Hello, World!
Nerd Reps is early in development. However, we do have a complete core1k Japanese deck that is ready to get started with. We also have a free tier that doesn't require a signup. So, try it out!
The Problem
There seems to be a fair amount of research and opinions around how great language acquisition is. The general thought behind language acquisition (at least in the form that Stephen Krashen supports), is that you should learn language within the context of that language with a strong focus on input (i.e. reading and listening).
I want to believe it. However, there is a chicken-and-egg problem. How can you focus on input if you don't understand anything? You need some core vocabulary before you can get started on that.
Existing Solutions
I want to be transparent that there are existing solutions that solve this problem.
Anki
The primary method most people seem to use is Anki.
Anki solves the problem well, but there is a bit of a learning curve (getting set up) or even analysis paralysis (what decks to use). The answer is probably to find some guide and a reputable core1k deck.
Wanikani
Wanikani is great. I had a great time using it. However, it is a large commitment to try to get all the way through it. I would like to start reading as soon as possible. Wanikani doesn't prevent you from doing that, but I found it difficult to get started with reading right away (i.e. it seemed like I would need to get a lot of wanikani done before I could start reading).
My experience with Wanikani was that I ended up taking a break after a certain point and when I tried to jump back in, it was extremely difficult to get back on track. Which may just be a side effect of SRS in general.
Wanikani is a great product. It's worth considering.
Why create Nerd Reps?
- It would be nice if there was a flash card system that is set up with reasonable defaults.
- I would like to keep my hands on the keyboard.
- I desire small but significant milestones.
- I want to see the nerdy metrics.
- It would be nice if I could export my comfort level with words to be able to give them to an LLM to generate graded readers or to find graded readers that are in my range.
- Maybe the on ramp shouldn't be entirely vocab SRS (maybe we can combine it with reading). (as mentioned, some of the existing solutions solve some of these problems.)
I seem to really enjoy language learning. I'm hoping that Nerd Reps can grow into a tool and community that is a good entry point to use before getting started with comprehensible input.
If we subscribe to comprehensible input and language acquisition, learning vocab isn't the main thing, but you need some vocab to start doing comprehensible input. So, I'm hoping nerd reps can get you just enough to get started.
It could evolve into a way to do sentence mining. However, for now, that is scope creep .
Feedback is Welcome
If you have strong opinions, or if you just want to provide some feedback, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].
--Sprocket