Automate Daily Language Learning with n8n and LingvaNex

What This Automation Does ⚙️

This workflow runs every day at 8 AM to get fresh English words from news titles and translate them to German.
It fixes the problem of spending too much time finding new words to learn.
After it runs, the user gets an SMS with 5 new English-German word pairs for daily study.
This helps keep vocabulary practice steady without manual work.

The workflow gets top 3 Hacker News front-page articles.
It picks unique words from their titles, skips numbers and duplicates.
Then it translates these words to German using LingvaNex.
Next, it saves the word pairs in Airtable for tracking.
Finally, it sends a short SMS with 5 pairs via Vonage.

Tools and Services Used

• n8n Cron node: Triggers daily at 8:00 AM.
  
• HackerNews node: Fetches top 3 front-page articles.
  
• Function node: Extracts unique English words from titles.
  
• LingvaNex node: Translates words to German.
  
• Set node: Formats and cleans data.
  
• Airtable node: Saves word pairs in a table.
  
• Vonage node: Sends SMS messages with vocabulary.
  

Inputs, Processing, and Output

Inputs:

• Daily trigger at 8:00 AM (Cron node).
  
• Top 3 article titles from Hacker News front page.
  

Processing Steps:

• Split article titles into words.
  
• Remove words containing numbers.
  
• Remove duplicate words.
  
• Translate each word from English to German.
  
• Format filtered data into "English word" and "Translated word".
  
• Save the word pairs to Airtable via Append operation.
  
• Create a message listing 5 vocabulary pairs.
  
• Send an SMS with the vocabulary list using Vonage.
  

Output:

• 5 translated English-German word pairs received daily as SMS.
  
• Full word list logged in Airtable for review.
  

Beginner Step-by-Step: How to Use This Workflow in n8n

Step 1: Import Workflow

1. Download the workflow file using the Download button on this page.
   
2. Open the n8n editor and click “Import from File.”
   
3. Choose the downloaded workflow file to import.
   

Step 2: Configure Credentials and IDs

1. Open each node that uses external services.
   
2. Enter your API Key for LingvaNex translation.
   
3. Enter Vonage API credentials for SMS sending.
   
4. Provide Airtable API key, base ID, and table name.
   
5. Update recipient phone number in Vonage node (e.g., +4915225152610).
   
6. Check HackerNews node to confirm the right tags and limits.
   

Step 3: Test the Workflow

1. Run the workflow manually to verify each step works.
   
2. Check Airtable if new records are added.
   
3. Confirm that the phone gets an SMS with vocabulary.
   

Step 4: Activate for Production

1. Toggle the Active switch in n8n to enable daily runs.
   
2. Optionally set up server or cloud to make sure n8n runs reliably.
   
3. For those using self-host n8n, verify cron jobs are set correctly.
   
4. From now on, vocabulary SMS will arrive daily at 8 AM automatically.
   

Key Code and Expressions

Extract Unique Words (Function Node)

const words = [];
const regex = /\d/g;
const newItems = [];

for(let i=0; i < items.length; i++) {
  let split_titles = []; 
  split_titles = items[i].json.title.split(' ');
  for(let j=0; j < split_titles.length; j++) {
    if(regex.test(split_titles[j])) {
      continue;
    } else {
      words.push(split_titles[j]);
    }
  }
}

const uniqueWords = [...new Set(words)];

for(let k=0; k < uniqueWords.length; k++) {
  newItems.push({json: { words: uniqueWords[k] }});
}

return newItems;

This code splits titles, removes words with numbers, and removes duplicates.

Translate Node Expression

Use expression: {{$node["Extract words"].json["words"]}} to pass words to LingvaNex.

Set Node Fields

• English word: {{$node["Translate"].json["source"]}}
  
• Translated word: {{$node["Translate"].json["result"]}}
  

Craft SMS Message (Function Node)

const number_of_words = 5;
const words = [];

for(let i=0; i < number_of_words; i++) {
  words.push(items[i].json['English word'] + ' : ' + items[i].json['Translated word']);
}

const words_of_the_day = words.join(', ');

return [{json: {words_of_the_day: words_of_the_day}}];

This creates a single string of five English-German pairs separated by commas.

Customization Ideas

• Change LingvaNex node target language (e.g., to French 'fr_FR' or Spanish 'es_ES').
  
• Adjust number of words in SMS by changing number_of_words in Craft message node.
  
• Add more sources by duplicating HackerNews node or combining with RSS feeds.
  
• Replace Airtable node with Google Sheets node to store vocabulary.
  
• Switch Vonage node for Twilio or other SMS providers.
  

Common Issues and Fixes

• LingvaNex API fails: Check API Key and usage limits.
  
• No SMS sent: Verify phone number format with plus sign and credentials in Vonage node.
  
• No unique words found: Inspect HackerNews titles and maybe change regex in Function node.
  
• Empty translation results: Confirm connection to LingvaNex API.
  
• Airtable append error: Confirm base ID and table name correct.
  

Pre-Production Checklist ✅

• Confirm Cron node triggers daily at 8 AM.
  
• Verify HackerNews node returns three articles with English titles.
  
• Test Function nodes output unique words and message format.
  
• Check LingvaNex translation returns valid German words.
  
• Make sure Airtable app and table accept new records.
  
• Send a test SMS via Vonage node.
  
• Backup workflow JSON before activating.
  

Deployment Guide

After testing, turn the workflow on by clicking Active.
Workflow will run automatically every morning collecting new words.
Watch execution logs on the n8n dashboard.
Check Airtable for vocabulary entries.
Make sure SMS arrives each day.
When self hosting n8n, set up cron jobs or use self-host n8n to ensure stable runs.

Summary of Workflow Benefits

✓ Saves about 30 minutes daily by automating vocabulary gathering.
✓ Gets daily fresh English words from popular news.
✓ Translates words to German automatically.
✓ Stores vocabulary in Airtable for tracking progress.
✓ Sends convenient SMS reminders with 5 word pairs.