It seems like Berliner breaking the rules (or norms) and throwing bombs by way of another media outlet was his last-ditch effort to break through and be heard. In that, at least, he's getting attention, and now let's hope it leads to change.

The examples he gave in the FP piece all seemed very political, focusing on not covering "the other side". Honestly I don't want any of that crap coming at me in the morning, I don't want "other side" coverage just like I don't want "my side" coverage. I can get that anywhere. I listen to NPR because I want good journalism, not both-sidesism. I hope this event can lead coverage back there. With the new CEO, perhaps there's an opportunity.

One of the things I notice right away about your app is that your learning arc is moving from saying simple things to saying complex things, as opposed to aligning with increasing grammatical complexity. One of the things Duolingo does well is start with simple verbs, simple nouns, then slowly introduce language complexity over time: new particles, new tenses, new grammatical structures, etc. So the learning arc follows the complexity of the grammar, not the complexity of what I'm trying to express. I'm not sure I'm communicating that well :-) But for Japanese, as an example, there is a series of proficiency tests that do a good job of laying out a rough learning arc, which makes it easier to scaffold someone in, meet them where they are, and then start building on the knowledge they already have. When I futz with LLMs it's largely been to box the LLM in at a particular language level and then use it to practice language concepts at that level: for example, use JLPT N4 vocab and grammar and let's have a conversation about my day at university using formal language. If there was some way to roughly align the Univerbal conversation against tiers in language learning and then help me progress along that arc, it would be even more valuable.

My actual expertise is in games for learning though, and I appreciate what I saw you doing with "goals" in the "meeting a new friend" stage. Gamification is primarily about engagement, keeping me motivated, keeping me involved, keeping me coming back. Duo does a ton of gamification and uses it to good effect even though I know it does drive some people bonkers. But am I about to break my 500-day streak? No I am not. Gamification works! :) With the capabilities that you already demonstrate you could probably walk closer to making it an actual game, if you wanted to: the primary difference being that you'd need to add learning elements in there beyond the suggestions you have now (which are great, btw). Think of the way Zelda teaches you a new control mechanic through the individual shrines and bosses (formative and summative assessment, essentially), and adds the control details to your options menu once you've learned them (like having a grammar guide or vocabulary list once you've demonstrated mastery). What your game would be would be something very different from Zelda, but... it is fun to think about!

Love what you're doing!

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