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Duolingo: opinions, progress, levels? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Jinx Triglot Senior Member Germany reverbnation.co Joined 5644 days ago 1085 posts - 1879 votes  Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Catalan, Dutch, Esperanto, Croatian, Serbian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish | Message 9 of 35 19 June 2015 at 7:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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I see that the most recent posts in this thread were my own from two years ago, and in
the interest of absolute fairness, I feel compelled to make an update. Duolingo has gotten so much better! I started using it right away when it went public, back in 2012, and returned to it on a regular basis over the next three years. For the first two years or so, it was still getting into its swing, but now I can say with some confidence that it has become a much more enjoyable and useful language-learning tool. Admittedly many languages still use computer-generated voices (although the Esperanto course has a fantastic real-human voice), and the courses are definitely aimed at beginners, focusing more on not scaring you off rather than challenging you and bringing you to a high level of knowledge. That said, it does what it does very well. I did the entire German tree back when it was only 17 levels (now, I believe, every language goes up to level 25), have done most of the French tree and am well into the Spanish and Dutch ones. I've also tried out about five of their other languages on low levels, and intend to continue them later. As has been pointed out in this forum before, it's not a "complete solution" to language-learning, but it's free, fun, and does its job of introducing various languages quite nicely. I recommend checking it out, especially if you haven't used it in a year or so. 9 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| michaelmichael Senior Member Canada Joined 5208 days ago 167 posts - 202 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 10 of 35 29 June 2015 at 2:38am | IP Logged | ||
glad you wrote a follow up to your 2013 review. i am very close to finishing the french tree ( 5 badges left) and can say they don't really have mistakes when it comes to the written portion. as for the audio, i believe there are a few distortions, not enough to hinder your learning though. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5158 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 11 of 35 29 June 2015 at 10:33am | IP Logged | ||
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I signed up to Duolingo a couple of months ago with low expectations, as a fairly advanced learner, and I was pleasantly surprised. I don't see how it could sensibly be used as a primary resource for learning a language, but it's great for revision and testing. It has a few glitches but on the whole it works pretty well, especially in terms of accepting various different translations of a given sentence.
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| getreallanguage Diglot Senior Member Argentina youtube.com/getreall Joined 5422 days ago 240 posts - 371 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: Italian, Dutch | Message 12 of 35 01 July 2015 at 8:51pm | IP Logged | ||
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Is there a list anywhere of which courses use computerized voices versus which ones use human voices?
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| rtickner Diglot Groupie AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 3469 days ago 61 posts - 95 votes Speaks: English*, GermanB2 Studies: French, Spanish | Message 13 of 35 02 July 2015 at 2:29am | IP Logged | ||
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I tried out Duolingo the other day, could be useful for the beginner or the inner child,
with the colourful graphics and avian companion to foster disassociation with what could be considered the unpleasant bushwhacking one does when starting to learn a new language. For what it's worth, the Android app played up on me multiple times and would not allow me to continue on to complete the daily goal. I got an email this morning reminding me that I needed to keep my owl happy. What a diva. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| getreallanguage Diglot Senior Member Argentina youtube.com/getreall Joined 5422 days ago 240 posts - 371 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: Italian, Dutch | Message 14 of 35 02 July 2015 at 2:45am | IP Logged | ||
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Another good thing to have would be a list of which courses have speaking practice and which don't. I started Swedish and not once did it ask me to speak yet...
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| Amerykanka Hexaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5122 days ago 657 posts - 890 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Polish, Latin, Ancient Greek, Russian | Message 15 of 35 02 July 2015 at 7:01am | IP Logged | ||
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It also bothers me that not all the courses have audio and that they don't tell you this anywhere. I was excited
to try a bit of Irish, but when there wasn't even a computerized voice I switched back to German. My general opinion is that it is a fun, relaxing, slightly addictive site, but that it isn't effective as a primary learning tool. I would suggest it as a stress-free supplement to a more substantial course, and I would recommend it to dabblers or to my little sisters, who have fun playing with Rosetta Stone demos. But one definite positive is the iPhone app - very well done and easy to use. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4960 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 16 of 35 02 July 2015 at 3:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'd say there are huge differences between the various languages. While I really liked the German Duolingo (good content, not wrong as it was in agreement with my other resources, quite fun sentences etc), I hated the Spanish one (overuse of personal pronouns, weird vocabulary I haven't encountered in other courses or in native media).
In general, I'd say it's a great way to practice but it shouldn't be use as a standalone course. I love the app, it is really functional, not just fancy. And I like the variety of exercises, I think it is a much better mix than most apps like this offer. From the experience of others, it looks like the French version is good as well. How about the others? Has anyone tried Italian and Swedish, please? 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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