Show HN: I built this to talk Danish to my girlfriend – works with any language

I'm in my 4th year living in Denmark as an expat, and I finally decided it’s time to properly learn Danish. I do have a Danish girlfriend, after all. One way I’ve been practicing is by trying to text only in Danish, but I often find myself stuck. I start my message in Danish, then hit a wall because I don’t know a word or how to fit something naturally into the sentence.

Especially in those cases, I used to give up and translate the entire message from English, which kind of defeats the purpose and interrupts the learning process.

So I started prompting GPT. I’d write my message with wildcards or notes for the parts I didn’t know, and it would return a corrected version. That worked well, but reusing the prompt each time became tedious.

So I built a wrapper around it.

Now I can type in the target language, mark unclear parts with curly braces {like this}, and get an instant corrected version with explanations. I also added a history feature so I can review what I got wrong, and I plan to build more on that soon (eg. summary of areas or words to review).

This app is for language learners who want to practice writing without feeling insecure about mistakes or breaking their flow by switching to a translator.

I hope you find it useful!

menerdu.vercel.app

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201 points

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lil_csom

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5 days ago

118 comments

optionalsquid ・ 4 days ago

This is an interesting idea.

But, besides not being able to use your site due to the errors mentioned by other posters, both the examples on your website give me pause:

The example input "Kan you hjelmpe mig {yesterday}?" reads to me as "Can you help me yesterday?", but that's just a nonsense sentence and an odd choice for an example. The word for "help" is also misspelled, but presumably that would get corrected.

And the suggestion of "Jeg vil gerne handle i morgen" for "Jeg vil gerne go shopping i morgen", instead reads to me as "I would like to act tomorrow". A more idiomatic translation would be "Jeg vil gerne købe ind i morgen".

  • delusional ・ 3 days ago

    > And the suggestion of "Jeg vil gerne handle i morgen" for "Jeg vil gerne go shopping i morgen", instead reads to me as "I would like to act tomorrow". A more idiomatic translation would be "Jeg vil gerne købe ind i morgen".

    It's a little better, but I would never expect anyone to translate "shopping" to "købe ind". "købe ind" is about getting groceries for the week, shopping is about walking the strip and dreaming of buying random clothing. As a native speaker I'd be less surprised if the you just used the borrowed word "shopping" directly. Basically "Jeg vil gerne shoppe i morgen".

    • Blahah ・ 3 days ago

      In British english at least, 'going shopping' is a normal way to say 'getting groceries for the week'.

      • klipt ・ 3 days ago
        ・ 3 more

        Yeah groceries is "shopping"

        "walking the strip and dreaming of buying random clothing" is "window shopping"

        • poly2it ・ 3 days ago
          ・ 2 more

          In Swedish, shopping has been loaned to mean window shopping. Buying groceries is commonly called att handla.

          • ragazzina ・ 2 days ago

            I think "go/do shopping" is the same in French, Spanish, Italian and German, as opposed to faire les courses / ir de compras / fare la spesa / einkaufen.

      • SoftTalker ・ 2 days ago

        In US english (at least as I speak/understand it) "shopping" is any act of browsing/looking at/selecting something for purchase. It can be groceries, clothes, a car, anything really and it can be online or in person at a store.

        "I'm going shopping" with no other specifics would normally mean "for groceries" or other general household supplies, though.

    • shermantanktop ・ 3 days ago

      If a European language gained a new everyday word in the last fifty years, there’s a solid chance that it’s a loan word from English. A little odd to learn a “foreign” language filled with that stuff.

      • dmoy ・ 3 days ago
        ・ 4 more

        > European

        It's not restricted to European languages. 贝果 is bagel, just sounded out phonetically, and 三明治 is sandwich.

        Idk if there's anything super odd about it.

        Of course, English is the worst offender of loan words. As someone else said somewhere, "[English doesn't] just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."

        Gung ho, monsoon, filibuster, herbivore, vacation, etc etc etc. Thousands upon thousands of loanwords.

        • dionian ・ 2 days ago
          ・ 3 more

          Fun fact, 99% of words ending in -tion are the exact same in French. Every English speaker has a head start of hundreds of word vocabulary in French.

          • stragies ・ 2 days ago
            ・ 2 more

            Those words also exist in Spanish, there the ending is "cion", and in Portuguese with ending "cão"

            • ElevenLathe ・ 2 days ago

              And in Polish: -cja. Lots of languages have had a deep relationship with Latin, not just Romance languages.

