

Speechyard – Learn English from movies and books - selvan
http://speechyard.com/us/

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pluma
The content seems incredibly dodgy. As an example, I checked out the American
Dad pilot and inspected the HTML used to embed it. The video is hosted without
DRM by Speechyard and the file has "DVDRip" in the name.

Interesting idea for a service but I somehow doubt the content is properly
licensed. You may want to avoid using any of the content in jurisdictions
where illegitimate streaming is considered illegal.

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rurounijones
1\. What languages are supported in the app? Is it the same as the language
options available on the website? (In which case, Japanese please!)

2\. Also, given the nature of distribution deals etc. etc. Is this limited
access by physical region?

3\. "English movies with English subtitles are available for free 24/7" \-
Er... Might answer my previous question. Does this use legally sourced
content?

EDIT: Clicking on the "content" tab gives you a bigger list of languages that
I assume are supported. (Japanese website option would still be appreciated).

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tempodox
Using movies & books as support for learning a language works quite well.
Choose stories & topics that interest you and it helps you keep going even if
you don't understand it all (yet).

I never needed an app for that but if the app supports you well in finding
material, it might be worth it.

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pluma
Like many Germans in my age group I learned English in school, although I
probably started a year earlier than most because my elementary school offered
a voluntary course in fourth grade (German elementary school is four years
followed by six to eight years in the equivalents of high school).

But if that were how I actually learned English I probably wouldn't be any
more fluent than average (i.e. not very). What helped me was growing up with
the Internet and being exposed to English language movies by my parents (who
prefer watching English language films and tv shows in the original language).
As soon as Amazon became a thing I also started buying games in English
(before region locking existed).

I think it was actually beneficial to me that a lot of the sources I had to
rely on when I started out with web development were only available in
English. I wouldn't recommend reading technical specs to language beginners
but it certainly helped becoming fluent in technical terminology (and in
colloquial language via the related mailing lists).

I've tried picking up several other languages since then but I've nearly
always failed simply because there was nothing that required me to "work
through the pain" in the same way.

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JoeAltmaier
I suggest
[http://www.languagelifestylist.com/](http://www.languagelifestylist.com/)
They pair you with a coach, to take your language skills to the next level
wherever that may be. Its so much more satisfying to learn language socially
than alone with books and tapes.

~~~
drivers99
When you click "hire a life stylist" near the bottom of the page
(/hirealanguagelifestylist), it takes you to a 404 page. The link in the top
header (/hire) works though.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Definitely a work in progress. A startup, changes every day. You email the
founder (Marie) and you'll get a personal reply!

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scottmcdot
Any plans for a version to learn German?

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happyscrappy
I have been looking for something like this for Spanish, anyone know of
anything?

