Show HN: I made a simple web app to help kids learn a new language

https://www.voiczy.com

by rioppondalis • 2 years ago

47 43 2 years ago

Hey there!

Out of the necessity to teach my son a new language, I developed an app just for him. After months of use and realizing how effective it was, I decided to make it available to the public. Now, I’m looking for your support, feedback, and possibly help in reaching potential customers.

Take a look and let me know your thoughts!

Thank you!

pvg2• 2 years ago

You could edit the title to start with 'Show HN:' instead of 'Launch:' so it shows up in the feedbacky places of the site, more info here https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

Thank you! I'm new here. Then can I repost the same? Or should I submit again?

pvg2• 2 years ago

You could have edited the title a bit after you posted but I think you're past the edit window now. You can just email hn@ycombinator.com with a link to your current post and they'll sort it out for you.

blueeon• 2 years ago

any unique features?

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

Yes, the unique aspect is the method we call the "linking language technique." Using a voice-immersive approach, children first hear the word or its introduction in their native language, followed by the same word in the target language. As they progress through different games, they gradually hear more of the target language. This technique is especially effective for kids aged 2-6, as it engages them more deeply and helps them understand the learning process. We've seen remarkable benefits from this method with our own son.

ryanb_0• 2 years ago

How does it work for adults?

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

It should work fine. But the focus (particularly the UI and games) are designed for kids. But still, adults can benefit from it as well.

davidzweig• 2 years ago

Tried the demo, looks similar to the Rosetta Stone method. Very nice execution. We also make a language app.

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

Thank you! I appreciate your comment. What language app are you working on?

Do you have any feedback or suggestions for us? I’d love to hear your thoughts on how we can succeed in this market. Any advice is welcome! :)

rahimnathwani2• 2 years ago

My 8yo son uses Duolingo every day, to study Spanish. Is voiczy likely to be more effective or efficient?

bradarner• 2 years ago

While I can't vouch for voiczy, Duolingo is in the business of user retention and engagement in order to meet investor demands...language learning is the hook.

Duolingo is notably POOR at real language acquisition.

rahimnathwani2• 2 years ago

Yeah I get that. I don't think my son is ready for something effortful like LingQ. So, even if Duolingo is only a tenth as effective per unit of time spent, it's better than nothing.

jimbokun• 2 years ago

Are there other apps that are more effective?

wadadadad• 2 years ago

Will you please provide some additional context here as to why and how Duolingo is poor at language acquisition? What software is better at language acquisition?

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

I can’t say with 100% certainty that Voiczy is more valuable than Duolingo. Duolingo has years of experience and likely offers unique content—they're a large company with many resources.

However, Voiczy was born out of necessity. We tried Duolingo and other apps, but they didn’t suit our son’s needs. Every child has a different learning style. I encourage you to give Voiczy a try. We offer a 7-day free trial, and I’d be happy to extend it for you if needed. You can see if your son finds it helpful and let me know your thoughts & feedback.

What sets Voiczy apart is that we use the child’s native language to bridge the gap with the new words they're learning. This makes the process feel less pressured and more engaging and faster to grasp. That’s what we observed with both our son and beta testers.

wantsanagent2• 2 years ago

Just say "No" to "Free" trials that require a credit card on file.

preinheimer• 2 years ago

I run a product that has a free tier. There's one person with ~30 accounts, each with their own unique email address (gmail).

Credit cards are a decent tool to stem the tide of people making lots of free accounts.

wantsanagent2• 2 years ago

Fine, then charge $1 and don't auto-convert to a subscription. That practice is what is offensive.

Or if it's just a few users don't ruin the free trial for everyone based on the actions of some bad apples. Spend some time on IP based screens etc.

mtalantikite• 2 years ago

Congrats on shipping! I'm curious to know if kids in this demographic (2-6) see any extra benefits to something structured like this versus just watching cartoons in their target language? I've met plenty of people that have told me something like "Oh, I learned English from just watching Scooby Doo as a kid". They then went on to study English more formally in school when they were older, but they really claim they just learned from passively watching hours of cartoons on their own as a 3-6 year old, since that's what they had in their country of origin.

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

Cartoons can also be beneficial. We've discussed various techniques with two experienced speech therapists, each with their own beliefs shaped by years of working with children facing language disorders or expat families encouraging their kids to speak.

One specialist advised limiting cartoons to a maximum of 20 minutes per day, while the other suggested cartoons could be quite effective. I believe expert opinions should vary depending on the case.

In general, I think Voiczy can have a greater impact than simply watching cartoons. When playing a game, children are more engaged, focusing on learning words to advance through the levels. This can motivate them to pay closer attention. While cartoons can help with listening and understanding concepts, they may not be the best option for developing speaking skills, as they don't offer much practice.

ugh1232• 2 years ago

It's unclear on first impression of the landing page what your unique value prop is.

You say this: " Voiczy transforms language learning into an exciting adventure." and then you ask me to click a free trial button.