      • piva00 ・ 3 days ago
        ・ 4 more

        With Scandinavian languages it went full circle, there are lots of everyday English words stemming from old Norse :)

        • DataDaoDe ・ 3 days ago

          yes, a lot indeed. Even some very rare adoptions that almost never happen in languages (like the pronoun they). My most favorite has to be window though from the Old Norse vindauga (vind = wind, auga = eye).

        • liotier ・ 2 days ago

          Same in French. When my colleagues tell me about "le repository Git", I love to answer about "le repositoire git" - sounds mightily quaint but that French word is actually the one through which the Latin repositorium percolated to English.

        • BurningFrog ・ 3 days ago

          As a Swede, I can recognize the norse root of most English word for things that existed 1000 years ago.

  • lil_csom ・ 4 days ago

    Hey, thank you for your input! I definitely have to improve the example texts and make sure that the way the tool should be used is better understood!

dkga ・ 3 days ago

Interesting use case. By coincidence I am also learning Danish quite intensively. What I do (and that tends to work for me) is the following:

- I try to actively write something and when I hit a wall, I try in other languages: the important in this part is to get the text flowing from me. Eg, "du could har hjælpe mig, når jeg called du" (trying to write in Danish, "you could have helped me when I called you")

- I then paste it on ChatGPT and ask for a C2-level correction with explanations on vocabulary and grammar, and translations into a few other languages. Eg, my prompt would be """ "du could har hjælpe mig, når jeg called du"

correct to c2-level and explain grammar and vocabulary. give related examples. then translate to German, English, French and Italian. """

This is incredibly helpful to do everyday, especially if you are also learning passively by reading/studying by yourself. By the way, for those curious, here's how ChatGPT would correct the sentence: "Du kunne have hjulpet mig, da jeg ringede til dig." Interestingly, it assumed I meant "called" as in, "telephoned" (not my original intention). Translating into other languages helps you spot and get a sensibility for such cases.

As an aside, for me the most challenging part of learning Danish is the pronunciation. It's beautiful, but it doesn't map out too easily to written words :)

  • rasmus-kirk ・ 2 days ago

    > As an aside, for me the most challenging part of learning Danish is the pronunciation. It's beautiful...

    As a Dane, all I have to say is; lol

  • BurningFrog ・ 3 days ago

    The peoples of Sweden and Norway stand behind you on the pronunciation issue!

gaoshan ・ 3 days ago

It doesn't seem to work with "any language", as claimed. It cannot process Chinese writing (nor can it process pinyin). "Error processing your text", is the message. Though it's certainly possible the volume of traffic has overwhelmed things and it would work under normal circumstances?

  • Sayrus ・ 3 days ago

    I tried with Korean and had the same thought but English seems to trigger the error as well as I'd say the poor app received HN hug of death.

    • cjohnson318 ・ 3 days ago

      I tried Spanish. I wanted to test a few words that are different in Spain versus Mexico. I didn't get any results for anything I tired.

Alex-Programs ・ 5 days ago

This is really cool!

I've done a lot of research into LLM translation for my product[0], and I'm currently working on a deep translation service that provides reliably human-level translations.

I don't know what model you're using, but GPT-4.1 is probably the best for your use case - it's in the top few % for nearly every language, and has a low standard deviation, while also being relatively low latency and low cost.

[0] https://nuenki.app

  • lil_csom ・ 4 days ago

    Thank you so much for the suggestion! I'll later also check out your app!

ljlolel ・ 3 days ago

First, I applaud you building something and encourage it.

Next, I want to say I don’t understand these llm “apps”. I tried this in ChatGPT with the minimal prompt (that you can keyboard shortcut) “fill in curly” and it gave me exactly the correct full sentence plus even better alternatives.

Why would I use a separate app?

In general why would I use any of these separate apps vs my included ChatGPT that I’ll have a button away with included unlimited subscription

  • bluerooibos ・ 2 days ago

    I imagine once this app becomes more mature, it'll have more options and functionality around its specific use-case, and tailored UX.

    ChatGPT just has a text input and output. They can't build ChatGPT to have the perfect UX for every single eventuality. TLDR - UX, convenience, and ease of use.

    • ljlolel ・ 2 days ago

      ChatGPT can literally build its UX on the fly

  • kubb ・ 3 days ago

    > Why would I use a separate app?

    It's not about whether you'd use it or not. It's just so that people have something to build, managers have tasks to distribute, and the machine can keep on turning.

tokai ・ 3 days ago

Not to be nag but the example translation at the bottom of the page is not correct. Shopping is a word used in danish.[0] The translation with the word handle does not correctly convey the suggestion of going out to multiple stores looking at clothes etc. to buy. It more comes across as wanting to go buy groceries, or doing some kind of general commerce.

