Wales’s minister for education and the Welsh language said he will write to the company to see how the government might be able to support the course’s continued development.

  • neutron
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    1 year ago

    It’s actually cool to see a government body embrace new technologies to promote their language and culture.

      • pewter@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I can’t even see comments on lessons anymore. There was one Brazilian dude named Paulenrique who would answer anyone’s questions about quirks of the language and now all his efforts to help people are just gone.

        • Salamendacious@lemmy.worldOP
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          Yeah there were lots of people in the Italian comments who did the same thing. It was invaluable. Now all that work is gone. It’s frustrating. I cancelled my super Duolingo subscription over that.

        • neutron
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, tons of helpful tips on actual natives chiming in, just gone. It’s a shame.

      • elscallr@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’m not sure if you’ve ever moderated anything volunteer based but… honestly you can’t give the internet anything nice.

        • pewter@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          But then why did they get rid of the comments that were old, locked, and useful? Sometimes it feels like Duolingo cares less and less about whether or not people learn languages. It’s not surprising, but unfortunate.

          • elscallr@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I’m not saying it was the ideal thing, I’m saying people mostly suck and moderating something sucks a lot less when you can fire the person who decided to say “pinche tu madre” meant “have a nice day.”

    • shneancy@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      the Welsh government is desperate. Welsh was close to being eradicated because somebody wanted more land, like they literally used to beat children in schools for speaking Welsh.

      Now Wales is trying really hard to bring it back, and duolingo offering a free course for anybody on the planet helps a ton. Especially because it’s hard to find learning resources when you don’t live in Wales. Hell, the resources are scarce even when you do live in Wales!

    • onlinepersona@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      It’s unfortunate to see them embrace closed source solutions. They could either fund an opensource project and build a welch program on top of it making them the owners of their own fate, or they could beg a company to not let their language die.

  • Bernie Ecclestoned@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    Dywedodd Mr Miles y byddai’n gofyn i’r cwmni ystyried sut y gallai’r llywodraeth - sydd â tharged hunan-osodedig o gyrraedd miliwn o siaradwyr Cymraeg erbyn 2050 - gefnogi datblygiad y cwrs, gan weithio gyda’r Ganolfan Dysgu Cymraeg Genedlaethol. Roedd ffigyrau Cyfrifiad y llynedd yn dangos bod 24,000 yn llai o siaradwyr Cymraeg o gymharu â degawd yn ôl a dywedodd adroddiad yn gynharach eleni fod amheuaeth ynghylch cyrraedd y targed. Ychwanegodd Mr Miles: "Mae Duolingo yn adnodd gwerthfawr a all helpu dysgwyr ar eu taith i ddod yn siaradwyr Cymraeg, ochr yn ochr â chyfleoedd dysgu iaith eraill. Roedd y tiwtor iaith Richard Morse yn un o’r rhai a fu’n gweithio am nifer o flynyddoedd i roi cynnwys y cwrs at ei gilydd.