I think that deserves some kind of visual, either screenshots, illustrations, or demo video right next to that blurb.

Your Demo button shows a video play button, but when I click it i'm greeted with a 2-step settings process after which i'm presented with another "Start Demo" button, followed by your own pop up to "Give Microphone Access" which I click and then it pops up a system dialog for access.

Thats a 6-step funnel just to see what this is actually about.

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

Thank you so much for your valuable feedback. You're absolutely right, and I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us.

I’ll work on addressing your points soon. Just a quick question: while adding a video is straightforward, for the actual "try demo," we need to gather the user’s native and target languages, as well as request microphone access later to provide an accurate demo.

In this case, what would you suggest? Should we demo a common language pair, like English to Spanish? Or should we avoid showing games that require microphone access in the demo to simplify the process?

ugh1232• 2 years ago

Detect the appropriate language per region and start the demo but provide a pointer immediately within the demo to change it if necessary.

If you do a video on the landing page, have it play automatically (could be a high res playable gif).

If mic access is not needed for all the games (wait, there's games and there are multiple of them?) then sure, default to a non-mic game if it still provides value. I've only looked above the fold, but it seems like a complex product offering. Below the fold, its very wordy and still not explaining much how it works. The 'Milestones' part is taking too much space. Kick it out to an About page or something. Probably the same with your 'Story'.

Good luck!

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

Update: I removed microphone access need. Moved the voice game to one of the last games, this way hopefully less people will have a problem with it.

Thanks again for your good suggestions

meowster• 2 years ago

Attempted to try the demo, it requested microphone access which I denied, then the page was stuck. The only option to move forward was tapping on the chat icon, and then it wanted my email address and I wrote "no thank you" which it seemed to accept but not process.

It looks like your app only wants people to do things a certain way, and if the user doesn't, then too bad?

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

Apologies for this. I realize now that microphone access might be unnecessary for the demo. The issue is that we have a game requiring microphone use, where kids practice saying words aloud to help with memorization and pronunciation. For children, this is a crucial step in overcoming any shyness about speaking the language.

I’ll work on addressing this by making microphone access optional or removing that specific game from the demo entirely.

Thanks so much for sharing your feedback. I really appreciate it!

leke• 2 years ago

Simple!?!? Ha!

This is a very polished to be called simple although simple is subjective. I've been developing language learning tools as a hobby during my programming journey, so it's great fun to try new stuff.

Problems...

I opened this in Hews2 Chrome browser and it got stuck on the "say the word" part. You might want to add a skip button there.

The sound effect audio is about twice the volume of the narrator audio.

Overall, it's great looking and engaging, even for an adult.

Questions I would like to ask but I understand if you don't want to answer.

I tried the Finnish language. Was that an AI voice? I just can't tell anymore.

What stack did you develop the front end with? How did you like it?

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

Thank you so much for your feedback! I’ll work on incorporating your suggestion about skipping the "Say the word" game. I've already moved it to the last step of the demo since many users tend to deny microphone permissions.

As for the voices and translations, yes, both are AI-generated. AI has played a significant role in these areas.

Thanks again! Please, let me know if you had any other feedback. I'm listing comments to create a tasklist for myself to fix all these issues

2024user• 2 years ago

Does "simple" now mean polished and corporate looking?

The fake AI podcast really lowers my trust in you though.

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

Thank you for your feedback! I understand I may have been too brief in my podcast-style summary. You're right that adding a disclaimer about AI-generated content would be necessary.

Regarding the polish looking website, did you mean the site should not be polished? We actually aimed to avoid a corporate feel by including personal stories on the homepage and emphasizing our "family-owned" status in several places.

I greatly appreciate your feedback as we're looking to improve the product and build user trust. Please share any additional thoughts you have.

I've just updated the podcast section with a title and description to clarify that it's AI-generated. While I believed it was evident, your point about explicit disclosure is valid and I'm glad I made that change.

namaria3• 2 years ago

The fake podcast is a bright red flag. I wouldn't touch anything related to something like that. Not only because it's a fake podcast, but the content is lies. This supposed buzz, 'everyone is commenting', the 'conversational' tone. You want to generate text and audio with AI? Disclose it and do it whatever, you're responsible for what you publish. But even if you had manually written and recorded this 'podcast', the content is evidently just marketing lies. That is unacceptable really. After that is establish it doesn't really matter if the factual claims about methodology are correct. I can't trust it after so many layers of misdirection.

olayanjuidris• 2 years ago

I like your product a lot, I think a lot of people would need this , have you tried reaching out to schools , they will be a good customer acquisition strategy for you . Also I run an Enterpreneural newsletter of 3k+ audience where we share founders stories , tools and growth hacks . I might feature your product to our audience if you can skip the queue here. https://tally.so/r/w88BpO

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

Thanks for your comment. No, I haven't explored schools yet, and honestly, it wasn't something I had considered.

