u/Various_Educator_756

Hey r/webdev!

For "Showoff Saturday" I wanted to share a linguistics project I recently shipped to production to help language learners.

The Tools:

1. Phonetic Syllable Counter: https://textoenlinea.com/contador-de-silabas/
2. Contextual Spell Checker: https://textoenlinea.com/corrector-ortografico/

Architecture & Algorithm: I bypassed heavy JS frameworks to prioritize Core Web Vitals and TTFB (Time to First Byte). The app is built with strict Vanilla JS and deployed via Cloudflare Pages for global edge caching.

The most complex engineering challenge was writing the parsing algorithm. Spanish phonetics rely heavily on strict rules for hiatuses, diphthongs, and triphthongs. I had to build a custom regex-based parser that reads vowel stress weights to chop the words accurately.

I’d appreciate any technical audits on the code structure, accessibility (a11y), or edge-case bugs you can find in the parser.

Hey everyone!

The Problem: Native English speakers learning Spanish really struggle with pronunciation stress rules (where to put the "tilde"). Standard spell checkers like MS Word or Google Docs are notoriously bad at catching specific Spanish grammatical nuances and false friends.

The Side Project: I decided to build a free suite of tools to solve this:

1. Syllable Counter: A visual calculator that chops any Spanish word into syllables so learners can visually see exactly where the phonetic stress hits. https://textoenlinea.com/contador-de-silabas/
2. Spell Checker: A tool strictly tuned for Spanish grammar rules. https://textoenlinea.com/corrector-ortografico/

It’s completely free and has zero ads. I'm trying to keep the UI as clean and intuitive as possible.

I would absolutely love some brutal feedback on the UI/UX, page speed, or any features you guys think would be cool to add. Thanks!

It completely derails their anger. They are expecting you to either fight back, yell back, or cower defensively. Asking "Are you okay?" forces them to pause, completely short-circuits their rant, and forces them to reflect on their own unhinged behavior. It diffuses the situation almost instantly

I always thought more sleep equals more energy, but oversleeping always ruins my day. Why does our brain do this?

hey guys, native speaker here. i do some web dev on the side and noticed a lot of u struggle with knowing where the stress (golpe de voz) goes in spanish words.

the rules are super confusing tbh, so i built a simple syllable counter just for fun. u basically just paste any word in there and it chops it up so u can see exactly how it sounds and where the accent hits.

its completely free and has zero ads. honestly not trying to self promote, just thought it could really help u guys out with practicing.

not gonna drop the link here so the automod doesn't ban me, but if u want to try it out just drop a comment and ill send it over. lmk if u break it lol.

hi guys. i love reading the texts u post here every day, but i notice the #1 mistake is always missing tildes (accents). word and google docs usually suck at catching specific spanish rules.

i built a small free spell checker specifically trained for spanish. u can just paste ur daily streak text in there before posting it here and it'll catch almost all the missing accents for u.

completely free, no ads or anything. just wanted to share something useful for the community. lmk in the comments if u want the link and ill pass it to u so u can use it for ur streaks!

hey guys. i do some web dev on the side and i built a simple tool that i think could really help out if anyone is struggling with spanish pronunciation.

it's a free syllable counter. you just paste any spanish word and it breaks it down into syllables for you. it makes it way easier to see exactly how the sounds are formed and where the stress goes. it also has a spell checker that catches missing accents (tildes) if ur writing stuff.

it’s completely free and has no ads or anything. honestly just built it for fun and thought it could be useful for u guys to practice.

not gonna drop the link so the automod doesn't delete this, but if u want to try it out just let me know in the comments and ill send it over.

hey guys. i do some web dev on the side and i built a simple tool that i think could really help out if anyone is struggling with spanish pronunciation.

it's a free syllable counter. you just paste any spanish word and it breaks it down into syllables for you. it makes it way easier to see exactly how the sounds are formed and where the stress goes. it also has a spell checker that catches missing accents (tildes) if ur writing stuff.

it’s completely free and has no ads or anything. honestly just built it for fun and thought it could be useful for u guys to practice.

not gonna drop the link so the automod doesn't delete this, but if u want to try it out just let me know in the comments and ill send it over.

