Nothing sad about it, those cost money and are not as gamified so they require consistent willpower. If duolingo didn't exist, they would not put in the work to

Nothing sad about it, those cost money and are not as gamified so they require consistent willpower. If duolingo didn't exist, they would not put in the work to start learning, period. Different people have different aims. I'm halfway through the Dutch course (230 day streak, so I put in at least 10 minutes every day for the last 230 days) and found it immensely valuable. It helped me build a habit magically, which is something I struggle with all my life. I would never work on something 200+ days in a row. Some days I study more than an hour, some days I do the bare minimum but I do it every day to keep my streak. I am able to form novel sentences and express my ideas with the vocabulary I have. That is all I need. Right now I can comfortably comprehend any A1 text, and can get by with A2 text when I look up the meaning of some words. I'm only halfway through. I can speak enough to at least successfully use speech to text on my phone (I answer textual questions on my phone by speaking and letting it turn my speech to text). I can understand some children shows. I have ONLY worked with Duolingo (and I read Dutch reddit comments). If it weren't for Duolingo I would never stick to it.