For Students: Asking Is Never Embarrassing

This page is for you, not your parents. Duowenwen explains problems, and it's something you can ask back. Take a photo of a problem and it explains it. If you don't get it, keep asking. If you have a new why, ask that too.

Why?

When you ask "why?" you're not being difficult. You're learning. When Duowenwen finishes explaining a problem, it ends with two or three follow-up questions. You can tap one or type a new one of your own. You go as far as you like, and nobody hurries you.

And then what?

Every answer ends with another question, so there's always an "and then". For example, after it explains why the sky is blue, it might ask, "So why are sunsets red?" Follow the questions and they join up into your own question map, which you can save or send to classmates.

What if...?

"What if the conditions change?" is one of the best questions there is. Once you've finished a problem, change something and ask again. What if this number were negative? What if there were no atmosphere? What if the author cut this line? Asking questions like that means you're not just doing the problem anymore, you're figuring it out.

Says who?

You can ask, "Why do we calculate it this way?", "Says who?" or "How do you know?" Duowenwen's answers are checked against the textbook text and tell you which page to look at, so you can open the book and check. If an explanation is wrong, you can say, "I don't think that's right," and it will explain again. Doubting is good, but check the book.

What's the point of learning this?

You can ask it that directly, and it won't brush you off with "it's on the exam." Ask, "Where would I ever use quadratic functions?" or "Why learn classical Chinese?" and it will tell you about one specific place, then ask you a question. Whether it's useful is for you to judge once you've asked.

Is it embarrassing to ask questions?

At school you might not dare put your hand up in case people think you're slow, and at home your parents might not know either. Here you can ask the same question over and over, and it explains again each time, a different way each time. It never says "you should know this," and it never compares you with anyone else. Ask when you don't get it, and keep going until you do.

Next: take a photo of a problem you're stuck on tonight, then see what it asks you at the end.