Hey guys. Native speaker here.

I’ve been lurking here for a while and noticed a lot of you struggle with writing essays and figuring out tildes/accents. I realized most of the tools online for spanish spell checking or syllable counting are either super outdated, full of weird pop-up ads, or hide behind a premium subscription.

I do a bit of web dev on the side, so over the last few weeks I just built a simple site for it.

It has a spell checker that catches missing accents, a syllable counter (really good for figuring out pronunciation), and I even wrote down some basic grammar guides explaining verbs and adjectives without the confusing academic jargon.

It’s completely free and doesn't even have a sign-up page. I'm still tweaking some bugs so please be kind haha, but I think it could genuinely help some of you with your homework or writing practice.

I don't want to get flagged for spam by just dropping links in the post, but if anyone wants to try it out, let me know in the comments and I'll send it to you.

Would love to hear if it actually helps!

Hey guys. I’m a native Spanish speaker and a bit of a web dev nerd.

I was a bit hesitant to post this, but I figured it might actually help some of you. I noticed a lot of people learning Spanish struggle to find a simple spell checker or syllable counter that isn't completely covered in pop-up ads or asking for a premium subscription.

So over the last few weeks, I put together a small site called TextoEnLinea.com.

It's completely free, no sign-ups, no annoying stuff. It currently has:

• A spell checker (really good for catching missing tildes/accents if you're writing essays).
• A syllable counter (if you're trying to figure out pronunciation or stress rules).
• A bunch of simple grammar guides I wrote about things like verbs, adjectives, and sentence structures.

I'm still working on it and fixing a few bugs here and there, so please be kind haha. But honestly, if this helps even one person here with their Spanish homework or writing practice, it would make my day.

Let me know if it's useful or if there's any specific tool you'd want me to add! ¡Gracias!

Hey guys. My organic traffic just completely flatlined and I'm trying to figure out what went wrong.

Everything was growing nicely in search console and then around April 24th it just fell off a cliff. I checked GSC and there are zero manual actions or security issues.

To make things worse, I noticed Google also started deindexing my pages. They are just dropping out of the index one by one.

It’s an educational/writing tools site if that matters. I didn't make any crazy technical changes before this happened either.

Has anyone dealt with a drop this bad recently? Is it some sort of algorithmic penalty or an unannounced update? Honestly kind of lost right now on what I should even check first. Any advice would be a lifesaver.

https://preview.redd.it/6m67y19s2t0h1.png?width=1054&format=png&auto=webp&s=6d1c61c5c92c841892d561108ece3efc24df38cb

Hey guys. My organic traffic just completely flatlined and I'm trying to figure out what went wrong.

Everything was growing nicely in search console and then around April 24th it just fell off a cliff. I checked GSC and there are zero manual actions or security issues.

To make things worse, I noticed Google also started deindexing my pages. They are just dropping out of the index one by one.

It’s an educational/writing tools site if that matters. I didn't make any crazy technical changes before this happened either.

Has anyone dealt with a drop this bad recently? Is it some sort of algorithmic penalty or an unannounced update? Honestly kind of lost right now on what I should even check first. Any advice would be a lifesaver.

Hey guys. My organic traffic just completely flatlined and I'm trying to figure out what went wrong.

Everything was growing nicely in search console and then around April 24th it just fell off a cliff. I checked GSC and there are zero manual actions or security issues.

To make things worse, I noticed Google also started deindexing my pages. They are just dropping out of the index one by one.

It’s an educational/writing tools site if that matters. I didn't make any crazy technical changes before this happened either.

