

Ask HN: Will you use an "Evernote for words" I plan to build? - noelsequeira

I'm planning on building a dead simple word list app that lets you store difficult words that you stumble upon while surfing (via a browser add-on). This list then gets synced across your devices, much like Evernote.<p>The app then pulls the corresponding meanings to become your private repository of those tricky words that you tend to look up (and subsequently forget - only, now you won't) when reading articles online.<p>A few months back, I decided to use Evernote to consciously capture new or challenging words that I encountered while reading books or surfing. (If you read pg's essays fairly regularly, I bet you've stumbled upon at least the odd word you didn't already know). Alarmed at how rapidly this list exploded, I decided I could use an app that automated sorting of the words, fetching of their meanings and most importantly, syncing of the list across devices and browsers.<p>I'd like to know if there's an app out there that does this well that I don't know about yet. If not, is this an itch that we share? Do you see yourself using this app if I build it? Please give me a shout, it'll spur me on for sure.<p>[I'm aware that dictionary.com lets you maintain word lists and create flash cards. This, however, doesn't solve my "one universal account that syncs across multiple devices" need which is make-or-break IMO.]
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kieranoneill
I think you want honest feedback here: I won't use that, and I don't think the
vast majority of "normal people" would either. A lack of place to save
difficult words isn't a common problem for most people I don't feel. Also, I
think most people don't even look up words they don't know - they just skip
over them. That said, if success for you would be a small userbase of people
who rely on it, then why not.

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9ec4c12949a4f3
If it's online I'll check Merriam-Webster. If I notice I keep mis-spelling a
word, I'll dedicate my mistake to memory.

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noelsequeira
I used to do that myself. Until I discovered I'd looked up "proselytize" on 6
different occasions and it just wouldn't stick. So I began building a personal
list of to-revise words until it became bloated and unwieldy.

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ZeroMinx
This could be useful for people learning a new language. There are already
plugins for getting translations of words/phrases, but if this service also
stores the words I've looked up, I can go back and repeat.

Maybe I can even be quizzed on my stored words?

With device syncing, I can read and add words during the day, and then I can
get quizzed on my Android phone first thing in the morning before leaving bed.

As I like learning new languages myself, I'm thinking this could be quite
useful. I realize this is probably drifting a bit from your idea though.. Just
thinking out aloud.

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noelsequeira
Yup, the service at its very core is a list of words you've looked up so that
you can go back and repeat.

Quizzing sounds like a good way to make repeating fun, so I'll put that on my
to-do list.

I conceived the idea with the vocabulary-mastery use case in mind, but as
you've pointed out, it seems to fit the get-proficient-at-new-language use
case quite well.

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noahc
This needs to be more than just a service. You need to think about about the
psychology of it all. I come across words all the time that I don't know, but
I don't look them up. I have plenty of excuses why not, but those don't
matter. Just like loosing weight.

The point is that to 'win' you need to address the psychology of looking words
up. How is this going to be easier than looking them up my self. This service
would be useful for many people, if it just e-mailed you the next day all the
words you didn't know and definitions, and then sent you an e-mail at the end
of each week.

If you really wanted to market it well, I'd do this and then do research on
word exposure frequency like being exposed to it every day for 2 days, then
every 3 days for 6 days, then every week for 6 weeks, then once a month 5
months or something like that. And this strategy increases word retention by
65%. These numbers are all made up, but that's the gist of it.

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dlib
I would certainly look into it. I regularly stumble upon words I don't know
(or don't know the exact meaning of) either in my native tongue (Dutch) or in
English even though my vocabulary in both languages is extensive. Sometimes I
write them down or store them somewhere but mostly I do not because it's not
worth the effort. If it's easy to store words into this service, through an
extension or a bookmarklet, it might work for me. A problem I come across with
Dutch words is that there is no proper Dutch dictionary on the internet and I
have to VPN into the university library to look up the definition, which is a
bit of a hassle.

Aggregated data of the users might also provide valuable information as to
which words are generally considered difficult.

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noelsequeira
Awesome, the first HNer whose frustration resonates with mine!

I must admit, internationalization didn't cross my mind. It shouldn't be too
hard though, all we'll need is a decent API / site that we can scrape.

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whimsy
Personally, I agree with some other folks here - your market is students and
people learning languages.

Add really good pronunciation help - something you can hear. Make sure you
integrate SRS - see Piotr Wozniak's work on the forgetting curve. (Also see
Mnemosyne, Anki, etc.)

Check out lingt.com - they're the leader (feature-wise) in the language
learning market for Chinese... at least from what I've seen. I recommend it to
friends here at college that are trying to learn Chinese.

