Topic: [Kongzi.ca] - Beta-1 Milestone! (Read 859 times)

Implemented since last update:

-- Help screens.
-- Spaced Repetition Flashcards. (<--- major feature)
-- Lesson tracking (School, Course, and textbook...) via the Tag Tree system.
-- Flashcard creator (drag 'n drop, compatable with ios 7 and android)

Other developments:
-- The database has been rewritten from scratch twice now, and is now a superset of JMDictDB functionality with modifications for multilanguage headwords.
-- When searching in Japanese, entries are imported on-the-fly from JMdict XML.
-- The database developments were the major hurdle, and is 90% of what I have been working on for the last several months.

I expect development to be coming along a /lot/ quicker, now that the db stuff is done. It took a lot of meditation to chew through the db stuff, tying xquery to sql and reimplementing JMdictDB from scratch. All that's left are number of re-integrations to get the new database hooked back up to the flashcard creator and stuff like that, and maybe implement some of the (extremely powerful) features of having full JMdict data. But these are all trivial, variable-renaming tasks. I am 350% satisfied with the database system now. I feel free, this is an amazing feeling, and what I learned working on the drag 'n drop Flashcard Editor gave me a billion ideas.

Once a small amount of re-integration work is completed, likely by the end of next week, I feel Beta-1 will be complete and I will move to phase 2 (Beta-2). Stuff to look forward to in Beta-2:

-- Flashcard browser (Flashcard library system / deck editor for users)
-- Reintegrate SRS flashcards and SRS multiple choice flashcard games
-- Reintegrate user profile control panel
-- Create a system for users to add data and for editorial review of the database data (the security side of things has already been coded, we need an approval system, an incoming-changes table, essentially)
-- Lesson trail system with flashcard and activity packs
-- New games: Memory Game, Re-arrange the sentences game, maybe a few other study games featuring touchscreen technology

I've decided to hold back on the example sentences system & fill-in-the-blanks tests, as well as the bunshou (short composition) analyzer, bunshou library and cloze test generators until Beta-3.


IRL developments:
-- Stuff IRL always happens so slowly :/
-- Work on MCI Japanese has been going well, we have almost as much data collected as we do for the MCI Chinese project -- about 50 children's books.
-- We have signed two Japanese teachers who work for Japanese cram schools in the area to do audio.
-- in contact with a major japanese langauge learning website, we may be able to work together on a few projects.
-- In contact with someone who runs a video teaching site (for an English cram school) and several English cram schools and highschools in the area.
-- In contact with several local highschool students, whose manga skills are somewhat polished -- for artwork for the books and the site
-- I will be taking my JLPT N4 next year.



This is going to rule, man. This is totally going to rock. This website has been one of my dreams for years.

p.s. lifetime accounts have been extended until the end of june, please post your requests to me here or in PM.

Announcements:

1. The dictionary suggestion system is up and running. Users can add to the dictionaries now.
2. Multiple choice quizzing is now fully operational.
3. The business development loan offer has been closed for the foreseeable future. We don't need it anymore.

I was very surprised at how easy it was to do the multiple choice quiz considering how long it took me in the Desktop version.

Coming soon:
Multiple choice quizzing in other languages won't choose entries without a definition
Help screens
Intelligent entry system which asks you a question that the dictionary doesn't know (i.e. What is あめ in Korean?) to help fill out the DB
High score lists for multiple choice and other types of quiz
More quiz types
Spaced Repetition Flashcards
School, Course, and Textbook Vocabulary Tracking!
Bunshou Analysis!
And more!

I've also decided to give anyone with a forum account here on bitcointalk a free lifetime membership should they so desire. Just send me a PM telling me your kongzi.ca username! Offer expires December 21st, 2012!

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/kongzica-going-live-investmentpresales-opportunities-124391
-----
For those of you interested in the investment opportunities offered by Kongzi.ca, I have two important announcements; one for users and one for potential investors!

