...with an AI examiner.
People love using similar products but resist paying. You’ll need to either find who will pay or create additional value that’s worth paying for.
Build but think about differentiation and monetization.
You're entering a market with moderate competition. We found 8 similar products. The good news is this confirms there's a clear need for AI-powered IELTS speaking practice. The bad news is that you'll need to differentiate yourself. Based on our analysis this falls into the Freemium category: people like using these types of products but often resist paying for them. You will need to carefully balance your offerings by figuring out what specific features, benefits, or content, you can gate behind a premium paywall. Differentiating yourself is key; many users are concerned about the accuracy of speech recognition, especially for non-native speakers, so that is one area where improvements could prove beneficial. Focus on the intersection of freemium and differentiation!
You're entering a market with moderate competition. We found 8 similar products. The good news is this confirms there's a clear need for AI-powered IELTS speaking practice. The bad news is that you'll need to differentiate yourself. Based on our analysis this falls into the Freemium category: people like using these types of products but often resist paying for them. You will need to carefully balance your offerings by figuring out what specific features, benefits, or content, you can gate behind a premium paywall. Differentiating yourself is key; many users are concerned about the accuracy of speech recognition, especially for non-native speakers, so that is one area where improvements could prove beneficial. Focus on the intersection of freemium and differentiation!
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Hello Hacker News,When learning foreign languages, I made the most progress by speaking them throughout the day, every day. So I made a site where you can *speak* to an AI language teacher to practice both listening and speaking.# The product*What I have now:** Multilingual speech recognition: You can ask a question in English and get an answer in your target language. * Feedback on your grammar. * Suggestions: See examples of what to say next to keep the conversation flowing. * Speed: Choose a lower speed for beginners or a faster one for advanced levels. * Translations: Click to see a translation into English (or another language). * Role-playing: Practice real-life situations. * Available to learn American English, British English, Australian English, French, Spanish from Spain, Spanish from Mexico, Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, Russian, and more.*What I'd like to add:** More Situations/Characters/Customizations: A "Creator mode". * Feedback on your pronunciation. * Text-based responses (Type or click – would feel like a "Create Your Own Adventure" book!) * A dictionary. * Phonetics: Zoom in and repeat a sound to help you hear phonemes and words more clearly. * …and so much more!…# The startupBeen working on this for 6-7 months now.I love this project and got lots of laudatory comments about it, but still find it hard to make it take off. 31% of people come back to it, traffic is growing through word of mouth with language teachers in schools or Telegram or private intranets sharing it with others. So that's nice. But nice words alone don't pay the bills.My goal is to achieve enough growth to cover costs, which would then allow me to focus 100% on the product (currently it's more like 50% of my time). But I'm not there yet.A challenge I see is that most places forbid self-promotion. So I'm just not sure how on Earth I'm supposed to have a product take off. I could pay for ads, but I use AdBlock everywhere so this feels out of character. I'm a big fan of Pieter Levels (@levelsio on Twitter) because he's doing things solo, so I'm trying to emulate the same kind of success. But it seems that something is missing.What features would you find most useful? How can I better market this without resorting to ads?Thanks for reading! If you've got thoughts or ideas, I would love to hear them.Cheers, Fabien
The Show HN product, likely a language learning tool with speech-to-text features, has received mixed feedback. Users appreciate the concept and find it valuable, especially for practicing speaking alone. However, there are significant concerns about the accuracy of speech recognition, particularly with non-native accents and mixed languages. Suggestions include improving context-based language models, adding structured objectives, and partnering with language schools. Some users experienced issues with specific languages like Spanish and Bosnian, and there's a desire for more language support and better pronunciation guidance. Positive notes include ease of use, potential for partnerships, and the usefulness of the chatbot for practice.
Users criticize the product for poor speech recognition, especially with non-native accents, leading to misinterpretations and frustration for language learners. The voice-to-text feature is deemed finicky and inaccurate. There are complaints about the lack of support for multiple languages and dialects, insufficient language learning features like structured objectives, translation, and pronunciation feedback. The app is considered slow, with a confusing interface and inadequate instructions. Some users suggest alternative products, and there are concerns about potential security vulnerabilities.
FAQ says no app, main page says download app
Inconsistent information about app download
Comments on the Show HN product/service reveal concerns about high pricing, limited language support, and the quality of the demo video. Users question the management of the language learning tool and the authenticity of testimonials. Some see the concept as unoriginal or poorly integrated compared to other apps. There are debates on the impact of AI on language learning, with some fearing cultural harm and others advocating for its role in preserving minority languages. Opinions on traditional vs. input-based learning methods and the relevance of AI in various aspects of life, including translation and prediction, are also expressed.
Users criticized the product for lacking depth, high pricing, and limited language support, emphasizing the latter. The demo video was disappointing and caused motion sickness. There were doubts about the authenticity of AI-generated testimonials and concerns about the product's integration with other apps. The target audience and course comprehensiveness were unclear. Criticisms also touched on the potential negative impact on human abilities and diversity, the struggle with non-English languages, and the irrelevance of formal grammar rules. Concerns were raised about the product's ability to keep up with language evolution and the negative effects of technology on human intelligence.
Hey Hacker News,I’m Jay, a 26 year old Irish guy, and I’ve spent the last 2-3 months working full time on my AI language partner, Langchats.I love languages (or at least the idea of speaking lots of languages). I also LOVE building, and making software applications has become a big part of my life.I’ve combined two of my passions into an application. Langchats. An AI language partner, and my goal is to make it sufficiently good that it can replace a traditional language partner, and maybe even a teacher in the future. It’s early days yet for AI, but I have high hopes.Over the last 3 months I’ve built out most of the core features:- 30+ languages on offer - Translations - Corrections - Voice responses - Suggestions - Free chat (about anything) or Role play scenarios - And much moreI’m now at the point where I think I’ve got 70-80% of the main features built out. I’m happy enough with the UI too. However, I know there are plenty of improvements to make.The next goal is Marketing. However, it’s not easy to promote your product when places like reddit and other forums don’t like self promotion. Has anybody got any tips on how to reach more people? I might test out paid some paid Ads. I also run a youtube channel called Linguajay which is mainly language content and this is how I’ve got some initial customers.I’m also going to be doing a language series on Youtube / Twitter starting next week where I try to learn Dutch over the course of a month to a really basic conversation level ONLY using my application Langchats. In the hope that I can go viral and get on the radar of indiemakers such as Danny Postma and Pieter Levels, both Dutch. I’ll be a power user of my own app. In the process I’ll know exactly what additional features need to be built / what improvement need to be made.Quick side note on Langchats (before someone comments): The product is free to use for the first 7 days. You can cancel anytime before the 7 days are up and you pay nothing. Yes I know this is a little friction but everything is handled via Stripe so payments are fully secure. I’m a solo developer an my goal is to be able to make a living of this product. It costs me to run it so I’m not in a position to offer a totally free plan at the moment.You can follow my progress using the links below:Langchats: https://www.langchats.comLinguajay Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@linguajayTwitter: https://twitter.com/jay_pinionwebsite: https://www.jaypinion.com/If you’ve got any ideas or suggestions on how I can improve the product then give me a shout.Thanks everyone!Have a great day.Jay
