I am sure a script to hide the virtual keyboard will appear soon (@cooljingle? someone else)
this virtual keyboard ruins anything even remotely related to learning
5 Likes
Hi all,
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond and share your opinions.
We’re looking into all the feedback and we’ll keep you posted on future updates.
Thank you
6 Likes
Hi there. There must be a disable button for this feature. It renders the site nearly unusable without it. Can you please let folks know when this will be remedied? A simple check box somewhere in settings should do the trick. Please fix!
4 Likes
I switched from the Android app to using Memrise on my computer. One of the reasons was that I didn’t see how I could learn anything when the app almost give me the answer to typing tests (the other reason being that even if I successfully downloaded the courses, I only have access to the sound files if I’m connected to the wifi, so it’s useless). And now it’s the same on the website?! Please, give us the option to turn it off, on both the website and the apps. I don’t think it would be complicated to implement and it would be woth it if people start to leave because of this update…
Edit: I found a solution for half of the problem. On Firefox with the add-on « Element Hiding Helper for Adblock Plus », I can hide any element of a website. I hid the keyboard by hiding the element called: memrise.com##.keyboard.clearfix
6 Likes
The auto accept is great!!! It helps me avoid typos.
I used to have it as userscript and missed it a great deal the last few weeks.
With a virtual keyboard it’s too easy to cheat oneself and for sincere learners it is not helpful.
2 Likes
Just fyi tips:
If you have cooljingle’s all typing on, auto-accept will not work (so you can toggle this feature). EDIT: NOPE. APPEARS THIS ONLY WORKS IF THE ANSWER HAS MULTIPLE OPTIONS.
I do think this algorithm is a poor change. Say you think the answer is Four, but you think the spelling is fourr. The answer would already be accepted, and you wouldn’t be dinged for being wrong. Additionally, if you do get an answer wrong, and you don’t have all typing enabled, you will only get the missed word ONCE, and that as a multiple choice option. From experience, I can’t see this being useful for long-term memory.
I’m inclined to think that Memrise is going the way of ease vs. utility. If an average user can get through more words for review, he/she may think he’s being productive. Also, as a beginner on the site, one may be over zealous in learning words, then overwhelmed when review comes up. These two changes – auto-answers and the hint keyboard – merely facilitate swift, analgesic review sessions. Certainly appears we’re going the way of the layman, casual learner who want to proclaim he/she is “fluent” in languages vs. those serious, disciplined users who know “fluency” is never a thing.
8 Likes
Shockingly awful.
first the auo accept is a terrible idea. If I type a word wrong, now I can see that memrise hasn’t accepted it, know that it’s wrong, and the system is tempting me to take a second bite at the cherry and try another ‘guess’. No NO NO, I got that word wrong, I need to press a button when I think I have the word and let the system see if it’s right. Auto accept on correct is just plain stupid.
The second change is even worse, please revert both these changes, or at least let people who want to really learn have an option to turn them off. The typing tests were the only good thing about memrise, picking stuff from a list a a terrible way to learn, but a great way for people to feel good about themselves as they pretend to learn.
No those are in the same ‘junk learning’ pile as your multiple choice questions.
At least let those of us who are serious about learning have an option to turn this stuff off, if the mobile uses who think they’re learning a language by picking ‘dog’ out of a list of 4 words want this then to be honest I don;t care, but I certainly don’t.
To think I paid for a year and supported you guys.
9 Likes
The hints given by the keyboard are the reason why I never use the app. I want to learn, not play games. I’m an adult, for chrissake!
13 Likes
The auto-accept is obnoxious-I want to have to think about my answer before I commit to it.
But the generated keyboard might just be a dealbreaker. I use memrise to learn foreign languages, many of which have characters not on my keyboard. Previously I typed most of the answer, and could select the additional characters from an appropriate supplementary menu for that language. This was workable. NOW those additional characters are hidden within a scrambled list of other letters that may or may not be in the word. I might need one single letter and I have to hunt for it. I am tired of my webpage interfaces being ruined by attempts to cater to smartphone users. Time to learn to use anki instead.
9 Likes
Just wanted to submit my thoughts on the auto-accept (I posted about wanting to turn off the keyboard elsewhere):
Apart from the fact that this means if you type in a wrong answer, it doesn’t ‘auto-accept’ it, making it obvious you’ve made a mistake without having to submit. You can then rethink, which really hurts the learning process because an answer I would have (wrongly) submitted, then been forced to relearn, I can now get right through trial and error.
Secondly, although I have not tested this yet, it often causes problems when typing in an IME. Often I have to fully type out the word before modifying it, but the auto-accept feature thinks my original input is the answer and marks it right/wrong. It also upsets the number of times I have to press the return key for submissions.
