Last year I introduced the Sentence Database for everyone out there that’s learning Spanish and wants to have enough choice in example sentences. So far there are over 4,300 sentences, and it’s growning (I’m currently preparing a BIG update which will add another ~2000 sentences).
But I’ve never really been happy with the system the database runs on, so I’ve hired some programmers to build a bad-ass website from the ground up to not only add some extra functionality, but also to improve the current features (like the search engine). What will these extra features be? To begin with there will be just two:
- An option to select sentences and export them to a file that Anki can read.
- Many more sentences than the free ones (over 5000 sentences more).
Later on I’ll also offer audio. Starting small, my goal is to offer audio for every single sentence (I already have a native speaker that can help me with this).
Now, because I have to may those guys to make the new site I’ll introduce a premium membership for the people that want more sentences and the option to export the sentences to Anki.
So my question to you is: what would be a price you think will be right?
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!Related Posts:
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{ 23 comments }
i wouldn’t pay
what’s the point of having way more sentences in your deck than you can remember at a time? i’m not sure how anki works, i’m using mnemosyne and i’m always annoyed if the not learned count is anything but zero, so i usually just don’t add more than i can learn in a session, and this amount is easily “copy-paste’able”.
having more sentences for the premium users is a bad idea, imo. the extra features should only be technical. everyone has google anyway.
Well, you forget how much time it takes to prepare an update. Preparing an update like the one I’m preparing now takes several days. That’s time I could’ve done other things.
Besides, it’s also a way to support this site. The articles I write are free, but the new system won’t be cheap. I need to earn that back somehow.
I completely understand the need to recoup the funds you’ve invested in the database. I also think most educators will agree with Serpent. Why would underpaid teachers or underfunded districts pay for a service if they can find something similar for free? Have you considered selling ad space in the database? That way, you could recoup some of your costs while keeping the service free. I think most people are used to seeing advertisements on free resources, so I can’t see very many being upset by ad placement.
I know people are used to getting everything for free, but why do you think I started this database? Because the only serious alternative is SpanishPod, which costs $29 per month if you want to get the sentences.
There’s simply not a good free alternative. You know why? Because it’s a pretty crappy job to come up with sentences, or collect them from various sources and proof-read everything.
So that’s why I’m asking what you (the readers) think is a good price.
I might consider putting up ads, but then it must be a darn good deal because most people are ad-blind which causes prices to drop.
I dropped you a reply on twitter but I will repost it here and in some more depth. I’d pay around $5, I bought AJATT’s sentence for around the same price which included around 500 sentences and it was an extremely good buy.
You could copy paste them for free, but is that really worth the time if you could do a quick export for a relatively low price. Besides he isn’t buying hookers with your money he’s supporting the sites that you read (which is not cheap) plus he put a ton of time and effort into creating the sentences.
He also saved you all that money by saving you from Spanish classes wouldn’t it be awesome to give him a small reward for saving you A LOT of money.
Thanks for the heads up.
I’d pay 5 $ too.
Your articles has been invaluable in my Spanish studies.
Keep up the good work!
I also bought AJATT’s QRG for around $5, if I remember correctly. Unfortunately I’m a Japanese student, not Spanish, but I come to your site for the awesome advice anyway because it often applies to me as well.
A suggestion- if you really want to make a business out of this, perhaps getting your native friends to read the sentences out loud would be a good idea. If you could offer native sentences with native audio you’d be a much better resource than SpanishPod (because people would only have to buy the sentences, not the useless podcasts and exercises). Just a thought. Whatever you end up doing, I think both you and Khatzumoto deserve to make some $$ for the services you provide. Good luck!
I’ve been thinking about that. In fact, last week I was talking with a Spanish friend of mine about the possibility of him doing something for this blog.
Now, he doesn’t speak any English at all but has a very clear pronunciation, so I might hire him to read the sentences out loud.
Sounds like a great idea, Ramses!
So you’ve already hired developers to upgrade the DB? Just wondering if you gave any thought to the “open source” alternative. I doubt there’s already a project like this that exists but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t start one or find someone else who might be interested in creating one.
