Duolingo

Daledge · 21-06-2017 5:30pm #1

Any of you guys have experience with this? It seems to good to be true, could you really learn a language by using a free mobile app for a half hour a day? Albeit I'm very impressed so far

Ben D Bus · 21-06-2017 5:44pm

I've been using it for over a year to learn Spanish. I really like it. I use it on my daily commute.

It's very good for vocabulary, tenses, and for basic grammatical structures

But for learning to converse in a language it's pretty useless imo. Not a fault of Duolingo, simply the case that there's only one way to really learn a language and that's to use it in the real world.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend Duolingo.

Just out of curiosity, which language(s) are you looking at learning with it?

Daledge · 21-06-2017 6:25pm

Ben D Bus wrote: »

I've been using it for over a year to learn Spanish. I really like it. I use it on my daily commute.

It's very good for vocabulary, tenses, and for basic grammatical structures

But for learning to converse in a language it's pretty useless imo. Not a fault of Duolingo, simply the case that there's only one way to really learn a language and that's to use it in the real world.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend Duolingo.

Just out of curiosity, which language(s) are you looking at learning with it?

I've been using it for a few weeks now and I agree with you.

Basically I go to Spain every year during the summer for 2/3 weeks but I never really seem to immerse myself with the locals language wise, where I go most of them speak English anyway but it would be nice to be able to communicate with anyone over there.

I suppose it could be handy as a sort of stepping stone?

Caoimhgh1n · 22-06-2017 1:54am

Used Duolingo for a while now, completed 2 trees so far.

Definitely recommend it as a basis for learning a language, it certainly won't make you fluent though.

riffmongous · 22-06-2017 2:27am

I like it, using it for Russian in conjunction with other materials. However they do make some odd choices sometimes, like sushi should be the first russian food word you learn, really?

Scarinae · 11-08-2017 10:24am

I've been using the French one for a few weeks, I was thinking that it would be a good starting point anyway and then I was thinking of signing up for French lessons in the new year.

TheZenMonkey · 26-08-2017 6:36am

Scarinae wrote: »

I've been using the French one for a few weeks, I was thinking that it would be a good starting point anyway and then I was thinking of signing up for French lessons in the new year.

Definitely a good way to use it. You'll learn a lot of important grammar and vocabulary basics which will have you in a good place when you start more formal study. French and Spanish are two of the most well-developed programs, with chatbots and other helpful things not found in, say, Irish. The best way to use the program is not on mobile but on PC where you have access to discussions on just about every exercise. It'll take you longer but you'll learn so much more.

I'm about 2/3 done with the Irish tree and my basic reading comprehension isn't too bad, but I've supplemented with lots of other resources including Twitter as Gaeilge. Translating and composing tweets is a surprisingly good way to improve since you're using the language "in the wild" -- that goes for any language you want to learn or maintain. (I read sites in French I never would in English, like Huffington Post and Slate, because they're right at a comfortable reading level for me.)

I'm going to be starting conversational Irish lessons over Skype soon because this is the weakest part of Duolingo's curriculum, but I do feel well prepared to learn thanks to my working with it.

gronings · 06-06-2018 6:39pm

I've been using it for three years. A bit of a waste in my opinion. It was never ever good enough on its own to use as a standalone resource. I always had to use other things like Memrise along with it. The old system of strengthening stalled my progress and three years later I've forgotten most of the Norwegian I've learned and my Italian progress hasn't really gotten off the ground even though I started them both three years ago. The new 'crown levels' update really killed it for me. It got quite boring after that. It really wasted my time and now I'm starting to immerse myself in the languages more by reading books and watching shows. It's a lot more tedious at the start but the progress one can make is great.

Manach · 17-06-2018 1:18am

I find Duolingo fine for what it is, a means to give a taster for a language and pick up a grasp of it. I've completed a few of the courses and perhaps Swedish is my best language and even with that I can read only some Swedish news articles. Like any language learning method, it works in parallel with other more traditional means such as grammar books and listening to the language being spoken (or sung in the case of Sabaton).

JohnRock · 09-12-2019 7:16am

I think it's a good starting point. Hellotalk is another useful app as you talk with native speakers who constantly provide feedback by correcting your mistakes

Captain Havoc · 09-12-2019 10:41am

I use Duolingo during my study breaks, it's grand. Tandem is a chat app where you can chat to natives.

RobertKK · 23-03-2020 1:55am

I am learning Romanian, the Romance language that is closest to Latin.

In fiecare zi, invat limba romana.

I also watch youtube videos in the language and read some articles. The best part with language learning is when something one was struggling on suddenly clicks.

Duolingo

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