      • GeekFTW@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        D̴̫̹̗̼͖̙̯̲̬̝̽̑ͅǔ̴̧͕̫͇̘̖̫̲̱͑̄̾̓͒̈́͝d̸̛̞̪̤̜͓̥͆e̴̻̝̓̀̀̑̑͜͠ͅ ̶̡̧̧͎̭̫͎̦̼͔̭̣̠̖̑̆̋̌͐̌͒̐͋̔̍̿͛I̷̛̛̦̖͈͙̯̝̟̻̓͑̓̀͑̐̇̓̅̾̕͝͝’̵͈̗̻̮̣͔͓̘̿̋͆̄̓̌̕m̸̨̧̠̻̯͎̯̼͍̹͇͇͒͗̀̓̽͆̐̌̑̚͜͠ ̸̢͍̘̥̠͔͇̹̦̊̄̂̈́̀̄́͗̈͊̂̆̚t̵̛̪̠̒̄̈́̌̊͝ṙ̵̬̬̼̙̮̭̹͓̼̗͎̜̥͕̈́̿͑̽̋̑͝͠ŷ̸͕̥̞̞̥̺̭̞̏́̿̄̓̽̂͋̽̂̆͐͂̿ĭ̶̲̝̱̭̹̟̤̏̏̇͐̐͋͘̕͜͜n̴̨̙͖͓̜̻͚̑͋g̶͇̻͕̎̂̽̃̂́́̎ ̶̡̳͉̘͔͈͈̻̗̽̂͂͒̍͋̃͠͠t̸̛̗̞̋̋̓̏̽͒̾́̄͑̍o̴̜̲͓̫̠̭͚̳̲͐͗́̚ ̶̳͎̳̳̀̓̿̈́̊̅̇͜ͅs̶̙͖̞͐̋͆͋́͘͝ḷ̶̰͍̰̣̙̍̿̿̀͒̿̊̃͂̆̄͒͝ȩ̸̤̯̟̪̐́͗̇̄̐͂̚͜ë̷̲̺͕̥̀̎͐̚p̶̨̛̥͖̲͕̺̥͚̳̆͒͊̍̿̓̉̓̽̕,̴̛̖͎̣̭̥̰͆͒̾̓̏̽͘͘͠ ̸̹̃̏̔́͐͐̍͊͗̊̀̄͛͠q̸̟͕̖̣͆͝ų̴̗̟͔̜̻̎͋͐̒̂̂̃̅́̈́͑́̆̽͜͠i̶̢̟̱̞̿̍̎̈̐̉̌̄̕͝t̶̯͙̥͙̞̉̓̈́ ̴̧͔̞͕̬̥͔̟̹̤̭̎͆̄̍̋͂̈́̂́̐̀͂s̶̢̬͇̬͈͎͙̞̲̣̘̺̅͐̈́̒͐u̶̖͍̣̼̣̹͍͈͈̩̞̻̘̤̘͌̅̈͆̑͋͗̔̈́̃͆̕m̶̢̪̤̮̆̆͐͋͂͂̉̓̓͆̊̿m̶̧̧̨͖̝̖̤͓̞̹̮͔̬̼̮̆̋̚o̴̰̾͑̎͘n̶̨̧͈̤͖͍͂̌͗͌͂͑̕͝i̸̡̩̼̻̱̒̇̄̌͊̾̈́̈́̈́͗̄n̵̡̡̢̺̰͎̙̳̗͖͍̺͉̬̦̈́̒͐̑̄̀́̉̍̈́̀͂̀̆g̵̢͎̬͕̰̗͉͇͓͓̫͙̹̬̩̈́̌͊͛̅̈́̽̔̓̈͗͠ ̷̞̬̺̝̆u̵̧̙̯̤͉͖͔͙̘̰̤̪͈̫͗̄͆͌͛͜͝͠ş̶̣͔͖̮͉͈͉̙̬̳͖̬̤̄̽̉

      • Rodeo@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        It’s really useful! It’s spoken across the world in … Uh, one country that’s not even really it’s own country. In fact you’d be better off speaking English there.

        I get the desire to preserve it as history, but it’s really not up to a private company to do something about that. And I say this as someone who knows private companies should be doing a lot more for people and the world than they are.

        • ForgotAboutDre@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Welsh is spoken across the world. There is a significant community of Welsh speakers in Argentina, many of which don’t speak any English.

          Language is much more than history. It is also deeply connected to culture and identity. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.

          I don’t think your intentions are bad, but this attitude leads to cultural destruction (when applied in scale). Cultural destruction is serious evil, those that carry it out often use misdirections like it’s just not practical.

          • Rodeo@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            Good thing it’s not on either me nor a company to preserve that culture then!

            The Welsh are free to whatever they please to preserve their culture and language. And Duolingo is free to not help if they don’t want to.

    • merc@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      I swear, Welsh looks like ROT13 encoded English.

      English version:

      Mr Miles said he would ask the company to consider how the government - which has a self-set target of reaching one million Welsh speakers by 2050 - could support the development of the course, working with the National Welsh Language Learning Centre. Last year’s Census figures showed that there were 24,000 fewer Welsh speakers compared to a decade ago and a report earlier this year said there was doubt about reaching the target. Mr Miles added: "Duolingo is a valuable resource that can help learners on their journey to become Welsh speakers, alongside other language learning opportunities. The language tutor Richard Morse was one of those who worked for several years to put the course content together.

