I wish I’d started Duolingo sooner! I began Duolingo in 2021 and did it for an entire year, just in Spanish, then went to Kentucky to help with my Mom in the Fall of 2022 and ended up having to lose that year-long streak. I stayed off for a couple of months. Since getting back on the app, I’ve been consistent for more than 700 days – not easy on motorcycle trips with no Internet access (thank goodness for those one and two day “saves” and for Internet access at some convenience stores).
I love seeing how my friends and co-workers are doing on Duolingo. I love doing friends’ quests, because it pushes me to do more exercises. I’m not that much into competing on the app or trying to be in different levels (Pearl and Obsidian and whatever) – I just like the learning experience and being inspired by friends. And I do like these scores, which relate to the European Commission’s levels for language proficiency.
If you are on Duolingo, please follow me, and I will follow you! And if you aren’t on Duoling, join me there. The family plan, which is ad free, is TOTALLY worth it if you have someone else that wants to join you on the app, BTW (especially for me, since someone in Kentucky put me on their family plan).
No, you aren’t going to become fluent in a language using only Duolingo. But it’s fun, the games are better than Candy Crush, and you really learn. You certainly learn more than by NOT doing anything. You will have the best experience by choosing a language you have had a formal, traditional class in at one time in your life – even for just a few weeks, even 40 years ago in high school. Starting an entirely new language from scratch on Duolingo is REALLY hard.
I just finished the A levels of Spanish (now starting the B1 levels) and I am through part one of the A1 levels in German. Feels good – except it’s taken more than 1000 days to get here (1065, to be exact). My goal is to take (and pass) the A2 exam in Spanish this year, which would put me where I was when I left Germany back in 2009, and to start watching more TV in Spanish. And then either adding a formal class for a year or going to a language school in Mexico, and then taking the B1 exam (which I’d like to do in two years, not another 1000 days).
I have no illusions of ever being good enough in German to pass any exam. But Stefan is, at last, responding to me in German when I speak to him in such, and that’s helpful.
I’d love to add French, but I really want to focus on my Spanish goals and on getting better at very basic conversational German. Plus, I’ve never had a formal French class and I’d like to get the basics of grammar and pronunciation first.
Why French? Because it’s a primary language in many African countries, as well as Lebanon and Vietnam, and it’s a VERY popular second language: some of my colleagues in Afghanistan would speak French when they wanted to make sure their conversations were somewhat private. Most of my colleagues at the UN in Germany spoke French, most Africans I met (and continue to meet) speak French before English, and most international workers I have worked with outside of Germany speak French as a second language. Had I learned French, I would probably have lasted MUCH longer working in international development. I have no illusion of ever being able to work abroad again, but I do hope I get to continue to travel abroad, and French would be very helpful.
I tried Arabic on Duolingo. I gave up – it’s just too hard, since the written language is completely different. I think if I had a traditional onsite, in-person class for a while, I’d try it again.
And I’ll end with that it’s shameful that the USA public school system does not focus on all students learning a second language, something that’s done pretty much WORLDWIDE. Coupled with the current disastrous economic policies and elimination of education funding by the current administration, it’s why Europe, Russia and China will take the lead in global affairs and leave us oh-so-far behind.
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