Show HN: Lexical - How I learned 3 languages in 3 years

(lexical.app)

6 points | by trubalca 7 hours ago ago

10 comments

  • great_domino 8 minutes ago

    I like the philosophy here — focusing on high-frequency vocab and spaced repetition is what actually moves the needle. I’ve always felt that most language apps gamify too much and teach too little.

  • aaronrobinson 5 hours ago

    The philosophy resonates with me. I even built a spaced repetition app myself while in Brasil a couple of years ago. I started with lists based on things like kitchen stuff etc. you’ve inspired me to resurrect it.

    By the way, it’s a bit slow - maybe you’re getting increased traffic from the HN post.

    The submit button needs to deactivate after being pressed the first time otherwise you end up pressing it multiple times and it’s like that scene from Toy Story with all the Martians in the machine.

    Good luck with it!

    • trubalca 4 hours ago

      Hey, thanks. I'll go fix the toy story bug haha. I am also working on making it quicker by pre-loading the audio. Thanks for the feedback!

  • supermdguy 7 hours ago

    Really like the philosophy, and the UI looks clean. You mentioned grammar briefly, but I’m curious if you think that’s also a component that could be learned through the app? One thing that’s nice about Duolingo (despite its flaws) is that it progressively introduces new grammar concepts and uses them in the lessons. Would be cool to have something similar here.

    • trubalca 5 hours ago

      Hey thanks! I do hope to add some additional basic grammar instruction in the future... similar to what is in the grammar guides that I mention in the white-paper

  • victra 4 hours ago

    Probably not important in the short term, but it would be cool if users could view the entire bank of 5,000 words somewhere in the app. And even cooler, something like, the words they've mastered are one color, and the words they don't know yet are another. Would be a fun way to visualize progress

  • andreyazimov 7 hours ago

    Can you please add Portuguese?

    • trubalca 7 hours ago

      Hi there! I'm working on it right now and hope to have it added by the end of the week. I'll shoot you a message here when I've got it added. Or, you can send me an email so I can respond to your there: taylorboan@me.com

  • azaitz 7 hours ago

    This is huge

    • trubalca 5 hours ago

      Haha, thanks man. If there a particular language you'd like me to add just lmk