I’ve been following your posts for almost a year now since I returned from a trip to Mexico and I must say they’ve helped me a lot. Although I don’t currently use the sentence DB that much I feel like I’m finally at a level where I can start to really benefit from SRS. I’d probably be willing to chalk up $5 like the other readers have mentioned.
I’ve considered that, and I’m currently using an open source alternative. The thing is, there isn’t a system around that exactly does what it should do. I first spoke with some people about building further on an open source alternative, but that would eventuelly be more work.
As it look now I’ll also be offering audio for sentences.
The point is, that there is no “fast lane” in language learning: you just pay, download 10000 sentences, put them into Anki, and start learning.
You have to make your sentences YOURSELF from material YOU are reading, listening, or viewing in a video. You don’t have a “connection” to downloaded material.
That’s not entirely true Alex. I agree that you shouldn’t download a deck of 10,000 sentences and start learning, but what about a database with over 10,000 sentences from which you can pick and download audio for? Wouldn’t that be superb?
You can simply search for a word, decide if you want to take it over in your deck and then get the audio.
I wouldn’t pay much for just sentences (I would pay $5 though), but if each sentence had audio, that would be great. Especially if it was interesting audio (as in not read in a boring, “no one would say it THAT dull” way). I’d pay maybe $20 per 1000 sentences if they all had good audio in Anki format. That’s comparative to SpanishPod (which my subscription is about to run out) and 1000 sentences would at least take me a month to pick through and add/learn.
What would be great is to make sentence “packs” that would give the buyer a feeling for the type of sentences included. Like basics with easy, generic words (“Hey, that guy said something to you”), grammar heavy packs (“Although many didn’t know about the ghosts, I had a feeling they were there.”), maybe topic specific packs, and of course mixed, random packs. Then one could be more confident in what they’re purchasing and you could do $5 a pack (depending on how big) or $10 for a three, or more if they all have audio.
Just a thought!
Thought I’d mention that my idea of $20 for 1000 sentences with audio would be the “if it were the best quality product ever” case. Ooo!, That’d be cool if you could browse all 10,000 sentences but could only download audio by adding them to your online “deck” (a “click to add to cart” type thing) and 1000 that you pick are $20 ($5 for 200, $2 for 50, $1 for anything under 25…) . That would be my best case scenario.
It won’t be that way, although it’s a cool idea. No, it’ll just be a monthly subscription like SpanishPod because I’ll be adding new sentences each month.
I don’t think that I’ll be releasing sentence packs. People can pick out there own sentences, and that’s it. I offer people a quality product for a small fee (I mean, is it wrong to earn something if I and other people have put it a lot of work? People only seem to want to have things for free, which isn’t realistic).
I’m with the $5 people, though I don’t think I’d pay that monthly. I thought it was a one-time fee deal. Or maybe $12 a year? As other people mentioned I wouldn’t want to download a huge chunk of sentences all at once. The way I imagine I’d use such a system would be to export a few (say 20) sentences+audio every so often (a few times a week or less). That way I could pick and choose sentences while keeping my SRS load manageable.
Well, $5 as a one-time fee would be ridiculous. A good dictionary is 10 – 20 times that price and doesn’t have audio. Adding up the price of the new website and hiring someone to record everything I’m up to $600 – $700 in costs.
And then you have to realise the hosting that adds up every month as well, especially when I’ll be adding audio. Things don’t come free you know.
You know you probably shouldn’t ask people what they are willing to pay because they are always going to want it to be at the lowest price possible. Instead, you should probably look around at the prices others are offering for similar services, and choose price somewhere within that ballpark. If there aren’t any similar services, I would go ahead and make the price based on cost+fees to set it up and keep it continuing operating plus a couple of extra bucks to make a profit. The fact is if given the option people are going to say they want for free!
So true. I already have something in mind, but did listen to some people to add value to the final product and also keep it fair for all parties.
Or you can go here and have thousans of free sentences:
http://www.corpusdelespanol.org
Difficult to use those sentences (they just get them within a certain word frame), without translations and without audio.
Just wait and see what I come up with, it’s way better than that site.
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