Ok #lazyweb - I’ve been doing Duolingo for the first time in like 11 years and it is sort of spammy and I don’t know how much I’m learning but they are about to make me subscribe to Super. But are there any better alternatives? My fear is I’m not learning that much. - ThreadSky

filmgirl.bsky.social • 212 days ago

Ok #lazyweb - I’ve been doing Duolingo for the first time in like 11 years and it is sort of spammy and I don’t know how much I’m learning but they are about to make me subscribe to Super. But are there any better alternatives? My fear is I’m not learning that much.

Comments

molly-bee.bsky.social•212 days ago

Funny I just tried them out a few days ago. Interested in any answers to your question.

marty47.bsky.social•211 days ago

I did Duolingo for three years and couldn't converse? I often think that it's just me.

elithrar.bsky.social•212 days ago

I’ve found Babbel to be much better for me: different speaking vs writing vs reading modes to help reinforce, less “gamey”, less learning horse/cat/boy/girl and more conversational/counting/locations early on.

(Learning French!)

btrtoast.bsky.social•212 days ago

I’ve had more success with HelloChinese but that is only for… wait for it… Chinese

jnamadan.bsky.social•212 days ago

You'll probably learn more than you think whilst gaming it for the streak, but you probably won't be incredibly proficient either unless you are using it for long periods each day

ashponders.bsky.social•212 days ago

I’ve been using the Super tier for a year and a half and I would say my comprehension is barely above the first week of a proper language learning class from a community college. YMMV.

sutur.cyberdelia.party•211 days ago

I’ve tried drops. It’s decent, but the free tier is super limited, more than Duolingo

sutur.cyberdelia.party•211 days ago

If you already have some level of proficiency, you could jump to HelloTalk and try to learn that way

issing.bsky.social•211 days ago

I’m learning French with Babbel and I try the things I’ve learnt with my kids every day - they both have French at school. So far (36 days) I have been pretty happy. Watching movies and series (Les Schtroumpfs is awesome 😇) is irreplaceable imho.

bomdia.bsky.social•212 days ago

What is your goal? Why are you learning? Just a few words for travel or something else?

slowdro.bsky.social•212 days ago

I've read from number of people that the knowledge you get from it barely makes it worth using, let alone paying for it.

My advice to casually learn any language is to speedrun the same process of learning how to speak as a baby: consume natively spoken content and absorb it bit by bit.

cstrauber.bsky.social•212 days ago

You might try Pimsleur. It uses some of the same memory techniques as Duolingo, but it's coherent and intentional and not gamified or spammy at all. Also designed to teach you a real accent.

vivainio.bsky.social•212 days ago

I felt you'd learn much more by borrowing a textbook from a library

mistresscaution.bsky.social•211 days ago

Mango languages! Some libraries even have subscriptions to Mango. And it's aligned with learning objectives.

https://mangolanguages.com

arrik.bsky.social•211 days ago

i feel like i’m learning. i refreshed my HS knowledge then started gaining new vocabulary and grammar rules. but the damn hearts is what got me to subscribe.

yvesbd.com•211 days ago

I learned watching cartoons growing up (than moved on to other programming). Watching cartoons with subtitles might help. I saw you mentioned French; Quebec and France variants are as different as US/UK English. So consider that. Simpsons have local translations (Quebec, France, Mexico).

cjcoffey.com•212 days ago

I've been enjoying memrise. I like that they have videos of native speakers. I think Duolingo mostly uses artificial voices. https://www.memrise.com/

jurgenbelien.nl•212 days ago

I’ve tried Duolingo, Drops and am now a Busuu subscriber. The Duolingo didn’t really stick. I enjoy Busuu more than I did the others, but would try out Babbel if it would offer Korean.

uncaughtexception.com.au•212 days ago

I found a YouTuber “Language Jones” who does a vlog on learning languages and how far any app really takes you. He has an affiliate link to this site:
https://www.lingoda.com/en/sprint-explainer-yt/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=cpcontent&utm_campaign=[en-en[brand]]_sprint-2024-05[languagejones]&coupon=LANGUAGEJONES

briantjackett.com•211 days ago

I'm on day ~620 with (re-)learning Spanish. I do 2-3 lessons a day (no Super), but also try to practice with people from my church (large Hispanic population) and few folks at MSFT.

I'm told I can hold a decent short conversation. Also randomly I'll dream in Spanish, which is quite humorous.

shysage.bsky.social•212 days ago

I don't like that it doesn't explain reasons for grammar. I'm using it to learn Japanese and I can remember the sentences it gives but I can't make my own. I like it as a little game to learn vocab but wouldn't pay to use it to learn.

timweston.com•211 days ago

As someone with a 549 day streak in German, this is my complaint.

Part of it is that I had nearly zero English grammar education, so my grasp of verb cases is poor in general.

But when I get something wrong on Duolingo, it’s just like, “wrong,” with no explanation of why my answer was incorrect.

timweston.com•211 days ago

That said, I’ve learned a ton of vocabulary, so that’s worth something.

Super Duolingo is somewhat worth it to me because it eliminates the whole “5 hearts” limitation of unpaid.

iestyn.de•211 days ago

I like Memrise https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/memrise-speak-a-new-language/id635966718

wdeezy.com•212 days ago

I will always plug Language Transfer, which is a free curriculum of micro lessons - most are about 10 minutes and the goal is to do one every day or so. Less focused on memorization and more on training your brain to think through how to convert a language you know in to a language you want to use.

mikemeraz.com•212 days ago

Duolingo works best when you turn off any/all gamification features and don't work in the short daily bits they recommend. I treated like an educational resource and learned a lot over the course of a year. But YOU have to make that happen. Duolingo will not. I've since moved to Babbel.

filmgirl.bsky.social•212 days ago

Do you like Babbel? I’m willing to do the work, I’m just struggling to determine which ones have the best instruction. I’m like half willing to go back to Rosetta Stone except I bet it sucks too. I don’t have the time for a weekly class at the moment. Maybe in January.

mikemeraz.com•212 days ago

Babble works well. But I think I prefer Duolingo. With Duo, it felt more structured. I knew what I was learning, why, and had vocab I could review. Babbel feels less structured and more immersive. Both are valid based on preferences. But I learn more towards structure. 😊

sunbentshadows.bsky.social•212 days ago

What language? I find most apps to be a little too gameified to really be helpful outside of separate study.

filmgirl.bsky.social•212 days ago

French! But I should prob learn or try to learn a more useful language. But French is what I have the most memories of from high school so it is what I started with.

pellat.bsky.social•212 days ago

Duolingo is not about learning... Its 100% about completing one course everyday to get the a 365 streak badge... I'm on day 278

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