The Phrase Mixer is awesome.

The Phrase Mixer

I hope you don't mind me bragging.

I've recently updated the Phrase Mixer, the tool that lets PhraseMix Premium subscribers review PhraseMix English lessons. If you've never used it, try out the limited Phrase Mixer sample version for free.

The Phrase Mixer is something I thought of many years ago when I started building PhraseMix: a simple tool that plays short audio lessons and keeps track of what you've studied so that you can review it later. I've finally created that tool, and I'm happy to share it with you.

How does it work?

Each PhraseMix lesson has an audio recording. When you visit a lesson page and listen to it, that lesson gets automatically added to your "review list". The review list tells the Phrase Mixer which lessons to play for you.

The Phrase Mixer also tries to figure out the perfect order to review each lesson in:

  • It repeats new or difficult lessons soon.
  • As you learn a lesson better, it will repeat even more often.
  • As you master a lesson, it will repeat less and less often.

In other words, the Phrase Mixer mostly plays the lessons that are not too easy and not too hard.

You can train the Phrase Mixer

The PhraseMixer guesses how well you know each lesson based on many times you've listened to it. It displays a "score" out of 100 to represent its guess.

Phrase Mixer score

But what if the system guesses wrong? That's what the feedback buttons are for. Each lesson has two buttons:

Phrase Mixer feedback buttons

Click "This is hard!" to mark a lesson as hard and lower your score. Click "This is easy!" to mark it as easy and raise your score.

After you've rated a lesson, you can always change your mind and cancel your rating by clicking "Cancel this rating". This will set your score close to where it was before.

Phrase Mixer feedback buttons

If a lesson is really hard, really easy, or just not interesting, you can also choose to "Stop reviewing this" after you've rated it. Clicking this button will remove it from your review list.

Review Modes

There are three different review modes that you can choose from:

  • Memory practice mode
    Use this mode to train yourself to remember what to say in different situations. It plays the situation first and gives you time to try to remember the sentence. 
  • Listening practice mode
    This mode is good for reviewing a lot of lessons quickly. It just plays the key sentence. Listen and try to match the words you hear with what you see written.
  • Pronunciation practice mode
    You can use this mode to practice your pronunciation. It plays a slowed-down version of the sentence, then a full-speed version. Repeat after the recording and try to match what you hear exactly.

What do you think?

So... what do you think?

I especially want to hear from the PhraseMix Premium members who have tried it out. Does it work for you? Is it easy to use? Is there anything extra that you wish it did?

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