Why so exactly?
First of all that would annihilate most of the courses for smaller subjects.
And it sounds like something that would drag on until the day we get the annoucement that it’s not feasible to implement adding user content.
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See the original post.
Over the years you were limiting access to mems, thus your stats is not very correct.
And then you said:
These statements don’t match.
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Everyone learns differently - there is no single best method. One of the most important and powerful aspects about language learning is figuring out how YOU learn+retain stuff most effectively (be it fastest, longest, etc.). You can only achieve this by having flexibility in learning, so in practice this SHOULD BE the core aspect any language learning tool is built around. The things that work for me specifically are mostly present in the current memrise (not Beta), but the Beta is way too cumbersome to use effectively, so I will no longer enjoy it. And once you (or in this case: I) stop enjoying the process in which the learning is done, you (-> I) might as well want to find a different, more comfy/effective, solution.
Or in other words: I, like many others, will be leaving memrise once the Beta is pushed on to us, since it no longer satisfies our needs.
If that is truly how you feel about this, then:
- Remove everything about the Beta. NO ONE likes ANYTHING about it.
- Especially DON’T force it on people, especially the one’s that already paid for your service (in it’s current state!!).
- Improve the existing memrise (and by that, I mean the one before Beta). If the code is too fucked up (as a dev myself, I know how tiresome bad code is to deal with/maintain) then build it anew in parallel, with better code, but keep ALL features that people like(d).
How about, you actually run polls on your user-base to find out which features they like about this site/service that other sites/services don’t offer?
The way you worded everything, it sounds like you want to turn memrise into simply another duolingo/busuu etc.
Even from a business perspective, this has to be a dumb move, as memrise is currently cashing in on people that aren’t satisfied by what the alternatives have to offer (or use it in conjunction). So by making it more akin to the others, and stripping away the stuff that made it stand out, you will not only alienate paying customers, but also reduce/hinder future growth.
終了
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Not to mention we can’t type answers anymore…
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For smaller languages, or non language subjects? It is correct that non language subjects are not part of the future vision. That is important to note. Language courses (however small) can be migrated if they are used. Non language courses will not fit in the new system.
The second point sounds again like a lack of trust and belief. I do genuinely understand that, but again I don’t think I can do anything except help the team to execute more effectively than in the recent past. This decision is a part of doing that. I hope and believe we will surprise you here.
I actually think those are both true. It is true that most people with access to mems don’t use them. It is also true that creating mems in the new tech will take a great deal of time. I don’t see the contradiction.
If the majority of people who had access to mems were using them then our judgement of the negative impact vs time equation would be different. I hope that helps.
Exactly! I only use Memrise for the typing Classic Reviews. Learning words is pointless so I use a Tampermonkey script that autolearns words for me. The only good thing about Memrise is just the Classic Reviews
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I think my description of what we are building has fallen very short - this is very different to what either busuu or Duolingo have.
Perhaps we should have a forum call where I can take you all through the plans for the next year? I’d be more than happy to do that. If anyone would like to join that please do reply and I can find a time 
Well, how about “a penny saved is a penny earned?” The funds wasted on a worthless makeover of the website could have been used to buy more storage space, for example.
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Seriously the mems should not be gone. They’re what make Memrise MEMrise, after all!
The community-created courses that are old and popular have accumulated quite a number of mems that I find very useful. On my computer, I’ve been using Beta, which is indeed a nicer-looking layout. But mems are not available on Beta, so sometimes when I find a word difficult and would like to get some help from mems, I will go to the mobile app and look for the mems for that word. This is how useful mems are!
I’ve read the article regarding why they’ve decided to retire mems, where I see no convincing reasons for the decision. They just say they’ve “found out that the majority of learners that have access to them do not use them” from “more recent research and data”. If that is the case, isn’t it more reasonable to improve the layout for mems and to encourage the creation and use of mems, than to retire them? (Not to mention I doubt if the reduced usage of mems is simply a consequence of mems being not available in Beta.) It seems that Memrise has taken the lazy approach so that they don’t have to spend time and effort to maintain the mems!