Could you explain how the U.S. school system works in this context? For example, can I reach out to public schools and ask them to share our product with their students if they find it helpful? Or are you referring to setting up an affiliate program with the schools?

I also have a few ideas for affiliate programs myself, but I'm holding off on them until we can refine the product further. We want to make it even more engaging and fun for kids, adding more words and expanding the vocabulary.

ziaee-ashkan• 2 years ago

yo the website looks awesome and I am a huge fan of the idea myself. however what advantages does it provide compared to apps like Duolingo?

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

Thank you so much for your comment! I’m glad to hear that the website looks good.

As I’ve mentioned in previous comments, we built this out of necessity. Our son was speaking two languages at home by the age of 2 (at a level appropriate for his age), but he wasn't picking up Dutch in preschool. We tried several different methods and tools, but they were either too complicated or simply ineffective.

The main issue was that these tools weren’t leveraging the language our son already knew to help him progress further.

Since we were raising him bilingual, we often found ourselves translating words from one language to the other, which is a natural way for kids to learn. We wanted a tool that used this approach—connecting what they already know to the new language.

That’s why we built this tool, and it worked really well. In just a few days, he memorized words easily. The concept is simple, as explained in the video on the website: first, the word is pronounced in the child’s native language, then in the target language. Gradually, the native language is used less, and the focus shifts to the target language.

We’ve also included mini-games to keep kids engaged throughout the process.

As for Duolingo for kids, I’m not sure how effective it is for young children. Our focus is on ages 2-6, and our son didn’t benefit from Duolingo or a few other similar apps.

Every child learns differently, so what works for one may not work for another. But if you’re able, we’d love for you to give the tool another try. It’s not perfect. we’re a family-run website, just my wife and I, working on it in our free time. But your feedback means a lot to us, and we’re constantly improving based on it.

nancy_le• 2 years ago

I love your idea. But I'm also wondering how you see Voiczy fitting into a child's overall educational journey? Are there any plans to integrate with schools or educational institutions?

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

Hey! Thanks for your comment!

I’d love to hear more details on how you envision it should be structured to better align with the overall educational journey. The reason I’m asking is that different countries have varying educational systems and curricula, and I’m not sure where you’re from. I’d really appreciate your thoughts on how it could be organized or adjusted to better suit kids at school.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks!

namaria3• 2 years ago

Voicze doesn't really read as 'voice easy'. I thought it was supposed to be some slavic sound before hearing the fake podcast thing. (Btw massive red flag the podcast, the fake claims of buzz etc).

When you select gendered languages as 'native language' the text says son, not child.

The Italian text is borderline nonsense. It technically translates to the correct English but it isn't even close to how an Italian person would say that.

The Portuguese version also gets derailed from one sentence to the other.

In both cases, first sentence makes sense, the second jumps to plural and you're left wondering who it's referring to. Again, technically makes sense, but it's not idiomatic and sorta confusing for native speakers.

After reading languages I dominate botched like that I would lose all trust in this app's ability to teach anyone a new language.

rioppondalis18• 2 years ago

Thank you for your comment. I actually appreciate receiving critical feedback like this.

Regarding the podcast, could you clarify why you see it as a red flag? In the same place where the podcast is available, it clearly states "Listen to our AI-generated podcast," and there's a note underneath specifying that the content is AI-generated. I believe anyone who listens would easily understand this, as there's nothing hidden.

There was absolutely no intent to mislead. Our goal was to enhance the landing page by offering content for those who prefer to listen to a summary of what the product offers.

As for the translations, I really appreciate your feedback. Could you please share which word specifically caused issues? We’ve tested several languages, and while the translations generally work well, they are AI-generated, so mistakes can happen. Knowing which part was off will help us improve it.

Regarding the use of Voiczy for language learning, we don’t promise that it can teach a language on its own. In fact, if you check our FAQ, we clearly state that no single tool or app can fully help someone master a language. Even professional tutors rely on a variety of materials and methods.

So what does Voiczy do? It helps children specifically with vocabulary building, immersing them in the target language so they can hear and gradually understand through consistent repetition.

I understand your concern about potential translation inaccuracies, especially in the Italian version, as you mentioned. I’ll review this issue to see what went wrong with the AI translator.

Thanks again for taking the time, and writing sharing your opinion.

namaria3• 2 years ago

Regarding the podcast, could you clarify why you see it as a red flag?

The false claims at the start. Why should I trust any content after that? There is no buzz, this is a virtually unknown product. Making fake factual claims so easily and so early on your marketing efforts makes me discount everything else you say as probably fake as well.

As for the translations, I really appreciate your feedback. Could you please share which word specifically caused issues?

No. Hire humans to revise the AI slop you're peddling, I won't do it for free.

Together the sloppy translation and the fast and loose attitude to facts in marketing make me unwilling to trust you to educate anyone.

Show HN: I made a simple web app to help kids learn a new language

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