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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4533 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes  Studies: German | Message 17 of 27 14 October 2014 at 4:14pm | IP Logged | ||
But what does "know quite a bit" mean exactly? I think it's generally agreed that Assimil will get you to a pretty solid B1 in a language. Does Duolingo do the same? Or is is more like A2 with gaps? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6582 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 18 of 27 14 October 2014 at 5:37pm | IP Logged | ||
Summary of the majority opinion (more or less): Assimil: The gold standard, especially if you know what you're doing and are self-motivated. Pimsleur: Good but short and overpriced. Michel Thomas: Good but nonnative pronunciation. Strong point is exhaustive grammar explanations and drilling, weak point vocab. FSI: Effective if you can stand it, but the drill-heavy approach is boring as swearword. Colloquial, Teach Yourself: Decent, standard self-study courses. Rosetta Stone: Useless and horribly expensive. It's the Devil. Podcast methods (Xpod101): Quality varies. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| liam.pike1 Groupie Australia Joined 3754 days ago 84 posts - 122 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Esperanto, French | Message 19 of 27 16 October 2014 at 4:00am | IP Logged | ||
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By 'know a bit', I'd say I'd be at a very, very shaky A2 level... I did go through the course very quickly (in under 4 months). However, give me another 3 months or so, and I reckon I'd just be at an A2 level (without many holes) on the CEFR... a few more months after that, well, I duuno. Some users swear that by practically only using Duolingo (along with some other resources like simple grammar explanations) they've achieved a level equivalent to B1. Take their testimonies as you will...
Thank you so much, the general consensus summary of the major language learning programs is very helpful! A family friend happened to have lots of Michel Thomas CD's which he lent to me; I will have to listen to them a bit more. However, a physical reference for Spanish is what I feel I really need, so I might try either Colloquial or Teach Yourself soon... I have read on this forum about those two series of books, and some users have said that Colloquial tends to go at a little more of an easier pace than does Teach Yourself, but doesn't go to as advanced of a level as does TY... is this true? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6597 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 20 of 27 16 October 2014 at 4:10am | IP Logged | ||
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We tend to compare Assimil, MT, Colloquial and Teach Yourself because they're available for many languages, including some uncommon ones. For Spanish there are loads of other options though
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| liam.pike1 Groupie Australia Joined 3754 days ago 84 posts - 122 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Esperanto, French | Message 21 of 27 25 October 2014 at 1:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you everyone :)
To sum up the 'general consensus' on Duolingo, perhaps the following is correct: - It is very good for beginners of the particular language, and especially for beginners to language learning in general. - It's a free way to learn a language, so it's making language learning accessible to pretty much anyone and everyone. - Due to its resemblance to a video game, it is very motivating and fun to use. - It can get one to an A2 level (but perhaps only just) in about 6 to 9 months or so (with at least 30 to 45 minutes a day of practise, perhaps even a bit more), although once one hits that intermediate level then Duolingo is of very little use any more, other than for learning and memorising vocabulary. - Duolingo doesn't explicitly teach a whole lot of grammar (most notably in the advanced levels; in fact, for the latter half of the course there are practically no grammar explanations at all). Therefore, it requires one to be self-motivated and look to external sites for more information and explanations. (I almost exclusively used www.studyspanish.com). - The last so many lessons on the advanced aspects of the language are not very good; in fact, perhaps close to useless. - Great community :) Of course, I can only say for the Spanish course! Hopefully they soon give the Spanish course a complete makeover soon, so that it's up to scratch with the new courses made through the Incubator (same with French, German ext.). If anyone has a different general consensus, or any other opinions or experiences of Duolingo, just post them here :) 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5009 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 22 of 27 25 October 2014 at 3:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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One more point: most people using it like to use it as a complement to a more complete source, not a
standalone course. Should you use Duolingo only, I believe you would miss pronunciation explanations and exercises and you would have too little listening material, perhaps even none. I think listening is crutial in learning, especially at the beginning stage and, when I tried duolingo, there was quite nothing. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6597 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 23 of 27 25 October 2014 at 3:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah on its own Duolingo can't take you even to A2 (assuming they haven't added audio since Cavesa tried it, and even with audio for individual sentences only). I doubt it can take you even to A1 if you look at the official guidelines.
If you like gamified learning, try www.lyricstraining.com :) But note that you can't learn to listen solely through music. Edited by Serpent on 25 October 2014 at 3:30pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6597 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 24 of 27 26 October 2014 at 6:14am | IP Logged | ||
I just saw this. Better than playing Farmville in your native language, but not better than Criminal Case in L2 or L3. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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