18 replies to this topic

[Ali]

So Duolingo (https://www.duolingo.com/) has been brought up a few times in the past few months, so I thought I'd start an actual thread to see who's using it.

For those who haven't seen it, it's a free app that you can also use in browser which is a gamified approach to language learning. You pick a language and work your way through a tree earning exp as you go. They've added some nice features in the past year to add your friends, battle against them or a bot to earn extra exp, a coach where you can set the minimum amount of exp you want to earn per day to be on a streak etc. There's also an immersion section to the website where you can contribute to translating articles from your chosen language. As free language learning resources go, it's probably the best available.

I first had a look when it came out a couple of years ago with the intention of improving my Italian but I played through a bit with a language I already speak and it was pretty flawed at the time so never really bothered. It seems to have come a long way since then with a lot fewer mistakes so I'm thinking about giving it another go.

You can also see what courses are being worked on at http://incubator.duolingo.com/
I'm excited for Swedish for English which will hopefully be in beta by the end of the summer. My sister in law is Swedish so I know a little but their children are starting to know a lot more than me and use it as a secret language against me.

Anyhoo, who else is using it, what are you learning, how's it going? Tell me tales.

Edited for links because my ability to post anything on a tablet is non-existent. I am incompetent at life.

[Waser Lave]

I've only done the French basics so far so je suis une fille.

[DonValentino]

I've had it downloaded for a while, also looking to improve my Italian, but I've never used it. I also have rosetta stone for it, but I have to take Italian in the fall at school anyway so I probably won't be using either of those programs, unless I find they help with my studies. 

[KaibaSama]

I might get into it when they release the Russian program, but it depends on time. If I'm in college by then, I'll be taking a Russian class, so I won't use it unless I need it to help me study. I'm still waiting for them to start creating a Japanese course. 

[Rocket]

I haven't checked it out yet, but I might as well.

 

Edit: oh they don't have Japanese yet, I need to brush up on it, because it's fun. Might take a look at learning some spanish or french.

[Ali]

Also there's an owl, and I really like owls.

I might get into it when they release the Russian program, but it depends on time. If I'm in college by then, I'll be taking a Russian class, so I won't use it unless I need it to help me study. I'm still waiting for them to start creating a Japanese course.

Russian is moving SO slowly considering they have quite a few more contributors than some of the other courses that are moving a lot faster.

[Waser Lave]

Also there's an owl, and I really like owls.

 

Owl good (vote Labour!), American flag to denote English bad.

[Sweeney]

Cristen and I both have it, and we started learning/refreshing our French and German, but it quickly fell by the wayside.

[Ali]

Owl good (vote Labour!)

I maintain that if I actually could get my own owl out of it, I would.

[Kat]

I like the app, but I have a difficult time with some of the French exercises because many words sound the same when spoken. 

 

Also it's annoying to not work on it for a while and have to basically start all over, but I understanding the reasoning behind it.

[arcanum]

Cristen and I both have it, and we started learning/refreshing our French and German, but it quickly fell by the wayside.

Basically this.

 

I had it, and was learning German, I even had co-workers and friends using it, but it fell by the wayside.

I'd like to download it again and dedicate my time to it. But I don't see that happening -_-

[pistola]

i just downloaded the app. never heard of it before here but its pretty cool. i took 3 years of spanish in high school and forgot all of it and so far this is helping me remember the basics. seems like a great app to me. thanks for the heads up on it!

[Lily]

I use duolingo for Spanish I took 6 years of Spanish in high school, though, so I mainly use duolingo to review vocab.

[Trichomes]

I started brushing up on my Italian with Duolingo after it was mentioned on the forum not too long ago. It's a pretty fun and productive way to kill time. I hit level six in Italian in just a few days, so I guess I remember more from middle/high school than I thought I did. I'm looking forward to learning the basics of a few other languages, but I can only handle one at a time or I start mixing them up.

[Random]

I started brushing up on French, but got lazy. I'll probably resume once I start my new job because it will give me an excuse to get sent to France for work. 

[NapisaurusRex]

I'm using it now (based on reccomendations I got here) to make sure I remember Spanish right before fall.

[Ali]

Dutch for English has just gone into beta for anyone who fancies learning Dutch, and Irish should follow in the next few days...

[Dan]

Do you run their marketing team or something?

[Frizzle]

Du bist eine schizercroft