      ROT13 version:

      Ze Zvyrf fnvq ur jbhyq nfx gur pbzcnal gb pbafvqre ubj gur tbireazrag - juvpu unf n frys-frg gnetrg bs ernpuvat bar zvyyvba Jryfu fcrnxref ol 2050 - pbhyq fhccbeg gur qrirybczrag bs gur pbhefr, jbexvat jvgu gur Angvbany Jryfu Ynathntr Yrneavat Prager. Ynfg lrne’f Prafhf svtherf fubjrq gung gurer jrer 24,000 srjre Jryfu fcrnxref pbzcnerq gb n qrpnqr ntb naq n ercbeg rneyvre guvf lrne fnvq gurer jnf qbhog nobhg ernpuvat gur gnetrg. Ze Zvyrf nqqrq: "Qhbyvatb vf n inyhnoyr erfbhepr gung pna uryc yrnearef ba gurve wbhearl gb orpbzr Jryfu fcrnxref, nybatfvqr bgure ynathntr yrneavat bccbeghavgvrf. Gur ynathntr ghgbe Evpuneq Zbefr jnf bar bs gubfr jub jbexrq sbe frireny lrnef gb chg gur pbhefr pbagrag gbtrgure.

    • kn33@lemmy.world
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      Mr Miles said he would ask the company to consider how the government - which has a self-set target of reaching one million Welsh speakers by 2050 - could support the development of the course, working with the National Center for Learning Welsh. Last year’s Census figures showed that there were 24,000 fewer Welsh speakers compared to a decade ago and a report earlier this year said there was doubt about reaching the target. Mr Miles added: "Duolingo is a valuable resource that can help learners on their journey to become Welsh speakers, alongside other language learning opportunities. Language tutor Richard Morse was one of those who worked for several years to put the course content together.

  • Venia Silente@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Instead of depending on a for profit / corpo for maintaining something like a whole language maybe that should be left to a coöp? Or at least something open source / Creative Commons so that people actually are authorized to contribute?

    • Salamendacious@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      Is there an open source language learning platform? I’m not very invested in the FLOSS community but I didn’t think there was anything.

      • Venia Silente@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I don’t know either, I just assume that since it’s 2023 and there’s corpos, at least someone, somewhere, is thanklessly working on a FOSS language learning platform.

          • Venia Silente@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Yeah it’s like, the same way “pharmaceutics” get shiv’d into “pharma” (or “big pharma”) “corporations” get shiv’d into “corpo”.

            • Salamendacious@lemmy.worldOP
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              It must be a regional thing. Personally I’ve never heard pharma by itself only as big pharma, shiv is an improvised knife a prisoner might make, and I’ve never heard corpo before. English is a huge language with a lot of regional differences. When I was young I would say wicked to mean very. If something was really fucked up I’d say it was wicked fucked up or wicked fucked.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The Welsh course on language learning app Duolingo will no longer be updated from the end of the month.

    The course, which the company describes as “the world’s most popular way to learn Welsh online”, will remain available but not developed further.

    “Duolingo is a valuable resource which can help learners on their journey to become Welsh speakers, alongside other language learning opportunities,” Mr Miles added.

    He wants to see an extension of another year to allow the National Centre for Learning Welsh to complete its work on the course.

    Read more:Boy gets GCSE in Welsh months after fleeing Ukraine warUni lecturer ‘sacked’ after branding bilingual signs ‘dangerous’

    "Our aim is to channel limited resources into enhancing high-demand courses like Spanish, French, and German, which serve a larger audience in the UK and worldwide.


    The original article contains 329 words, the summary contains 134 words. Saved 59%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • Aatube@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Does the website have no problem with that outdated logo staring into your eyes

    your eyes

  • archonet@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Today I learned there’s someone out there who wants to learn sheepshaggerspeech

    Brave new world, that