Self-sufficient learners can make use of it but for a behaviourism-driven app it woefully lacks explicit grammar instruction. It’s good for learning voc and providing motivation to exercise daily in the beginning, but it gets tedious (3 years streak :).
When I tried it, admittedly a couple years back, there were no grammar explanations in the mobile version, and Duolingo users at the time confirmed that — and said that for explanations I needed to use the desktop version.
I'm learning Japanese on it and I think it is fine. I've heard about that bad rep though, like there is some Owl Mafia for when you don't practice daily. Maybe I'll ignore it for a few days and see if the there is a knock at my door lol
Comments
I guess it depends on one’s learning style/preferences.
they use gen ai now and they fired a bunch of staff and a lot of their lessons have really dodgy and unforgivable mistakes
also the leaderboards traumatized me. imagine xp grinding in a language app.
i didn't learn anything. i was just worn out.
"duo is going to die if you don't practice! we have a gun to his head! he's crying because of you!!!"
When I tried it, admittedly a couple years back, there were no grammar explanations in the mobile version, and Duolingo users at the time confirmed that — and said that for explanations I needed to use the desktop version.
...single player? Look, green birb is judging you for not doing today's lesson".
To paraphrase MST3K: "Shame-based language acquisition!"