Hi everyone!
I've been working on a language learning website for a couple months that I wanted to share! (url is https://chatalang.com)
Short version:
Say you're learning Spanish. Imagine a Spanish clone of Reddit where you talk in Spanish about random stuff un-related to learning Spanish, like news, sports, etc. So you write some comments in Spanish, which you aren't great at. It's good practice just to write out the comment though, since it reinforces some vocab and grammar! Now add the ability to get corrections for your comments, and the implicit understanding that you're not a native Spanish speaker. That's what Chatalang is!
Not-as-short version:
I love learning languages, but it always seems hard to practice conversational-style writing, like the way you'd talk to a friend over text messages, or like people typically talk on Reddit (or like in this thread..).
The website I've made is kinda like Reddit, but with different languages supported and the ability to correct other comments (for grammar, spelling, etc.). By using the filters, you can basically only see things relevant to the language(s) you're learning. It's sort of like /r/DuoConverse (which is mostly dead :'(...) but on a platform specifically designed for language learning!
People can submit their own threads. There's also daily prompts, where people are encouraged to write out a sentence or two every day responding to a short question like "What's your favorite season?".
Anyways, I know this is basically self-promotion, but I genuinely think that this could be a useful tool for building conversational skills and I'm hoping that you might check this out! I know when I was learning Japanese I would've liked an alternative to aimlessly browsing boards like 2ch trying to pick up ways to talk like a normal person.
I would love any feedback/suggestions/criticism!
Some example convos:
(a normal comment) https://i.imgur.com/MxC5cMt.png
(a correction) https://i.imgur.com/yxyM8Ua.png
Long rambly background on why I made this:
One of the things I've noticed when learning languages (French, Japanese, etc.) is that it's tough to get good practice with short conversations. For example, this short comment chain I just screenshotted from an /r/AskReddit thread is more like the type of writing I want to be good at when I learn a language, but where can I practice that? idk...
There are options like italki and HelloTalk. But - I don't know about you guys - but I'm personally not super comfortable talking with a native X speaker learning my language while I'm learning X. It's always seemed kinda awkward to me. Especially when both of you are at an early-intermediate level where you can make some basic sentences but can't really carry on meaningful conversations. I know people find success on those apps, but my experience has generally been that conversations die out fairly quickly, leaving me constantly talking to new people and repeating the same formalities (greetings, what's up, etc.).
Lang-8, another popular option, is really close to what I want, and I use it frequently! But it never feels like there's that much interaction on Lang-8, and it definitely doesn't feel like having a conversation. At most someone will correct your blog post and leave a comment or two, but the design of the site doesn't inherently encourage conversations.
So anyways, I made Chatalang as an alternative that focuses on Reddit's threaded discussion format to create something where you can practice chatting about stuff easily, but you only have to talk about things you're interested in, you can see other people's practice (and mistakes/corrections), and you don't feel any pressure from having to respond to someone!
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via Learn Online English Speaking
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