Announcement for Users:
Kongzi.ca has now completed it's first app, a basic JLPT-N5 flashcard quiz app. This puts us squarely at Beta-1 status. This is a simple program which presents hiragana words to you and asks you if you know them. If you do, you click 'A'. If you don't, you click 'B'. You have 30 seconds to answer each question. The app is smart; it knows which words have N5 level Kanji, and it shows them as kanji 50% of the time. At the end, your quiz is marked.

If you are learning Japanese, check out kongzi.ca today. The next step in this amazing flashcard app is to allow it to become fully configurable. To that end I have already implemented a cookie-based user config system. In the coming days and weeks I will be adding the forms and backend code to transform this simple flashcard app into the beast that the Kongzi desktop program is. And from there I will be adding other features such as Spaced Repetition, and so forth. Good luck and thank you for using kongzi.ca.

Announcement for Investors:
The offer I am making has changed. I am still not offering any securities. But due to the nature of the site (i.e. how it has developed) I have decided to change the terms of the pre-sales and business development loan I'm asking for. I feel I've demonstrated that I am serious about this, at least a little bit beyond what it was like when I made the original post linked above. I now offer:

a) Presale / Resale opportunities
1. An attractive 5 bitcoins for a lifetime "full" account on kongzi.ca. (one per person, please).
2. A very generous 50% commission for anyone willing to act as a resale agent.
3. An attractive five bitcoins for a complete package of:

• One set of copies of Welcome to Japanese and Welcome to Japanese Workbook in their current iteration, shipped anywhere in the world;
• eBook versions of the final work e-mailed to you later

b) Business Development Loan Opportunities (CLOSED)
If you wish to help support this project, I will borrow money from you in bitcoins and repay you out of initial profits from kongzi.ca. Exact terms can be worked out in PM (and made public if you like). At this time I am willing to negotiate loans of 10btc and up. What will this money be used for?
--> If I get a lot of money (5000 bitcoins) I will quit my jobs and do this full time.
--> If I get a marginal amount (500 bitcoins) I will use it to cover site expenses and my Adobe Creative Suite subscription.
--> If I get low amounts of money (50 bitcoins) I will use it to cover site expenses.

c) Questions: What kind of profits are we looking at? How long is the expected time until these profits are generated?
Answers: A website like iKnow.com has 50,000 users and up subscribed to some of it's courses. japanesepod101.com has over a million users and has delivered over 200 million video lessons alone. Busuu.com received over 300,000 likes on facebook. Sites like lang-8, japanese-live, easyjapanese, etc. tend to collect hundreds of thousands of user profiles relatively early in their lifespan.

I also am not solely targeting English speaking people who want to learn Japanese. I am also simultaneously targeting Chinese and Japanese speakers who want to learn English, and also people who want to learn Chinese as well. It's a 4 way; English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Speakers of any of these languages can learn any of the others. The system is set up to go between any two languages directly.

Ok so let's assume a reasonable 100,000 accounts after 1-2 years, with a conservative conversion ratio of 0.5% (the lowest standard estimate is usually 1%). We are looking at 500 paying users. If I charge $5 a month that's $2,500 a month. 250 bitcoins a month. Site expenses including my coffee won't reach 50 bitcoins a month. I expect to get to this point in approximately 18 months. The second year will see a giant push towards audiovisual resources, native speaker hiring, and other top-secret stuff I can't talk about yet. I expect a more honest 300,000 users and a 1% conversion rate by that time (3 years) leading to an average 3,000 paying users ($15,000 a month). Of course the expenses will be a lot more by then, probably $2,000-$3,000 a month, because we will want to raise production values on the AV resources. And I'll want to draw some pay by then. But I think a repay rate of $10,000 a month is reasonable once we reach our peak. In the far future (5+ years) , I expect to integrate with existing online communities and really focus fire on other languages besides teaching Japanese and English. A lot of business will come from C-->J, K-->C and so forth. These are just ballpark estimates.

d) Sunset clause on business development loans
Once the site gets up and running (maybe around 3-6 months total?) I won't be looking for business development loans, save a larger loan which would enable me to quit my job and develop the website full time. Get it while you can. (offer closed)