Has anyone dealt with a drop this bad recently? Is it some sort of algorithmic penalty or an unannounced update? Honestly kind of lost right now on what I should even check first. Any advice would be a lifesaver.

https://preview.redd.it/ay7fj14e2t0h1.png?width=1054&format=png&auto=webp&s=fb6a2cd61bb97f6b48578a58dfc6c753a4749ea6

Hey guys. My organic traffic just completely flatlined and I'm trying to figure out what went wrong.

Everything was growing nicely in search console and then around April 24th it just fell off a cliff. I checked GSC and there are zero manual actions or security issues.

To make things worse, I noticed Google also started deindexing my pages. They are just dropping out of the index one by one.

It’s an educational/writing tools site if that matters. I didn't make any crazy technical changes before this happened either.

Has anyone dealt with a drop this bad recently? Is it some sort of algorithmic penalty or an unannounced update? Honestly kind of lost right now on what I should even check first. Any advice would be a lifesaver.

https://preview.redd.it/0g881wqn1t0h1.png?width=1054&format=png&auto=webp&s=949fb0f3b79b09990542d32f26d420aa4c47373f

For me it's "ya". I know what it means, I understand it perfectly when native speakers use it, but when I'm actually speaking, my brain just defaults to "ahora" or completely reformulates the sentence to avoid using it. It's like my brain doesn't trust that such a tiny word can mean so many different things.

Another one is "llevar" vs "traer". I always pause for half a second to calculate the physics of where the object is going before I say it.

What's your version of this? The word you understand but refuse to use out loud.

He asked me for help with homework, specifically whether "el aire" is a concrete or abstract noun. I told him abstract without even thinking, you can't see it right, so it felt obvious.

He wrote it down and that was that. Then I started second guessing myself and looked it up.

Completely wrong. Air is concrete. It takes up space, has mass, you literally feel it when wind hits you. The thing that makes a noun abstract isn't whether you can see it, it's whether it only exists as a concept in your mind. Things like love or freedom are abstract. Air is just air, it's a physical thing.

What got me was some of the edge cases. Music is concrete apparently, because it's a sound wave your ears actually pick up. Darkness is abstract because it's not really a thing, it's just the absence of light. Heat is concrete. All stuff I would have gotten wrong before.

Anyway my nephew had already submitted the homework with the wrong answer so that was fun to explain. Anyone else mix these up or is this just me not paying attention in school

Hi everyone! I see a lot of learners frustrated because they memorize thousands of words in Anki, they nail their verb conjugations, but when they speak or write, native speakers still say: "I understand you, but we don't say it like that."

The reason this happens is that learning apps (like Duolingo) focus 90% of their effort on Morphology (vocabulary and verb endings) and 10% on Syntax (sentence structure and word order).

In English, Syntax is extremely rigid: [Subject] + [Verb] + [Object]. Example: "The black cat drinks milk."

In Spanish, our Syntax is flexible but tricky. You can move the subject around for emphasis, and adjectives almost always go AFTER the noun.

• El gato negro bebe leche. (Standard)
• Bebe leche el gato negro. (Poetic/Emphasizing the action)

If you keep using English syntax with Spanish words ("El negro gato bebe leche"), you will always sound translated, no matter how big your vocabulary is.

How to fix this: You need to stop studying words in isolation and start looking at the "skeletons" of the sentences.

I recently published a completely free visual guide breaking down exactly How Spanish Syntax works vs Morphology. It has charts and examples to help you visualize how to build natural-sounding sentences instead of just translating word for word.

If you want to stop sounding like a Google Translate robot, check out the guide here (it's written in Spanish, so it's also great reading practice!): 👉 https://textoenlinea.com/articulos/que-es-la-sintaxis/

Let me know if you have any questions about sentence structures in the comments, happy to help!

Can you write a short description of your favorite food in Spanish using EXACTLY 15 words?

No more, no less. It’s harder than it looks! 🌮🍕

Post your sentence below and I will check your count! 👇