Everyone seems to have some mobile game or app they're really into, and mine has definitely been Duolingo.

The past couple of years, I've gotten very into language learning and it has been a great way to deal with any downtime or restlessness I encounter. Whenever I'm on public transport or I'm just at home watching something in the background, I'll often pull it out and do a few sessions.

It's rare to have a learning app that manages to so effectively employ gamification to keep you on it. I've been using it as my main method to learn French, alongside going to language cafes and over time I feel it has actually helped me progress quite a lot. I used it to blaze through a French course I took last semester, which felt really good since it was a subject I struggled with quite a bit in high school.

Do any of you use it (or have used it) to learn a language? If so, what has your experience been like?

(If anyone would like to add eachother by the way, my name is Zaccattack1)

I did try Duolingo sometimes and recommended it to people, just like a friend recommended it to me. But I didn't catch on, not sure why I felt like I was getting nowhere with lessons being extremely repetitive and not really telling you why sentences were structured in a certain way.

I've tried other similar apps, but I've found the same result. I don't really think they can truly help you, it's more to learn how to say a few things and widen your vocabulary rather than actually learning how to type and speak that language no matter how many words you know.

I'm still more of language academies rather than this. I know that the teacher does play a role in your motivation and overall progress, but at least in an academy you're told the basis to build sentences and then comes the vocabulary. In these apps it goes the other way around, precisely because of gamification and because new words are always more enticing to learn.

I guess it does work for some people or these apps wouldn't be as famous, but for me they have no use. Also, I'm good at learning languages so I can blaze through access-level courses easily, maybe these apps can widen my vocabulary for when I attempt to get to Advanced level. Time will say if I ever rely again on these apps and for what purpose.

EX Palen : I do see where you are coming from. I actually do think it can be used as a main resource for SOME languages as it is today. Specifically the flagship ones that have had the most time and resources put in to them, those being: French, Spanish and to a lesser extent German. Those are the ones officially curated by Duolingo, while a lot of the other ones are crowdsourced and as a result, of highly varying quality.

They restructured the order of lessons, added grammar notes for different sections, as well as stories to test your comprehension which I think has gone a long way to making it more than just a flashcard app. It's not going to get you fluent (no app of this type will) but I do think it could probably get you to a pretty solid intermediate level if you take advantage of all it has to offer. Particularly by using the desktop version rather than the mobile app. Maybe supplementing it with some youtube grammar explanation videos and of course using the language in real life contexts.

My own experience is testament to that. I came into it with little communication skill, and at best, lower intermediate comprehension (which is being generous since my French had rusted quite a bit from not using it for years). I had some vocabulary knowledge but knew very little about grammar structures. Now I can hold conversations without much difficulty and my pronunciation is definitely better. I've also learned many concepts that I never mastered when I was taking a class. It's to the level where I'm now able to tutor intro students after going through grammar notes. I attribute the vast majority of that to daily Duolingo use.

Of course you can contrast that to languages like Arabic, Mandarin or Japanese, which are not as comprehensively covered. They are also much more complicated for speakers of European languages to grasp, so they require more precise instruction at the start. This makes the trial and error approach of Duolingo much less suitable. I would agree using it as anything more than an introductory tool or supplement would probably not be advisable. Even for the flagship languages, it is far from the fastest way to learn if you're a disciplined learner. Regardless, it does win points for being accessible and free.

Zlinqx : I actually used it to learn German, so if my experience was this negative with one of the so-called flagship languages imagine how could it have been if I attempted another one.

If it has undergone a reconstruction, then maybe I could check it out again. I think there's people from those I recommended it to who are still using it, so I'll ask them how has the experience changed. And of course, desktop versions will always be more complete, not only because of the advantage in power but also because of page size and all the options it can include there versus the limited space of a portable touchscreen.

And yes, Duolingo is not recommended to learn any language that uses a different kind of alphabet that you're used to in your mother language, regardless of how developed those languages are. Some words, phonetics or even sentence building may be similar or at least guessable, I've seen that extensively in my experience. If you attempt to learn another alphabet, then the system of this app is just not suited.

EX Palen : It would depend on when exactly you were using it. When Duolingo started out it was pretty barebones, it really wasn't much more than a slightly more interactive flashcard app. So if it has been a long time, it might be very different.

The big update that they released just a couple of months ago, is completely changing the interface and progression for all the courses. So now there is only set order to do the lessons in, and it also directly incorporates the stories, and practice sessions for old material. Its based on what used to be known as "the waterfall method".

A lot of people don't like it because it locks you into one set way of learning, but I've come to mostly enjoy it. It has created some issues with the smaller courses, but I found it has helped me be more consistent in my progress. Mostly because it forces variety, which is conducive to learning.

For sure. They do have some new features for learning the alphabet of different languages. I used it for learning to read the Arabic alphabet. It's a big improvement, but honestly there's still better ways to go about it since it doesn't teach writing effectively. It also doesn't fully cover languages like Japanese and Mandarin that include 2000-3000 characters. You will almost certainly have to use another method for that aspect.

I used to use Duolingo all the time in an attempt to learn Dutch, but I never really got the hang of it and I would always confuse it with German, which I know a whole lot more of.

I never kept the best streak or anything with it, so I guess I didn't put in the time I really needed to learn a new language, but they didn't send me enough threatening emails to keep me around.

I think the teaching structure is actually pretty good, just I don't have all that much interest in learning a new language.

Barathemos : That makes sense. My impression is that Dutch and German are quite similar in some aspects, which can make it easy to confuse them as a learner.

It's definitely the kind of pursuit where you need a good reason to stay motivated. For me, the most fun part of language learning always comes from using what I've learned in real conversations. For some languages, even using basic introductory phrases can leave a lasting impression. It's a great way to connect with different people, and open doors to new places and perspectives.