<![CDATA[I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching.]]>I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching.

It's called German Is A̶w̶f̶u̶l̶ Easy and the first five levels are up! No German knowledge necessary, and feedback is very welcome.

German Is A̶w̶f̶u̶l̶ Easy

Personal website for Michelle Fullwood, NLP scientist and linguistic tinkerer. Language tools, maps, miscellany.

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]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/26b8e6f4-9199-4179-8d78-a4c404666f72/i-ve-been-making-a-linguistics-puzzle-game-where-you-decipher-a-language-which-happens-to-be-german-using-shared-etymology-shared-cultural-knowledge-and-pattern-matching.RSS for NodeTue, 26 May 2026 05:25:47 GMTSun, 24 May 2026 19:11:24 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 10:05:29 GMT]]>@michelleful this was both fun and slightly embarrassing for me, as i took a semester of german in college and seem to have forgotten almost all of it

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://kind.social/users/wehpudicabok/statuses/116634650490037059https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://kind.social/users/wehpudicabok/statuses/116634650490037059Mon, 25 May 2026 10:05:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 09:59:33 GMT]]>@michelleful This is great!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://crispsandwi.ch/users/Bez_Lightyear/statuses/116634627174347731https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://crispsandwi.ch/users/Bez_Lightyear/statuses/116634627174347731Mon, 25 May 2026 09:59:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 09:24:24 GMT]]>@michelleful Nice work! Though for me it seems to get stuck at this screen, with no feedback or ways to progress.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/acb/statuses/116634488967707316https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/acb/statuses/116634488967707316Mon, 25 May 2026 09:24:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 09:20:46 GMT]]>@michelleful @jimbob Any plans to expand this to other languages?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/acb/statuses/116634474654356956https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/acb/statuses/116634474654356956Mon, 25 May 2026 09:20:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 08:25:04 GMT]]>@michelleful this is fun!
I speak both languages, and I love the explanations!
🖤❤️💛

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://todon.nl/users/StroomAfwaarts/statuses/116634255638053706https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://todon.nl/users/StroomAfwaarts/statuses/116634255638053706Mon, 25 May 2026 08:25:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 08:25:00 GMT]]>@michelleful Ah, OK, thank you. I think some kind of visual feedback would help here, as the tiles are showing green, so it looks like it's correct. I also found it difficult to swap the nouns out, as I had tried that before and it seemed like it wouldn't let me. I tried a few more times after you said and eventually got it to work, but that might be something to look at.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://wandering.shop/users/rubyjones/statuses/116634255363626069https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://wandering.shop/users/rubyjones/statuses/116634255363626069Mon, 25 May 2026 08:25:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 07:54:50 GMT]]>@michelleful It took me a minute to figure out why I couldn't type anything here!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://wandering.shop/users/irina/statuses/116634136742665938https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://wandering.shop/users/irina/statuses/116634136742665938Mon, 25 May 2026 07:54:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 07:18:58 GMT]]>@michelleful @Oelnbod I got stuck there for a minute too. I think it would help to have a sentence like “the subject isn’t always in first position” on that screen.
I finished the first level and I liked it 😊

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://piaille.fr/users/Blanche/statuses/116633995723693211https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://piaille.fr/users/Blanche/statuses/116633995723693211Mon, 25 May 2026 07:18:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 07:17:46 GMT]]>@michelleful French speaker here, learned English and German at school, this is a fun three languages exercise.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.bike/users/DeufLeMoelleux/statuses/116633991023969556https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.bike/users/DeufLeMoelleux/statuses/116633991023969556Mon, 25 May 2026 07:17:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 07:00:06 GMT]]>Poké @LeoApwal

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://corneill.es/users/Ortie/statuses/116633921519833403https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://corneill.es/users/Ortie/statuses/116633921519833403Mon, 25 May 2026 07:00:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 04:02:12 GMT]]>@michelleful oh, wow! I thought I tapped it every possible way. But that worked. I figured it was a me problem, but I’m glad I said something because I was curious to see where it was going as the difficulty ramped up. Thanks.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://alaskan.social/users/Sharonybaloney/statuses/116633222009559551https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://alaskan.social/users/Sharonybaloney/statuses/116633222009559551Mon, 25 May 2026 04:02:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 03:44:53 GMT]]>@larozeppeli thank you!! This is what I was aiming for!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://scicomm.xyz/users/michelleful/statuses/116633153933578117https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://scicomm.xyz/users/michelleful/statuses/116633153933578117Mon, 25 May 2026 03:44:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 03:04:20 GMT]]>@conniptions please do and let me know the results!!

