I have an aptitude for languages, but I’ve always struggled with how they’re taught. Most resources either focus on memorizing phrases or bury you in grammar explanations before you can actually use anything. Duolingo sits somewhere in the middle – it gives you enough exposure to start seeing patterns, but not enough explanation to confirm what you’re noticing.
That’s where the frustration starts.
I’ll recognize a structure, test it across a few sentences, and start forming a rule in my head. Instead of confirming it, Duolingo just moves onto the next exercise. The hints are often too simplified or even wrong, which makes it worse – I’m not just confused, I’m second-guessing something I already noticed.
And yet, I keep using it.
One of the other methods I use for learning languages is listening to podcasts in that language, like something from NRK (Norwegian news and whatnot). Because of Duolingo, I have picked up on vocabulary that I normally wouldn’t have learned in a textbook until much later in my studies. So it does have its purpose. I wish you could take yourself out of the “league” competitions, since I don’t treat it as a game, but you have to have a public profile to have friends; that’s a nice feature because you can root each other on. However, I can do without Eddy yelling YOU’RE READY FOR HARD MODE WOOOOOOOO but it’s a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.
When learning a new language, you have to use multiple sources. You cannot depend on one particular app/book/whatever to get you to any kind of fluency. Speaking to a native is the best way to achieve your goals, but it can be hard to find a native speaker. If that is the case for you, just read out loud. Practice simple conversations with yourself so your mouth “remembers” what shape to form when you speak. The other day, I had a conversation in my head where I taught someone the French “-er” verb endings in Norwegian. Fun exercise!
Duolingo isn’t perfect. The hints are questionable, the grammar is mostly implied, and Eddy is still yelling at me. But it’s useful in ways I didn’t expect – it gives me just enough input to start figuring things out for myself.
And maybe that’s the point.
It’s not the whole system. It’s just one part of it. And as long as I remember that, I’ll probably keep using it – whether I’m ready for hard mode or not.
Cèilidh Nam Freumhan 