As a subscriber and long-time user (about 6 years) of Memrise who have accumulated almost 24M points, I frankly find the decision very disappointing. Please, WITHDRAW it and keep Memrise MEMrise.
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You’ll be crucified by bird and butterfly lovers. Some geographers might join in. Seriously, it sucks.
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Follow-up: I’ve just read Ben Whately’s reply:
We still believe in the power of mems. We have every intention of building them back into the experience in future. But we have to take one step back so that we can take two steps forward.
I appreciate that this won’t make it any less annoying for all of you in the meantime: I’m asking you to trust that we are going to take two steps forward after taking this step back. I know that is a big ask. If I could see a way to get to the product that we want to create that didn’t involve taking this step back - believe me I would grab it with both hands. But after a lot of work and research by the team, this is the route that gives us most certainty of getting where we want to get as fast as possible.
If that is the case, OK. Just don’t delete the mems we currently have from your database and promise to bring them back as soon as possible.
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“If I could see a way to get to the product we want to create -?” So what your customers want doesn’t matter?
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BTW I have long wondered about the accuracy of your algorithms … a user who has accumulated some 30 million points TOTAL has accumulated more than 52 million points in the JLPT N2 Vocab course alone … your stats are just as accurate? Care to explain?
PS. In the meantime I am being censored, no more than 3 comments on this topic allowed because I am a “new user” (lifetime subscriber at Level 16) and I am also not allowed to upload more screen shots
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I’m in.
BTW, a suggestion: If your crew has intended to TEMPORARILY remove mems and will bring them back in the near future, please state this in your announcement if you don’t want to see the PUBLIC OUTCRY that we see here.
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Why can’t we choose type-only reviewing? How could that possibly hold back future developments? There is nothing that compares to making yourself recall for verifying that you actually know a word or how to correctly form a sentence. Obviously the means are there as typing is still one of the tests, so why can’t it be an option to make it all of the tests? Even if you just made type-only an option for only the reviewing, and left everything else multiple choice or whatever. More on all this below.
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Why can’t you continue to build your new features in beta and keep the current system as default (including Mems) until the new system is ready and tested, as you have already been doing? Why are you asking people (who have in many cases already paid you for a different product than what you are about to switch us to against our will and quite suddenly) to use an inferior product until this hypothetical new product is ready “over the next few quarters,” while also asking us to take it on faith that it will be better? I literally paid to have access to and be able to make these Mems because they are such a powerful learning tool. Multiple choice is not a powerful learning tool*, especially when you are dealing with something like, for example, German where a single umlaut can completely change the meaning of a word. As mentioned above, this is why we need to be able to type it, and type it exactly. Correct declension is another reason for this: you really only learn it by making yourself do it over and over again (i.e. by typing various sentences with varying genders and cases correctly by yourself from memory/practice). I officially type more in Duolingo now. Actually, much more than the new version of Memrise, which is saying something (and it ain’t something good).
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At the very least, find an easier way for people to grab the memes they need, or CREATE A DANG NOTES FIELD ON WORDS. So many times, I have had a meaning clarified to me (for example, gathering as in collecting vs. gathering as in assuming/coming to understand) via Mems. At least add a way for us to make notes to ourselves if we can’t access the community content anymore. That said, I can’t even imagine how angry someone trying to learn Arabic or Japanese or Mandarin must be having all their Mems taken away. What a nightmare.
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I will also miss the challenge of the timer in the review sessions, as real life communication requires quick recall, but I am choosing my battles.
*The way we identified “Easy A” courses in college between friends/fellow students was: the tests are multiple choice.
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Wow! Just wow!!
Whilst it is understood that language courses are your primary focus, I hope that you will give some further thought to this. Memrise has proved to be excellent for helping lierally thousands of us learn all kinds of facts in science, history, geography, nature and other subjects.
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Oh, and I say all this out of love, as I spend literally hours a day on here. Not kidding, not exaggerating. Seriously, look it up. Hours. Hours every single day.
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and music lovers.
This just keeps getting worse.
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