You can learn a language with Duolingo, they said. I am not convinced, and I’ll share why.
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Duolingo told us that it works
01:58 An analogy for the effectiveness of Duolingo
04:00 How I accelerated my Spanish learning
05:19 Evan Edinger, the Duolingo OG
09:58 Duolingo is hopelessly slow
13:09 Spanish Duolingo is pointless
15:08 Why do we still use it?
17:25 What language learning really is
22:28 Why people are upset with Duolingo
24:24 Don’t Despair
Duolingo… Who’d ever have thought we’d end up here?
I know this was a rough one guys, thanks for watching.
36 Comments
I can’t believe I’m being used in a thumbnail for views. Gonna tell my mom I’ve finally made it
Also my comment on reading Harry Potter after the German tree was made 6 years ago before Duolingo aligned with CEFR so it’s definitely further along now. I still preferred starting with the other books I mentioned as they were enjoyable and educational 🙂
Also find it a bit weird you photoshopped my views to be nearly twice as high. Why. That video does not have 2.9m views lmao
I use duolingo in addition to tiktok and chatgpt to learn german and it goes pretty well for me so far. I don't think duolingo is bad in itself but it's not enough for sure I don't really know why you would limit yourself to just duolingo to learn a language anyway. I definitely feel like I'm learning things that helps me understand native content when using the app still.
Seems like people are hooked on the gamification found of this app.
I walked away from duolingo after a 425 day streak. I now see how much time i wasted on duolingo.
I always thought it was just to supplement your vocabulary learning and not THE way to learn the languages themselves.
This was very thought-provoking. Duolingo is not the only resource I use but I have to admit to being addicted to my streak. I never miss a lesson. Yes it’s clever marketing.
Eh, I used Duolingo to start learning Romanian a few years ago. I quickly finished the tree and started doing language exchanges with native speakers and watching Romanian videos for Romanians. That being said, I already had a background in foreign languages. I also studied Russian in college, and now I use Duolingo to include a little bit of translation practice and not forget the language. I used to type out alll the answers, which helped me to learn how to spell words properly, but it seems like this isn't an option on all the exercises anymore. Duolingo certainly has it's limitations, and it doesn't even pretend to teach grammar, but Duolingo is one of many tools. It shouldn't be the only tool that people use to learn languages and certainly not the most important tool.
I'd love to hear your opinion about using Duolingo in combination with your methods, especially at the beginner phase. Of course Duolingo can't teach you a language to fluency if you use ONLY that, I want more details on how it can help (or not) as an extra daily tool.
use a library, borrow textbooks to learn basic script and grammar
get music from youtube
download movies and shows from torrents and online streaming sites
change settings of things you use to your langauge
use youtube videos with google translated search
listen to only visual/entertainng mediums
listen to songs when doing unrelated things
use flashcards to remeber where you heard words before
focus on words you understand and use clues to decipher whats going on
do that for 1.5–3 years
done.
you're fluent, not a dime spent. you dont even need internet connection, you could use mediums like dvds, adlbums and flash drives.
These days there are a lot of options even for niche languages. I might give storylearning a go, for my Spanish, thanks for the tip. The good thing about duolingo was that you could just use it as a little game on the go instead of e.g candy crush. It did help me loose the fear of starting a new language, but with the new path now and with taking away the language discussion section, it's completely useless.
Also, I didn't mind paying the subscription and covering someone else's costs, but I am not planning on renewing my subscription for another year.
I don't fully disagree but you missed the main point:
Duolingo successfully achieves what every fitness-sports-home-workout app failed in: Keeping me engaged over really long amounts of time and establishing a habit. And this alone is enough for me to also put energy into "more effective" language learning apart from just opening the green app 5 minutes per day to keep my streak alive.
I never lost my interest in learning foreign languages just because I never stopped. Unlike I stopped doing daily workouts…
And it really paid off: I am now able to understand and speak to natives in my target languages English, Swedish and Spanish. I was able to learn new languages with Duolingo that I wouldn't have without it in the same amount of time. Like i didn't achieve to permanently build muscle mass in ten+ years using several workout-apps.
If there was a Duolingo-Workout App I would be totally in. Even if the training plans are weaker than in other apps. Keeping the habit makes all the progress.
Duolingo has its strengths, but if it’s the only thing you use to learn, you’re gonna have a bad experience. Also, for me, Duolingo helps me keep motivated at times, and also fills in down parts/time in my day with my target language without having to pull out a study sheet or what have you. Just don’t fall into the trap of gamification.