A translation to standard spoken danish would be jeg vil gerne shoppe i morgen.

[0] https://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?query=shoppe%20

ks2048 ・ 3 days ago

> works with any language

Does it work in Tojolab'al (Mayan language spoken by 70,000 in Chiapas)?

I get mildly irked by apps saying they work in "all/any" language. Obviously, it works in whatever languages ChatGPT "knows". Although for marketing, I understand the former is easier to say.

fwiw - ChapGPT acts like it knows these kinds of low-resource languages, but it's difficult to tell how much of it is just hallucinating. (I am trying to do work in this area).

radicalbyte ・ 2 days ago

Take an intensive course. That's what I did to learn Dutch with my Dutch then girlfriend (now wife and mother of our kids). Intense, focussed and I was fluent at a higher level than many natives within a year (which says more about 50% of the country than it does me, but I digress).

merelysounds ・ 3 days ago

I entered the text that was present in the placeholder, but I got an error message: "Unable to process correction Error processing your text. Please try again."

Quick feedback, the idea sounds interesting to me and I wanted to learn more. Feature request: more examples, or cached examples that would still work if the server crashes.

jmpavlec ・ 4 days ago

Tried it with some Dutch, only getting "Unable to process correction" errors. Good idea but seems it need a bit more error handling.

  • lil_csom ・ 4 days ago

    Hey yeah, I have ran out of API credits due to popular demand! Sorry that you couldn't try it this time :(

vanrohan ・ a day ago

I made something along the same lines, but just targeting WhatsApp Web specifically. I came up with the idea when I ended up in a WhatsApp group chat that was very MultiLingual. So this allowed me to participate in the conversation. It's also been handy to talk to contractors and service providers. https://ai-polyglot.com

lil_csom ・ 4 days ago

It seems that my GPT credits have been deplated, thus the error :) Sorry about that! I decided that if I do ran out, I will continue the development - showing that is has popularity!

In the meantime, I am at work, so I don't think I can add the rate limiting now... but thank you for everyone for the input!

  • ledauphin ・ 3 days ago

    it would presumably require quite a large rework of what you have, but you could imagine a version of this where the client was talking to the APIs, so that people could input their own API keys without sending them anywhere.

    the core idea here is really cool, and the UX is (or seems like it would be) impressive - no need to select a language, for instance.

    Good luck getting it back on its feet!

0xbadcafebee ・ 3 days ago

Sounds cool!

(Why doesn't ChatGPT make something like this, essentially plugins, for their web interface? You make a script with macros and put that on a "Marketplace" and people can run it... would remove the need for setting up a whole nother website just to wrap around prompts)

sunbum ・ 4 days ago

In the example text hjelmpe is not a word in Danish.

  • zamadatix ・ 4 days ago

    I assume the stuff about the AI giving corrections might apply to more than just what's in curly braces, i.e. that this might be intentional, but I'm unable to test due to a "Unable to process correction" error on the demo.

  • lil_csom ・ 4 days ago

    Haha, nope, that's just a genuine typo! :D Good catch!

clw8 ・ 3 days ago

A long time ago, before SEO spam, I would Google parts of what I had written phrase by phrase (with proper nouns removed or generalized) and if the number of results was under a certain threshold, I'd assume I was wrong.

  • pmdr ・ 3 days ago

    I found https://ludwig.guru to be a good replacement for that. But, yes, Google sucked a lot less back then & you even got relevant & longer search suggestions. Someone had to 'fix' that. Everything for the bottom line.

gregorvand ・ 2 days ago

Interesting idea. Also got errors.

That withstanding, surely having the user select what their target language is, would help with processing and accuracy? It's a one time lift for the user, and would ensure I'm definitely getting back my target language, not a dialect or totally different (norwegian/swedish come to mind immediately)

BWStearns ・ 3 days ago

Me and my wife made something very similar (https://nativi.sh/). I find it's a really good use case for LLMs to actually help you learn rather than doing everything for you.

