Karl Baker

Solo founder @ Mandarin Mosaic. Sentence mining on autopilot for intermediate Chinese learners. Comprehensible input over grammar drills.

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

Every language learner knows this frustration:
"This article is too hard."
"This one's too easy."
"Where do I find interesting content at MY level?"
I'm building an AI that takes any article — in any language — and rewrites it at your exact level.
Who else needs this?

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

Genuine question for language learners:
If you could paste any article: BBC news, a blog post, anything - and have AI instantly rewrite it in your target language at YOUR level, would you use it?
Building this now. Want to know what you'd throw at it.

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

The honest truth about intermediate Chinese: native content isn't too hard. Beginner content is too boring. The gap between them is where most learners quit. That gap is the whole business opportunity.

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

Pleco is the most important Chinese learning tool ever made, and it's basically one person's work. The guy deserves a statue.

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

@PolyglotZone I completely agree, but the other side of this is if you're thinking and you speak slowly, filler words can give you a bit of time, although even still I try to avoid.

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

Duolingo isn't bad. It's just useless past HSK 2.

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

In language learning the Goldilocks zone is key. Less than 5% unknown words and it’s basically just a leisure activity. But over 10% you burn out. Progress in the golden zone is lightning fast, but continually finding content in that zone as you progress is the real challenge.

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

@MandarinBP This is why learning through sentences is massive. Don't drill single word flashcards, it burns you out.

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

@lingosteve @skrashen The most important thing is to read at slightly above your current level.

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

Krashen's i+1 in one sentence: one unknown word per sentence, just slightly beyond what you know now. Do this for a year and you'll read native content. That's the whole game. Everything else is just scaffolding.

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

On today's ImLearningMandarin podcast I talked about the launch of my new Chinese sentence mining app: Mandarin Mosaic. This is one of the only apps specialised for sentence mining in Chinese. Learn more here: https://t.co/fWSaVio0fD or search
"Mandarin Mosaic" on the app stores

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

We're now down to only one space left on our five-day Mandarin immersion camp in Cheddar from 27-31 Jul!
Our camp will give you five days of Chinese immersion in a supportive environment.
Visit our website to book now before the final space gets taken up! https://t.co/r6ZpUg3wVK

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

Anyone else used ChatGPT for language learning? I did a study recently on how well ChatGPT speaks Chinese. The results are quite interesting: https://t.co/RAGt9fglPr

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

Really looking forward to this year's 5 day Chinese immersion retreat. The location and scenery in Cheddar will be amazing. Perfect place for nearly a week's worth of fully packed Chinese learning activities! Read more and book at https://t.co/jMkILoZVsR

[Mandarin Retreat @MandarinRetreat]

Our five-day immersion Summer Camp 2024 will take place in (drum roll)… Cheddar, Somerset, South-West England. Saturday 27th July 2024 - Wednesday 31st July 2024. The perfect spot for 5 days of total Chinese immersion! [THREAD 1/4]

[Mischa Wilmers @MischaWilmers]

If you're a Chinese learner based in Europe & are up for an adventure @MandarinRetreat are planning an immersive 5 day summer camp in the UK, packed with fun Chinese learning activities. Register your interest & have a say on dates, locations &activities: https://t.co/uum3zWGVtT

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

@MischaWilmers Good article 👍

[Mischa Wilmers @MischaWilmers]

I wrote about one of the longest standing debates in the lang learning community: when should you start speaking? Some argue you should speak from day 1 while others encourage learners to wait months before output. I outline my take on this divisive issue
https://t.co/qVMwvCqBkc

[Mischa Wilmers @MischaWilmers]

I interviewed @HackingChinese on the I'm Learning Mandarin podcast! This was one of my favourite episodes to record 😊 We had a wide ranging discussion covering his criticisms of conventional teaching methods & insights into future of language learning. https://t.co/JlvPhvd0I6

[Karl Baker @mandarinbaker]

@MischaWilmers Great post 👍

[Mischa Wilmers @MischaWilmers]

In my latest blog I look back on my language learning journey in 2023 and look forward to plans for 2024! 😊https://t.co/KsUYJt2T4Q