Ask HN: Is building a calm, non-gamified learning app a mistake?

I’ve been working on a small language learning app as a solo developer.

I intentionally avoided gamification, streaks, subscriptions, and engagement tricks. The goal was calm learning — fewer distractions, more focus.

I’m starting to wonder if this approach is fundamentally at odds with today’s market.

For those who’ve built or used learning tools: – Does “calm” resonate, or is it too niche? – What trade-offs have you seen when avoiding gamification?

Not here to promote — genuinely looking for perspective.

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Uehreka ◴[15 Dec 25 16:28 UTC] No.46276637[source]▶

>>46276019 (OP) #

Not doing subscriptions for an app that has ongoing server costs is going to bite you, you may want to reconsider that.

Your biggest issue is going to be that language learning for adults is largely an unsolved problem. I know people with 1000+ day streaks on Duolingo who are nonetheless not fluent, and from everything I’ve read, it seems clear that spaced-repetition techniques are not sufficient (and possibly not necessary) to achieve fluency. Most people say you need immersion, which is difficult for an app to provide (research other people who have tried, you probably wouldn’t be the first and can save a lot of time, effort and heartbreak by learning from other people’s failures).

replies(5): >>46276845 #>>46277300 #>>46279258 #>>46279477 #>>46295291 #

1. fragmede ◴[15 Dec 25 16:44 UTC] No.46276845[source]▶

>>46276637 #

while I'm wary of sprinkling AI magic fairy dust on top of everything, the fact that ChatGPT voice mode and the app is fluent in many languages, an interesting conversational partner for the immersion aspect.

replies(1): >>46277883 #

2. bisonbear ◴[15 Dec 25 17:52 UTC] No.46277883[source]▶

>>46276845 (TP) #

I've been exploring the "AI as conversation partner for immersion" use case for a project I'm building and find it pretty helpful for a few reasons

1. Effectively infinite engaging comprehensible input at your level 2. Fantastic way to practice new vocabulary and grammar patterns (AI can provide correction for mistakes) 3. Somewhat fun - if you view chat as a choose your own adventure, the experience becomes more interesting

replies(1): >>46279638 #

3. Hammershaft ◴[15 Dec 25 19:58 UTC] No.46279638[source]▶

>>46277883 #

I just opened chatGPT's voice mode and mocked the worse accented english I could muster asking for tips on pronunciation.

chatGPT just told me that my pronunciation was perfect over an over. It's transcribing audio into text and has no sense for details needed to improve conversational skills.

replies(2): >>46283854 #>>46284168 #

4. fn-mote ◴[16 Dec 25 02:06 UTC] No.46283854{3}[source]▶

>>46279638 #

I’m pretty sure the point is to have a conversation with someone (something) who is speaking correctly.

As another poster here noted, the effect of error correction is nowhere near the effect of having correct input. (See the “comprehensible input” poster.)

5. encom ◴[16 Dec 25 02:47 UTC] No.46284168{3}[source]▶

>>46279638 #

I've tried speaking danish to ChatGPT and asking it very simple questions. I even tried using complete words and pronouncing them properly (inb4 kamelåså)[1], but it didn't help. I didn't manage to have it transcribe a single sentence properly.

[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-mOy8VUEBk

replies(1): >>46284789 #

6. fragmede ◴[16 Dec 25 04:29 UTC] No.46284789{4}[source]▶

>>46284168 #

I believe you, but I'm surprised it doesn't do Danish. It manages Cantonese though, which I think is fairly niche (Google translate doesn't support it).

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