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Duolingo: opinions, progress, levels?

 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes Post Reply
35 messages over 5 pages: 13 4 5  Next >>
Jinx
Triglot
Senior Member
Germany
reverbnation.co
Joined 5706 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 
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 5270 days ago

167 posts - 202 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French

 
 Message 10 of 35
29 June 2015 at 2:38am | IP Logged 
Jinx wrote:
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.



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 5220 days ago

1468 posts - 2413 votes 
Speaks: English*, Italian, French
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 11 of 35
29 June 2015 at 10:33am | IP Logged 
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.
1 person has voted this message useful



getreallanguage
Diglot
Senior Member
Argentina
youtube.com/getreall
Joined 5484 days ago

240 posts - 371 votes 
Speaks: Spanish*, English
Studies: Italian, Dutch

 
 Message 12 of 35
01 July 2015 at 8:51pm | IP Logged 
Is there a list anywhere of which courses use computerized voices versus which ones use human voices?
1 person has voted this message useful



rtickner
Diglot
Groupie
AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 3531 days ago

61 posts - 95 votes 
Speaks: English*, GermanB2
Studies: French, Spanish

 
 Message 13 of 35
02 July 2015 at 2:29am | IP Logged 
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 5484 days ago

240 posts - 371 votes 
Speaks: Spanish*, English
Studies: Italian, Dutch

 
 Message 14 of 35
02 July 2015 at 2:45am | IP Logged 
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...
1 person has voted this message useful



Amerykanka
Hexaglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5184 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 
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 5022 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 
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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