What is Duolingo?
Duolingo is a language learning app that you can use on
either your mobile or computer. There's a choice of 39 languages to study
(well, 39 at the time of writing, as I checked on the Duolingo website). It's free to use, but there's a version (Duolingo plus) where you can pay and receive
a few extra things when you use it.
It allows the user to practice the four key
skills of language learning (reading, writing, listening, and speaking). It does
this through a series of exercises, where you generally have to translate either
words or whole sentences from your maternal language into your target
language and vice versa. It's an incredibly popular app and seems to
be the go-to for all people who start trying to learn a language.
Based on my experience using Duolingo to help me learn
languages, I've created a list of the advantages and disadvantages that I
believe the app has and whether it's worth using.
Advantages:
User friendly – in general, the app (on both mobile and
computer) is very easy to use. It's always very clear what is going on, and it explains what you have to do for each exercise. It informs you when
something is wrong and needs correcting, and congratulates you when you get
something right.
Excellent to build up a base of grammar and vocabulary – in doing the various exercises, you'll start to build up a
sense of the grammar rules of the language, in addition to lots of vocabulary.
This is generally achieved through the repetition of exercises throughout your time
in the app.
Random and funny examples perhaps make them more
memorable – you'll find some exercise examples are random, unrealistic, and generally quite humorous. For example, one of the
examples I came across in French was “Les murs ont des oreilles” which
translates to “The walls have ears”. The random nature of these exercises will
perhaps stick in your memory more.
Divided into several courses covering different topics – there is a wide range of topics available to practice with, for example family, restaurant, travel, people, food and several more. This, therefore, covers a wide range of vocabulary, and you can generally pick which ones you want to do.
Disadvantages:
A bit repetitive and can become boring – this was mentioned
as one of the advantages that the repetition allows you to build up
a good knowledge of some of the grammar and vocabulary, but eventually I found that it did become a bit boring. You want to be able to enjoy the process of
learning a language, and I reached points where I wasn’t enjoying it as much as
before.
Often penalised for the smallest of errors – Duolingo
tries to correct you where possible because it wants you to be accurate, which
is fair enough. However, there are times where it can be very frustrating if
you've thought hard and typed a long sentence that is all correct apart from
one tiny word, or if you’ve perhaps missed one tiny thing. I found this quite
frustrating at times because, even with the mistake, the meaning you are trying
to get across is perfectly understood. If you were communicating with a native,
they would have absolutely no problem understanding the message.
Random examples do not provide you with conversational
language – this was also mentioned as one of the advantages, as I believe the
random nature of the examples makes you remember them better. However,
unfortunately, you'll never end up in a situation where you need to say that
the walls have ears, or the elephant can’t find his shoes, or whatever else they give
you.
Stop-start exercises are not enough to achieve fluency – the
exercises do a great job at building up your knowledge of grammar and
vocabulary, but they won't make you comfortable in a conversation. You may be able to get a few words out, but it won't be enough.
Summary:
My overall advice regarding Duolingo is that it can be a
very useful tool to help you in your language learning journey. I've used it
in every single one of my languages, and I would advise it as the very first
starting point in learning a language, but it can't be the only tool you use.
If you only use Duolingo and nothing else, you'll never achieve fluency in a
language, in my opinion. However, if you combine it with other methods, it'll
prove to be an incredibly useful app in your language learning journey.
What are your thoughts on Duolingo? If you've used it before, let us know in the comment section what language(s) you were studying!
Maternal language – native language
Vice versa – means where the main items in a sentence are
the other way round as well. Using the example in the text (“where you
generally have to translate either words or whole sentences from your maternal
language into your target language and vice versa), it means you
will also translate words from the target language into your maternal language
(the other way round)
Humorous – funny, however it is very formal
Penalised – a form of punishment, however obviously with
Duolingo it is nothing serious. You simply receive a message that you are
incorrect and need to change something
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