio, perhaps link to…
satysin on HN1. I don't really understand what this is about. Having a description on the landing page would help. > Barron's 800 Words list with example sentences who is this Barron? 2.…
baby on HN
Add other languages
From 3 comments
What about other languages?
malandrew on HNCould something similar be done with other languages as well, say Simplified Chinese?
masteryupa_ on HNcan you make a container that lets you crawl any other language?
jlebrech on HN
Upvote/downvote sentence quality
From 1 comment
That's a great question. Optimizing for sentence selection is important for teaching. For now, I have a simple check that filters out sentences which are longer than 160…
abhas9 on HN
Questions
How are sentences selected?
From 1 comment
How do you decide on which sentences to use? I'm interested in generating example sentences myself, but in a way, that chooses sentences that are simple, easy to understand and…
wodenokoto on HN
Alternatives named
Clozemaster frequency-based fast track
From 1 comment
Clozemaster already offers this for over 100 language pairings via the Fluency Fast Track feature, https://www.clozemaster.com. Clozemaster's a game to learn and practice a…
cmmike on HN
Simple English Wikipedia
From 1 comment
I've always thought that the Simple English article versions of Wikipedia were always useful for non-native English speakers. https://simple.wikipedia.org/ Most people seem to be…
sengork on HN
Wordnik-based word list
From 1 comment
I created something similar using the Wordnik api. https://www.greedge.com/grewordlist/
ilamparithi on HN