Duolingo is a popular language-learning platform that offers courses in many different languages. The Duolingo app is a mobile application that allows users to learn a language on the go, using their smartphone or tablet.
The app is free to download and use, although it does offer in-app purchases for additional features. The app is available for both iOS and Android devices and can be used on desktop computers through the Duolingo website.
According to Duolingo, they have the largest user base among all the language learning apps out there.
Courses
Before I get too deep into whether or not you should use Duolingo, let me talk about their courses. Depending on the language you choose, there is a different number of courses and units. So, if you happen to learn a minor language like Finnish, you will not find many courses. This may be OK if you are just trying to take a peek at the language.
Key points
- Courses consist of units
- Number of courses varies from language to language
- Number of units per course varies from language to language
Pros
One big advantage of using Duolingo is gamification. If you are 13 or older, you can participate in a league. Every week, you compete against others in the same league. If you are in the top x (depending on the league), you advance to the next one. The highest league today is called diamond. This makes people motivate (like me) especially if you have a competitive personality. Also, you can earn badges when completing challenges like earning 1,000 XP. If it’s just you looking at those badges, it may not be that fun. Yet, you can get to share those with your friends.
Another nice thing about Duolingo is the repetition. Just like many apps, Duolingo repeatedly asks you for vocabulary over multiple units. This helps reinforce your memory.
One another thing Duolingo does really well is teaching alphabets (or letters of any language). I have done Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Korean, and Russian all of which I had to learn new alphabets for. Duolingo made it so easy to learn. After spending maybe few days, I was able to read those letters pretty easily. Of course, I could not read words without making mistakes but at least at a letter level, I was comfortable reading.
If you are going to take courses for French, Spanish, German, etc. you will probably be amazed at how many courses Duolingo has. It can easily take you more than a year to go through all the courses if you started from the very beginning.
Duolingo does provide both writing and speaking exercises. It forces you to output, which helps you get a better understanding of the language. Also, you can just do speaking exercises, for example, to focus on your weak areas.
Key points
- Gamification
- Repetition
- Alphabet
- Number of courses
- Output
Cons
Just like anything else, no app is perfect. Duolingo is no exception. I would like to say that cons listed here don’t make me stop using Duolingo. I don’t solely rely on Duolingo for language learning so they don’t bother me that much. However, if you are really into using Duolingo, then these cons can be blockers.
One disadvantage of using Duolingo is a lack of explanation for grammatical concepts. In the beginning, it’s fine not focusing too much on grammar but it is always helpful to learn about those rules. This is not to say that Duolingo does not cover any. However, the explanation tends to be pretty light. You will want a book or two to supplement that as you go through courses.
Pronunciation is another gap I see in the app. Sometimes, I just feel like Duolingo is using a text to speech conversion, which makes it hard to understand the real speech/tone. My native language is Japanese and I have tried out few courses in Japanese just to see how they sound, and I found Duolingo’s Japanese pronunciation pretty awkward.
Advertisement is another annoying point if you are not a paid user. If I see an advertisement after completing a few lessons, I may not mind it. However, it is after every single lesson. This is a bit too much. I understand they need to generate revenue to keep their app running but it is not a good user experience. Having a family plan allows you to share it with 5 other members. If you split the bill, the monthly fee will be reduced significantly. So, I would recommend taking the path if you know a friend or two (or five!) to share it with.
Key points
- Lack of grammatical explanation
- Pronunciation
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