Show HN: I send myself automated emails to practice Dutch

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Project overview & motivation

  • Service sends automated daily emails with three advanced (C1) Dutch words, translations, and example sentences.
  • Built to avoid paying for apps that start at beginner level and to support ongoing vocabulary growth after courses.
  • Also used as a playground to practice AWS and Terraform, not just to optimize for simplicity.

Infrastructure complexity vs simplicity

  • Many commenters see AWS + Terraform + DynamoDB + Lambda as overkill for such a small task.
  • Alternatives suggested:
    • Simple Python script + SQLite/text file + cron + direct SMTP.
    • Google Apps Script with Gmail and Drive.
    • val.town, Cloudflare Workers, GitHub Actions, or dedicated “cloud cron” services.
  • Some defend the over-engineering as a valid way to learn cloud infrastructure for personal projects.

Email as learning channel

  • Several people like email as a low-friction channel: you’re already in your inbox, and daily messages help form a habit.
  • Compared to opening a dedicated app, email is seen as harder to ignore and easier to re-engage with after breaks.

Vocabulary source & quality concerns

  • Words and example sentences are generated via ChatGPT and stored so they’re not repeated.
  • Some worry about the quality/idiomaticity of LLM-generated examples and recommend using real corpora (YouTube transcripts, Wikipedia, dictionaries) instead.
  • One suggestion: define words in simple Dutch rather than giving English translations to promote immersion.

Spaced repetition, Anki, and alternatives

  • Current system shows each word only once, explicitly noted as the opposite of Anki.
  • Multiple commenters urge adding spaced repetition, possibly via tracking correctness counts or using libraries like py-fsrs.
  • There is interest in integrating flashcards into email (e.g., overdue Anki cards via email), but Anki’s ecosystem and APIs are seen as limiting.
  • Some argue using actual Anki or AnkiConnect is better than rebuilding it; others find standard apps too high-friction.

Dutch language context & immersion

  • Discussion veers into how easy it is to live in the Netherlands using only English, which hurts motivation to learn Dutch.
  • Some describe Dutch as less “useful” globally, others defend it as charming and culturally rich.
  • Alternatives for learning suggested: social media in Dutch, newsletters, TV apps, games in target language, and LLM “pen pal” or grammar-explainer setups.