I know this seems like minor things, but these are a couple of changes which will genuinely drive me, a user for 3 years, to use a different platform. The #1 most important thing, for me, is that I can use Memrise to learn, and updates which make learning more difficult make other platforms look a lot more attractive.
I appreciate that growth in revenue and userbase is driven by the app and generating new users, but if you want someone to pay for Pro for more than 12 months, you need to make sure advanced features still work. Otherwise you’ll only ever have casual users who do a Beginner’s course for two weeks.
Sorry to gripe, but please please listen to our feedback!
11 Likes
Oh man, after finishing my European languages, started to review Japanese. Auto-accept is ruining it. My IME can’t keep up with the speed, so the answer ends up being duplicated for the next word, which just means I have to delete that, then type my new answer, then repeat for every word.
I repeat, this change makes reviewing Japanese more difficult.
7 Likes
As said by many before. These changes are for the worse. The hint letters - I hope it will change to optional, user preference or any other way to make it dissapear. If not, I am definitelly not extending my pro account in a few months.
Auto accept - I am also not very fond of it, the word dissapears so quickly that I have no time to “wake up” and prepare for the next word, I tend to write much faster than before and make a lot more mistakes in the process…
I hope Memrise team will reconsider these changes. I like this site but, as said, I do not have to use it and even pay for it…
4 Likes
Memrise, you have a great site, but you are ruining it with this constant tinkering. This one I really do not like. In addition to the comments already stated by other users, there is the problem of automatically hitting the enter key after typing an answer, and then the next question is multiple choice, and by hitting enter it selects the wrong answer. Ugh.
5 Likes
P.S. A LOT of complaints about newly tinkered-with features could be avoided in the first place if Memrise would set them up so they are optional to the user.
6 Likes
Just to add one more voice to the consensus, both of these changes are detrimental to my learning process. The “distractors” on the keyboard don’t do much of anything to hide the anagram of the answer. The whole point of studying with flashcards is trying to pull the information entirely from memory. The keyboard hints make that impossible.
The automatically accepted answer change makes certain errors impossible too. I sometimes have trouble remembering the endings of words, e.g. vit or vitt, and gul or guld. If I tried to type in “guld” when the right answer was “gul”, it means I don’t know the word well enough and the system should note that I got the answer wrong. That’s now impossible with this new change since the system is now in charge of when I’m done typing.
The new system also makes getting answers wrong in the middle feel worse too. Now after I’m done typing my (incorrect) answer, I immediately know I’ve gotten it wrong since the system didn’t accept it. Hitting enter basically becomes the “Admit you’re wrong so we can tell you you’re wrong” button, instead of the “Hey I’m pretty sure this is right, but could you let me know if it’s not, thanks” button.
Also while I’m on this soapbox. I’d really like an option to stop the system from accepting spellings it knows are wrong. If I type bestalla instead of beställa, it’s never because I knew it should really be an “ä” but couldn’t type it. It’s because I don’t know how to spell the word and I though it was really an “a”. It should be no different than if I typed bestZlla. I got the answer wrong and system shouldn’t pretend like I didn’t.
I saw your post about looking into our feedback and if that’s genuine, I thank you. There are a lot of great things about this site, but if things stay like they are I can’t keep coming here as a place to learn.
9 Likes
Just agreeing with basically everybody else here.
Is it a test to see how long I will stay without cancelling my (paying) account? Just for your information: I’m really “that” close to just give up. “Ziggy” was kinda insulting for us adult learners and basically a bad marketing idea, but now you’re really destroying the core of your product, guys. If I don’t learn anymore, there is really no reason for me to be here (not even to talk about paying for it).
Now I’m really angry. 
10 Likes
Thank you all for your feedback. We temporarily reverted the change until we incorporate all the feedback given.
Happy learning
20 Likes
It is beyond my immagination how the Memrise team can be “so excited” about introducing the two worst changes ever. Typing tests are a farce now, with the keyboard hinting the required letters and the auto-accept “feature” – it’s more of a bug – implicitely telling the learner about erroneous answers before he submits them. Sorry, but this is ridiculous! Please make BOTH features/bugs OPTIONAL or revert them completely. Real learners don’t want to use them! Thanks.
Meanwhile, until this is made optional, I will switch back to Duolingo.
8 Likes
Same for me. Just signed up for the forum.
I’m learning Chinese and the Pinyin writing makes it so that most chinese characters have only 2-4 letters. The “suggestions” make you “remember” 90% of characters which in turn makes you actually remember nothing.
In addition if the correct Pinyin is ji and you start typing jian/jiang/jiong/jiao/… the auto-accept will just accept what you typed.
EDIT: did the just change it back? it is back to the way it was for me.
1 Like
Thanks for changing it back!
3 Likes