So, a few words on this video. I jumped train before this sh*tshow started. Had a 3 year streak on 2 accounts(somehow I had a duolingo account for the Facebook and Google emails, each). Was even on "Streak Society" on both of them. But there were multiple things frustrating my experience with it. From the lack of nuanced answers, to the lack of explanations to anything(save for the occasional comments in the DISCUSSIONS tab, which got "locked" at some point), making it a "monkey see monkey do" experience, which I hate to the core, to duolingo not counting the day as cleared from time to time, even though I had indeed done the daily lesson, which would make me have to buy another streak freeze, to compensate for the occasional bugs, to . This one time it even cost me a Streak Freeze because I closed the app before I got to the ad. Even posted it on the Duolingo subreddit, only to get downvoted to oblivion/banned by the duolingo fanboys. Overall, that's not how you learn a language, so despite the streak I was proud of I left due to the BS. When they removed the Discussions tab I thought "Glad I got out of that burning train. Figures, they had it locked either way…".
By the way, do you have Swedish roots? I genuinely thought you were Swedish when I saw your videos for the first time. It even made sense to me that you were learning Swedish on Duolingo, since according to it, the language most Swedes learn on Duolingo is Swedish, making me thing "ah, right, makes sense!".
I am in really poor health so I am not sure what to do apart from the bite sizes chunks in duolingo.
sumakina, conocio a MR. salas
Does anyone know of any good resources for learning ancient Greek?
as a german native I can’t say that I’m very impressed with the german I’ve heard from evan in a video once. I think duolingo is only good for getting you started.
take your spanish lessons or else duolingo will break your legs
I used to love it before the 2022 update. I actually came a very very long way in my Spanish comprehension through it in 2022. Almost had a 365 streak. Then the update. Really really disappointing. I loathe the new model. I wish I could go back to the tree. BUT – I had a major framework for learning Spanish. I’d studied it in school from age 10 to 17. I loved Spanish and remembered enough for it to be the perfect foundation to dive back in. Duolingo was useful in that framework. For other languages? I haven’t had any luck whatsoever. Especially as they’ve stripped away all of the good stuff.
I have to add – I used duolingo in conjunction with multiple YouTube channels to practice listening and reread fiction I’d already read in English in Spanish to practice reading comprehension. Where I’ve really struggled? Speaking. Especially since they’ve stripped away almost all of it. There’s no ability to apply the language yourself on duolingo.
Duolingo, more than anything, made me practice Spanish in other ways. It was a reminder to practice the language overall. That was the most vital role. That’s basically the only reason I ever go back on there today – to brush up on the basics now and again.
In fact…come to think of it…I’ve made significant progress since dropping it. I’ve actually crossed over to a point of comprehension that was significantly closer to fluency than it was while using the app.
Aren't you supposed to announce that your video is a paid promotion at the beginning? 🤔 "Don't recommend channel". There! Fixed it!😉
As someone who did a languages degree at university- no. The best way to learn a language is in a classroom environment with a native speaker, and living in the country and speaking with natives. Apps are only good for reinforcing vocabulary, everyone I know who “learned” languages using apps can’t really speak them with any level of fluency.
"I only had one kid at that time" to the picture of a pretty young person with a child on his lap, was a bit confusing… (21:58)
How do you rate formal language courses at universities or community colleges? Are those much better than these apps? I haven't tried the modern apps out much but a while ago in the Windows 98/XP days I had some CD-ROMs for language learning and many taught just specific phrases and objects only and had no feedback – something I feel is very necessary hence wanting to take an actual class.
10 seconds of critical thinking tells you that a business with a freemium model doesnt have it in their best interest for the users to actually learn the language to their desired proficiency level (because then they churn) so you have to give them the illusion of progress
I'm malding because I had the intention of quitting but my subscription auto-renewed before I realized it
I think the focus with Duolingo should just be maintaining a habit. I don't think it's effective if it's the only tool you're using to try to learn a language, but it does help initially with creating a daily habit. I still maintain my Duolingo streak for fun, but there's no doubt I've learned much more German from reading books, listening to music, watching movies and taking more comprehensive courses.
Reminds me how after taking four years of American high school French, I still only tested into third quarter university French. In the US, most foreign language teaching in high school is complete crap. They teach it too slowly.