Also, not sure if you're getting hugged to death but I'm getting this in the interface but not seeing any network failures.

``` Unable to process correction

Error processing your text. Please try again. ```

rickcarlino ・ 3 days ago

I did a similar thing with a personal spaced repetition system I am building. Instead of braces I used ?question marks? and I added daily writing quota to force myself to write instead of going straight to card reviews.

https://github.com/RickCarlino/KoalaCards

(You must add cards before accessing writing)

kkoste ・ 4 days ago

Really good idea.

I also really like the name.

Maybe add a language selector such that the AI has a better context of what language the user is interested in.

  • lil_csom ・ 4 days ago

    Thank you! Yes, I think that would be the best really, so the AI has an easier time.

ngokevin ・ 3 days ago

Wow, we're on the same page. I'm making a language app specifically for couples https://couplingcafe.com ... about to release a version focused on chat that has translator support as well

How has it been since you been using your tool?

lil_csom ・ 5 days ago

Also, yes the TTS doesn't work yet - I decided to share the MVP first before adding my Google billing account :P

  • gus_massa ・ 4 days ago

    I got an error. Is it working now?

    • lil_csom ・ 4 days ago

      For this MVP, I decided I will not add it yet - I just wanted to grasp how interesting people would think it is :) I will however soon add it, joined with rate limiting!

Aro_oj ・ 5 days ago

First of all, 10 points for the dedication and perseverance! The website looks super professional and promising. What other languages can it help with? I am planning to learn Arabic. Also, are there options to choose between different dialects of a language?

  • lil_csom ・ 5 days ago

    Hey! It should work with all the languages as it auto-detect the target and the source language - however, it might need to be tuned the bit. Eg. if you write in arabic but use English wildcards, it should work okay! About the dialects actually I haven't thought of! I think you can provide it as context, however it's probably limited to what GPT knows as I don't integrate with any official trasnlators as of now :) Interesting use-case!

xingped ・ 4 days ago

Well I broke it immediately, haha. Sorry about that. Apparently it doesn't like Chinese.

  • syndeo ・ 3 days ago

    Same, ha. I think he ran out of API credits actually, in my case at least.

codingbuddy ・ 3 days ago

Nice one! I've been doing something similar with GPT to help learn Spanish:

Whenever I type something in Spanish you translate what I think I meant into English, point out my mistakes if any, and also respond with the corrected sentence

dudeinjapan ・ 3 days ago

I am wondering if it will work for my girlfriend. She speaks English.

veqq ・ 2 days ago

> because I don't know a word

You haven't used a dictionary (app)? Put the word you want in, then use one of the options in your Danish sentence and continue.

csomar ・ 3 days ago

You just posted this two days ago? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44549549

  • bhaney ・ 3 days ago

    Same post probably got second-chance-pooled

    • laborcontract ・ 3 days ago

      It's odd that it got second chanced pooled. It was on the front page a couple days ago. Also, the site didn't work a back then and it doesn't work now.

Daviey ・ 3 days ago

This is nice, but what I'd really like is native integration with tools such as WhatsApp. Sadly, being closed source we can't help with this.

pentacent_hq ・ 3 days ago

Just a small comment: The textarea has a white background and almost white text for me on iOS (dark mode), so it's not readable at all there.

  • Jeremy1026 ・ 3 days ago

    Same on macOS (dark mode).

zersiax ・ 3 days ago

This is a really cool concept :) Generally in language learning it's a good idea to try to "think" in the language as much as you can so you get creative about how to phrase something with the words you do have, but if that fails, particularly when you're just starting out this is a great motivational aid and conversation starter if nothing else :) I would definitely recommend integrating with an established translator like DeepL as well as a kind of second correction as AI does get things wrong and having the two versions can help compare what may have gone wrong, you can probably keep your autodetecting language bit as well as I am pretty sure DeepL supports language identification and if not, I know Google does. Good luck with learning Danish, I tried my hand at it a few years back but have switched to Finnish as of early this year

anonymousiam ・ 3 days ago

I wonder with OpenAI will do with the transcripts of the chats with your girlfriend after they've been shared with them...

misha599 ・ 3 days ago

Also got an error :/ but excited to lean on this as a supplement to the Hindi conversational lessons I've been taking!

bryanhogan ・ 3 days ago

What is the difference between this and using something like a ChatGPT project and giving it the same pre-set instructions?

  • ks2048 ・ 3 days ago

    Copy and paste this comment into 50% of modern "Show HN" posts.

whycome ・ 2 days ago

you should make it clear that it works in any language. the name makes one think that it's a specific language (and the example as well).

though right now maybe you reached an api limit or something because any french i type comes out with an error

wodenokoto ・ 3 days ago

Why is the suggested input misspelled? Is it because it is supposed to help with misspellings?

manyone1 ・ 4 days ago

i tried a simple "donde (bus station)?" but i got an error about an invalid text

hoppp ・ a day ago

I need to learn danish too. Yay

sgt ・ 3 days ago