Personally, I learn English words /really fast/. I can see them once and get a
definition and I'll be good for two years. This doesn't work for any other
sort of information... only English words. Why? I have no clue. Anyway, my
point is that no, I wouldn't see myself using it. Sorry.

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cjlars
This could be an interesting browser plugin, but I have a hard time seeing a
business model. FWIW, I wouldn't use it, simply because I tend to remember
looking the word up, and if I can't remember what it means, I get frustrated
and look it up again.

That said, I might be inclined to replace my lookup plugin if it works like
this: Use the same functionality as any other define plugin (ie, right click
-> define word), but with the extra feature that the next N times you see that
word in your browser, the plugin highlights the word and then displays the
definition if and only if you mouse over it.

Naturally, you'd add two items to the right-click menu. 1) define, 2) see
recent definitions.

Not sure how much this helps, but good luck.

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takameyer
While reading online books, I generally have another browser open to look up
those difficult words. The tabs tend to expand quite quickly after hours of
reading. If the interface were dead simple, then I would find this very
useful. I've been looking for ways to expand my vocabulary. Being able to
access a listing of these words that I lookup would be quite interesting and
may actually help me out quite a bit. Keeping it universal is a great idea.
Whenever I find myself with downtime, I'm generally looking on my phone for
something to read. It would be great to access this listing on the go. I'm
excited to try this out!

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noelsequeira
We're on the same wavelength - this is the exact flow I have in mind! Now to
get back to work.

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maguay
Market it to students ... many teachers and parents would be thrilled if their
kids/students actually increased their vocabulary from using the computer. If
it automatically finds definitions, could quiz you, and maybe include some
game-style incentives to get kids to actually really memorize the words and
correct spellings, you could find a real market IMO. Make it simple and cheap
... well less than the price of a Flickr Pro subscription ... and I think it
could do good.

Then, though, you'd have to publish lists of how often kids used it to look up
internet slang and abbreviations. Share that part with HN =D

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runjake
On the Mac at least, I use Spotlight to look up a word (hit Apple-Spacebar and
type "stupendous"). In Cocoa apps, I right-click on a word.

This is my repo and it's already populated.

I prefer to see at least a prototype, instead of a "would uou use?" scenario,
but I can't see using something like this.

But it might be a good programming exercise, and YOU'D use it, so why not go
for it, come up with new ideas and find new pivots along the way, and post a
link when you have a prototype ready?

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tricky
I might use it if you would include spaced repetition learning as a service.
For example, I would like to get a text message or even an email at some user
defined interval (every 6 hours, once a week, etc.) with words in the list
selected by a spaced repetition algorithm so I can really learn what they
mean.

If I just added it to a list, I doubt I'd ever really learn them and the
service would be useless to me.

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ilconsigliere
I would use this immediately. Scattered across my apartment are notebooks with
hand-written definitions (words & phrases) I have recorded with the intent of
incorporating them into my vocabulary. The problem is I cannot regularly
recall the words because I cannot regularly access the list.

The app would be great if it provided incentives for legitimately storing the
words into one's semantic memory.

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_grrr
I read a lot on my Kindle and use the kindle notes/highlights feature to mark
& collect interesting words (generally words I had to look up in the
dictionary). So it's certainly a feature that is useful, in the right context.
Although for me I guess it's still only a nice to have, rather than something
I would seek out. How would you monetise it?

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noelsequeira
Agree that it's nice to have. I wouldn't die without it myself. Which is why I
don't really have plans to monetize it. It'll be a fun project to work on made
even better by the knowledge that it's solving a problem for a niche.

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scrrr
I'm using catch.com for text snippets I need to have both on my computer and
on my Android phone. So I wouldn't have a use for your app I think.

Suggestion: I could imagine to use an app that gives me a few new words to
learn in a foreign language every day. Perhaps with a feature that tests
previous days words when I log on to check what is new.

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noelsequeira
catch.com seems to be similar to Evernote or SimpleNote. My app intends to be
a dictionary-integrated word list for words that you discover and want to
remember, not a note syncing app. So you might eventually find it useful.

That said, "words of the day" is an interesting feature (although it isn't on
my roadmap for v0.1).

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bobf
If you pivot this into a language-learning tool, you'll probably be more
successful because the market is much, much larger.

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winthrowe
I look up odd 'words' all the time. However the vast majority are not verbs,
adjectives, or simple nouns, but proper nouns, and in effect 'proper verbs'
(scientific/technical, actual code). How are you going to beat selecting in
Chrome, and right-click google?

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iterationx
You should design it to work for people learning foreign languages (as well as
your initial goal), and also take into consideration the successes of
supermemo.

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AnupamTulsyan
It seems like a utility app and could be very useful in a long run.