I read most of Harry Potter in French and Italian! It helped me brush up on my French, barely used in a decade. And it made Italian I and II at the local community college really effective. Another decade later, I often surprise myself with how much Italian I still understand and can spontaneously speak, better than Spanish, in fact, which is a widely spoken language where I live. Yes, that says how much my effort to master Spanish has sucked.
Young adult books seem a great way to learn. Has anybody some suggestions for reading other than Harry Potter? I'm HPed to death. I've considered Tolkien, which I enjoy enough to reread yet again. It would be cool to find some YA books quite popular elsewhere—not sparkly vampires, though. X-D
Agreed. I was learning spanish with duolingo many years ago. Then i started watching YouTube channels in spanish because i had realized that i could understand so little of the spoken language and needed to practice that. Basically, Duolingo is really good at making it seem like your making progress without any discernible improvement. I learned so much spanish in just a few months of watching Easy Spanish.
This is a good video
My experience with Duolingo is that it is a good vocabulary builder, but if you're wanting to be conversational, you need supplemental sources to learn: movies with subtitles, reading books, talking to people, etc.
I'm reading Harry Potter in Swedish and I get by because I know the story, but there's like 40% word recognition… when I started. I started making flash cards of new words and it really bridged the gap. I'll need to find people to speak Swedish to make significant progress. My Spanish learning through Duolingo has actually been more productive because a) I took 3 years in high school and lots of those building blocks were still in place and b) I can speak Spanish with people to practice. I work at the front desk of a medical clinic and as of now i can check people in and schedule appointments no problem in Spanish. I also have a general recognition of body parts and terms (eyes, legs, heart, pain, etc) so I can at least point people in the right direction for their medical issues.
So yeah, I'm looking into other language apps because they're more diverse and helpful, but once you have a decent vocabulary, nothing beats real world practice and interaction.
Duolingo didn't really seem good to me, after using it for a couple weeks. Just started using Busuu, and I'm very happy with it. In my opinion, it's a horrible way to learn a language on it's own, but it's a great intermediary between your studies, and your consumption of foreign media. Learning Japanese and Italian with it, it's just a nice way of being exposed to native content I fully understand. I would NOT recommend trying to learn a language entirely with any app.
Duolingo is one of those things where: once it's not useful to you, and you're not having fun anymore….stop using it….
It's an excellent resource for beginners and you lose nothing by trying it out.
That said: there comes a point in all skills when u STOP being a BEGINNER. Beginner resources are for beginners. You are meant to stop using them at some point
I ended my 850 day streak last week because I do not think it is not working anymore. The plane and walking analogy really described my experience. I noticed a much higher jump in comprehension by immersing myself with content like anime, manga, etc., than when I was drilling myself with cards and using apps. Right now, I can't converse in Japanese and I wish I could turn those times I've used in Duo for native content instead
As someone closing to a 1000 day streak… Does Duolingo work? Yes, I feel that I am improving. Did I get fluent in Spanish? No, absolutely not.
The whole point of Duolingo for me is that I don't NEED to hop on a plane, I can walk in a relaxed pace. I don't need to be speaking the language now. I am just moving along doing 3-4 lessons of Spanish and 3-4 lessons of French a day, and gradually get better. At some point I started also playing games in Spanish and using other materials. Would I get better results if I was studying with a tutor? Yes, absolutely. And guess what, I did study with a tutor (4 months of Polish, 1 month of Spanish). I did study with Anki. It's giving better results faster, but it is INTENSE. And I just didn't need intense at this point in time – I just like the idea of learning the language eventually without it being too inconvenient
PS. 20ish years ago Harry Potter was the first book I read in English, which definitely boosted my confidence in this language at that time
I've been doing duolingo Arabic for 1 year. Some words get familiar but I don't believe it works. I've learnt other languages quicker through books and watching movies. Duolingo seems to teach sentences that isn't everyday used. I'm on it everyday
But I feel I haven't learnt much in this time compared to my past learning of other languages. Duolingo is OK but not the best.
It's good to hear an opinion from a fellow Australian
this is kinda a shallow viewpoint though, most people dont use duolingo for hard learning, i dont think anyone should as well, its really only a kick to get you started, and its seemless enough to not make you feel like you are fprcing yourself to learn… if you use duolingo for intense studying, you should probably learn from an actual "real" coarse… it's not great for finding out the ins and outs of a language, but if i didn't use it i probably wouldn't have tried to learn anything at all. also does it even matter how fast you learn a language? why run through the park as fast as you can if you can enjoy the walk?