Duo Lingo

Bishop Thumpety-Thump · Monday at 9:51 AM

Anybody use Duo Lingo for learning languages? Just cracked 241 days doing French and German. French is level 18 but German waaay behind.

Very jealous of Blues from other countries where being multi linguistic is the norm, think we’re lazy in English speaking countries!

Hard to learn any new skills the older we get but genuinely reckon it’s been great for my mental health and would recommend.

Esgehtvoran · Monday at 10:02 AM

Yes. It’s okay for a top up in terms of vocabulary, but it’s absolutely rotten for grammar, which in a language like German that relies heavily on grammar, is absolutely awful.

Brett Angell Delight · Monday at 10:04 AM

Started learning Spanish during lockdown because I was bored of banana bread. Inevitably dropped it once we were allowed out, but I've been back on it the last couple of years and enjoying it.

A lady in Mexico commended me on my Spanish last year so must be doing alright.

IrishBlue2022 · Monday at 10:10 AM

Was using it to learn Irish, mainly on my bus journeys to and from work each day, but fell away. Will be starting again soon with fresh motivation.

Kurt. · Monday at 10:22 AM

I liked her first album

Sarnia Kevin · Monday at 10:22 AM

I was trying to learn Irish, and have built up a small vocabulary, but I really should go to the Gaeltacht to get experience in the language use. Duolingo does have its limitations.

SLAVEN BILIC · Monday at 10:49 AM

I used Babbel to keep my Italian going when we hit lockdown. I was attending an evening course in Liverpool uni for 2 years up to that point. Was all set to take my level 3 exam but never had a chance to do so. I still listen to occasional learning podcasts on iTunes to keep it active in my brain. I’m not fluent, but I can definitely get by. I’m also a lot better at reading it than hearing it.

I wanted to go back to the evening courses but they doubled in price when it was available again but it was all online and only for an hour as opposed to the 3 hours face to face that I used to get. Wasn’t worth it. Haven’t checked on current pricing as I’d love to get fully into it again.

Alanbileysfeathercut · Monday at 11:15 AM

Zezti · Monday at 12:44 PM

I'm 400-something days into learning french. Slow going, just doing one lesson a day usually, and just using the free version, but I've made an alright start I think.

One thing I find helpful is to use an AI assistant like Google Gemini to explain things I get stuck on. Take a screenshot and send it to Gemini and ask it to explain the answer. Especially helpful for grammar and other rules that Duolingo sometimes glosses over.

Connor · Monday at 12:54 PM

Nearly 200 days back into my Spanish. Feel like I'm still doing a lot of basics but picked it back up rather quickly.

I love it. Breaks up the day doing 10 mins.

Charles Hawtrey · Monday at 8:38 PM

Mrs Hawtree has been doing Duo Lingo (free version) Swedish for more than a year now. It seems great for vocabulary (Scary Hippopotamus my favorite) but not so good for rules or grammar. Obviously they focus on learning by doing but it would be much better if the app had a tab for seeing how the rules work rather than just try until you succeed