I am definitely going to continue accepting the British spelling, if only because I am someone who both uses it (coming from Singapore) and uses the word "workweek" (for whatever reason, I don't feel like it's ever not been in my vocabulary). 😁

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://scicomm.xyz/users/michelleful/statuses/116632994485418233https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://scicomm.xyz/users/michelleful/statuses/116632994485418233Mon, 25 May 2026 03:04:20 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 02:53:50 GMT]]>@michelleful There's an argument to say accepting only American spelling would be better if terms like 'workweek' are being used. But this could all be just me demonstrating the limitations of my own personal vocabulary; perhaps 'workweek' is not after all as obscure round these parts as I think? I don't work for the OED or anything 🙂 Am tempted to run a poll tomorrow when the rest of the UK is awake.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/conniptions/statuses/116632953194709674https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/conniptions/statuses/116632953194709674Mon, 25 May 2026 02:53:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 02:49:42 GMT]]>@michelleful Yes, 'working week' would be more of a thing, though not a common usage really. 'Workweek' is an interesting Americanism in that it is both highly obscure (to me at least) yet immediately and unambiguously intelligible, once given, and ofc tough to fill in a blank with if you've never heard of it. Contrast 'pants' or 'sidewalk' which are widely known Americanisms outside the US, yet both highly ambiguous and essentially unparseable without prior knowledge.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/conniptions/statuses/116632936957134486https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/conniptions/statuses/116632936957134486Mon, 25 May 2026 02:49:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 02:45:59 GMT]]>@Ruhrnalist @pentup Excellent!! The 3rd mode, which has zero hints, even free ones (except for "next letter please") is currently the "challenging" mode 🙂

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://scicomm.xyz/users/michelleful/statuses/116632922338964573https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://scicomm.xyz/users/michelleful/statuses/116632922338964573Mon, 25 May 2026 02:45:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 02:39:36 GMT]]>@conniptions Interesting! Do you use the term "working week" instead? If it's any consolation I accept British and American spelling! If they have a different number of blanks that's a bit harder to support though...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://scicomm.xyz/users/michelleful/statuses/116632897207761113https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://scicomm.xyz/users/michelleful/statuses/116632897207761113Mon, 25 May 2026 02:39:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 02:38:32 GMT]]>@michelleful I played through level 1 and enjoyed it!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.authbypass.com/users/rickoooooo/statuses/116632893034790104https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.authbypass.com/users/rickoooooo/statuses/116632893034790104Mon, 25 May 2026 02:38:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Mon, 25 May 2026 02:04:00 GMT]]>@michelleful Great fun and really good stuff - just bounced a bit off the use of 'workweek' which I now understand to be a common Americanism but have only rarely come across before (UK here). Will bear in mind that we are using strictly American English from here on in, but...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/conniptions/statuses/116632757242361503https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/conniptions/statuses/116632757242361503Mon, 25 May 2026 02:04:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Sun, 24 May 2026 23:37:04 GMT]]>@michelleful@scicomm.xyz Finished the first two levels instead of going to sleep.
It's really well-thought and engaging. It makes language look like a puzzle you can rebuild bit by bit, hope you keep working on it!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://plasmatrap.com/notes/amnze8942xhttps://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://plasmatrap.com/notes/amnze8942xSun, 24 May 2026 23:37:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Sun, 24 May 2026 22:35:24 GMT]]>@michelleful @pentup
Maybe challenging?

Well, in fact it was easy for me. Got 💯 points!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Ruhrnalist/statuses/116631937019048195https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Ruhrnalist/statuses/116631937019048195Sun, 24 May 2026 22:35:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Sun, 24 May 2026 21:43:41 GMT]]>@pentup Ah yeah, I was looking for a more direct translation of the German I had there, and I think that's how most English speakers quote it! I might say "Translate word by word" or something like that and be less snarky about how no one says "nor any", because clearly someone does! 🙂

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://scicomm.xyz/users/michelleful/statuses/116631733643380361https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://scicomm.xyz/users/michelleful/statuses/116631733643380361Sun, 24 May 2026 21:43:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Sun, 24 May 2026 21:40:12 GMT]]>@divVerent Thank you! I'm not sure about the "how well it works" either, but teaching German isn't the main goal, it's to have fun exploring a new language without needing to memorise a lot of words and having a bunch of little epiphanies along the way 🙂 Thanks for the -ieren examples, I should definitely include some of those cognates in a future level!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://scicomm.xyz/users/michelleful/statuses/116631719921695203https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://scicomm.xyz/users/michelleful/statuses/116631719921695203Sun, 24 May 2026 21:40:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. on Sun, 24 May 2026 21:38:43 GMT]]>@pentup You're probably right there that people might think that there'll be a leaderboard for competitive. I was just looking for a C word that fit in between haha. Maybe "classic"? I will wait for more feedback before changing it but thank you for flagging it!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://scicomm.xyz/users/michelleful/statuses/116631714131883246https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://scicomm.xyz/users/michelleful/statuses/116631714131883246Sun, 24 May 2026 21:38:43 GMT