Just getting an error: Unable to process correction

lormayna ・ 2 days ago

My wife is Danish, we are together since most than 10 years and I never learn anything that the real basic words (tak, skol, etc.). I tried so many apps, courses, etc. to learn Danish, but always struggling with pronunciation.

I will try also that, it seems a good idea.

And good luck with your Danish learning journey :)

dmead ・ 3 days ago

wow fancy guy with a girlfriend

  • v5v3 ・ 2 days ago

    "we don't believe you, post a pic of her holding a sign saying Hi HN".

paulbjensen ・ 3 days ago

Great idea and very well executed.

... Now for the hard challenge - try and speak Danish :)

parpfish ・ 3 days ago

I really hate the term “expat”

  • polotics ・ 3 days ago

    Expatriate used to precisely mean someone on a mission from their company to a foreign office of that company. Those that use the term to reflect the fact they emigrated conveniently paint themselves bright-white. Kudos for the cosmopolitan courage, but please do learn a bit more...

  • sekai ・ 3 days ago

    > I really hate the term “expat”

    Yeah, separating themselves from those “dirty” immigrants

  • sneak ・ 3 days ago

    At least it’s better than parsing it using regular expressions.

  • Cupprum ・ 3 days ago

    Whats wrong with it?

    • IggleSniggle ・ 3 days ago

      It generally means that while you live somewhere permanently with no timeline on returning "home," you do not allow yourself to think of your new country as "home."

      It comes across as a refusal to immigrate. It means that what you care about is that you are no longer living "at home," rather than caring about assimilating with your new home.

      It's like going to a new place and identifying yourself as an "emigrant" instead of an "immigrant."

      "Patriation" is about giving away authority so that the other country assumes authority. "Expatriate," then, would be that authority of the old country no longer applies, with no acknowledgement of your new circumstances.

      Oh here's a good one; what if you got married, divorced, and married again? You would be an ex-husband or ex-wife, and it would be entirely appropriate for someone to refer to you as such in certain contexts, but it would be really off-putting...especially to your new spouse.

      Imagine introducing yourself as an "ex-husband." If you're with a bunch of your ex-wife's old friends and associates, then it might make sense to introduce yourself this way under some circumstances...but usually, even then, it would be far more polite and in better taste to introduce yourself in some other way.

      Much better to clarify your former relationship only when it's pertinent, and maybe even then "we lived together for awhile" might be a gentler framing. Otherwise, you are simply drawing attention to your divorce, and to what purpose?

      • triceratops ・ 2 days ago
        ・ 4 more

        > It's like going to a new place and identifying yourself as an "emigrant" instead of an "immigrant."

        All immigrants are emigrants, and vice versa. You have to emigrate from someplace in order to immigrate somewhere.

        • IggleSniggle ・ 2 days ago
          ・ 3 more

          Correct. So, you can emphasize your new identity as an "emigrant from A" or as an "immigrant to B." "Expat" goes one step further by not only emphasizing that you are an emigrant from A, but also that you are no longer a political participant or under the authority of A. It is not semantically incorrect to call yourself an "expat" if you are an expat, nor would it be semantically incorrect to call yourself an emigrant from A or an immigrant to B.

          I'm attempting to pin down why some people might feel that someone calling themselves an "expat" has some negative connotations for the expat. It doesn't have anything to do with the correctness of any of the terms involved.

          To say it a different way, I think people find it distasteful because it focuses on the political shapes you no longer are bound to, rather than who you are "now." It's normal to celebrate your cultural heritage, but it's kind of odd to focus on your status as a non-member of your former state.

          • parpfish ・ 2 days ago
            ・ 2 more

            You’re not going to find an answer to this by parsing out the technical definitions of the words. It’s about how the words are used and the connotations they have developed over time.

            • IggleSniggle ・ 2 days ago

              I agree that it's about usage and connotations over time..isn't that what etymology is at the end of the day?

      • bossyTeacher ・ 2 days ago

        I agree with the above. It does imply a refusal to accept the fact that you are now living somewhere else (ie your new home country)

    • probably_wrong ・ 3 days ago

      My take is that "expat" immediately indicates that someone has no intention to stay for good (unlike immigrants) and that they'll leave as soon as it's convenient because of course they won't stay here for good. It implies a mild disdain for the local culture - the person has no intention to integrate and, more often than not, will self-segregate into the expat bubble.

    • parpfish ・ 3 days ago

      It’s a term that wealthy people use so they don’t have to say that they’re an “immigrant”

      • FearNotDaniel ・ 3 days ago
        ・ 3 more

        Really? I tend to associate it more with bourgeois folks who are well-off but certainly not wealthy, but most definitely want to remain in their own cultural bubble and do everything to avoid learning the local language or integrating with the society of their host country. “Little Britain” types basically. I tend to steer clear of them in my adopted corner of the EU.