I am now a fan of Duolingo

OK, I've completely changed my mind about Duolingo and bought a family 1-year plan.

My bitching was mostly related to the ads in the unpaid version. Without ads the app is stable, and the experience is streamlined. Being on the spectrum, a constant distraction with mind-numbing ads just did not work.

I've been completely addicted to the well-thought-out gamification, and I love the way things are presented without 'lessons' -- it fits my desire to learn osmotically. The paid version does not penalize for errors, thankfully.

I can see that there is a possible plateau, but obviously you need to do other things, and especially speak to actual people to really learn a language. In the meantime, it turned out to be a pretty good thing for me, and now my partner and a couple of kids. Oh, and my mom is starting in a couple of days.

Posted in: s/Language_Acquisition

🚀 stack [mod]

Mar 10 · 2 months ago · 👍 norayr

4 Comments ↓

🍀 gritty · Mar 10 at 02:12:

That's great. I know one person that said the competition overshadows actual learning, but that's a one-off experience point. curious what you think in a few months.

🐙 norayr · Mar 10 at 02:35:

i think you can use it in browser, and in browser you can use adblocker.

🚀 stack [OP/mod] · Mar 10 at 02:47:

I think you are right. I tried it but it did not do speaking exercises, and nagged about ad blocker, and ran their own promos. I gave up, as it costs less than what I paid for too much Guiness last night. And I already have 4 people on my account

🚀 stack [OP/mod] · Mar 10 at 02:52:

@gritty, the game aspect is definitely a driver, but it keeps me going. They are very clever with points allocation, and review provides a lot of points, especially when double points are activated. I know it means nothing but I can feel my dopamine go, and I know 1000 more words than when I started...