Re: Project proposal: Wikilang, the language-learning platform that anyone can edit

Hi Alex!

Thanks for your feedback. So, the structure of Wikilang, as it will be
built upon a general wiki-style editor, makes it possible to have both a
large number and a large variety of language learning content. Currently,
word bank and translation exercises, as well as flashcards, are supported -
but it would be trivial to add support for short stories, podcasts,
listening exercises, speaking exercises, cloze exercises, videos, etc.,
etc. With an engaged userbase contributing large amounts of content - this
of course being the necessary precondition - I see no reason why Wikilang
could not end up containing the variety and depth of material that humans
need to become truly fluent.

I'd love to discuss! If you'd like to add me on Discord, my handle is
thooton_.

Regards,
Sam

On Sat, Aug 15, 2026 at 6:26 AM Alaexis <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi,
> This is a great initiative!
>
> I agree with Subhashish that languages that are (mostly) spoken rather
> than written are not well served by existing solutions. This includes
> languages having millions of speakers: if someone wants to learn Arabic as
> it's spoken in the Levant they have very few good app-shaped options. For
> instance, the owl app will be basically useless.
>
> Certain language learning apps are known for being engaging without
> helping their users achieve fluency. How would Wikilang's pedagogy be
> different?
>
> Some time ago I tried building something similar based on Wiktionary but
> got stuck with TTS. Happy to talk about it if you're interested.
>
> Best,
> Alex
>
>
> On Sat, 15 Aug 2026 at 01:16, Obtrusive Snake via Wikimedia-l <
> [email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Hi Subhashish!
>>
>> Thanks for your feedback. That's an interesting point about languages
>> that are spoken and not written. The editing framework is built upon
>> MediaWiki, so it should be straightforward to accept pure audio files as
>> sentences and words. This would allow complete courses to be created using
>> only spoken languages.
>>
>> With regards to non-Latin languages, they are already supported through
>> UTF-8!
>>
>> There is no Abstract Wikipedia integration yet, although I can see lots
>> of possibilities for the two projects to be integrated and from the data
>> contributed to Wikilang to benefit AW, and vice versa.
>>
>> Regards,
>> sam1370
>>
>> On Thu, Aug 13, 2026 at 11:03 PM Subhashish <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> This is quite an interesting project. Still going through it to share
>>> feedback. I wonder if you have thought of languages that are only spoken
>>> and not written. That's how the majority of the world's languages are.
>>> Secondly, languages that are written in a writing system other than Latin.
>>> A wide number of written languages are written in various scripts. But I
>>> guess that's quite possible since you plan to use the Wikimedia
>>> infrastructure. Is there any Abstract Wikipedia integration?
>>>
>>> Subhashish
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Aug 14, 2026 at 11:09 AM Obtrusive Snake via Wikimedia-l <
>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi everyone,
>>>>
>>>> I hope that you're all having a nice day! I'd like to request your
>>>> feedback on my project proposal for Wikilang, the language-learning
>>>> platform that anyone can edit.
>>>>
>>>> Before Wikipedia, knowledge was scattered, fragmented, and duplicated,
>>>> across thousands of encyclopedias and reference works, and millions of
>>>> websites and books. To get a complete understanding of a subject, it was
>>>> necessary to cobble together information from many sources, many of which
>>>> were not easily available. Wikipedia changed this, providing a central
>>>> place where knowledge can be stored, organized, and accessed - at no cost.
>>>> Wikipedia makes knowledge free.
>>>>
>>>> Language learning is in a similar state. There are innumerable language
>>>> learning books, platforms, and courses. While some material is freely
>>>> available, a large amount of valuable content is locked behind expensive
>>>> paywalls. The serious learner is forced to cobble together a course from
>>>> many different sources, and will likely end up having to spend some money.
>>>> For many, who don't have the financial resources or time to invest in this,
>>>> they simply end up not learning the language at all.
>>>>
>>>> Wikilearn proposes to do for language learning what Wikipedia has done
>>>> for knowledge: centralize it, organize it, and make it freely accessible.
>>>> It consists of two components: a course editor, and a learning application.
>>>> Contributors modify the course, adding new words, sentences, and
>>>> translations. Learners take the course, which guides them through learning
>>>> their target language through a series of spaced repetition-informed
>>>> lessons and exercises.
>>>>
>>>> If Wikilearn is successful, people around the world will have access to
>>>> high-quality, structured language learning material, at no cost.
>>>>
>>>> If you have the time, it would be awesome if you could leave your
>>>> feedback at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikilang!
>>>>
>>>> And, if you want to see the proposed platform in action, I have a fully
>>>> functional prototype available at https://mimilearn.org.
>>>>
>>>> Thank you,
>>>> sam1370 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User%3ASam1370>
>>>> Discord: thooton#0043
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>
>

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