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I like Duolingo because it's easy to get going and quick to take lessons during my free time. It's easy enough to get going and hard enough to feel like you're

I like Duolingo because it's easy to get going and quick to take lessons during my free time. It's easy enough to get going and hard enough to feel like you're doing something but not so much you give up. The points system, scoreboard, and email prompts are a good way to encourage you without being annoying. The ranked scoreboard really has me wanting to stay there and compete to stay in the top 10 each week. One thing I miss is the speaking option. Not all languages offer it but some did and that option seems to be missing or at least on my device it is. Another problem is some languages are hit and miss with pronunciations if there are few native speakers. I know there are computer generated voices but sometimes there is no sample of the words at all (Irish being one example). Anything that gets people interested in languages is a good thing. Duolingo may not be perfect but it's a popular and easy to use app. We unilingual English speakers need to get to with the times and learn at least one second language, maybe even more.

moojd 7y ago
I've been using the voice-to-text included with the google keyboard on android to practice speech on duo. I'd be interested to hear from a native speaker how accurate the voice-to-text model is but I find it fun getting a computer to understand me in a different language. It can be pretty unforgiving for certain sounds that aren't in my native language so I feel like I really have to nail the pronunciation.
deleted 7y ago
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kddavis 7y ago
This is really Duolingo in a nutshell... the complete gamification of language learning. You don’t actually have to learn anything as long as you “feel” like you’re doing something. > Anything that gets people interested in languages is a good thing. I don’t share this view. If you want to really commit to learning a language for some reason, that is fine and great and there are now countless resources to do so, getting language partners is easier than ever... but it’s not a moral imperative, and if you’re just spending time on activities that have no hope of leading to fluency it really is just a mastubatory exercise (albeit one that is more appropriate to talk about in mixed company), or basically a game... which there is also nothing wrong with!! I masturbate.. but then again I don’t lord it over everyone as some moral imperative. The more serious point: if Duolingo gets your rocks off, great, but as language learning tool it’s pretty poor. Sure you have to work to learn a language, but if you’re going to commit to that effort there are staggeringly better options, which given all the hype is a bit disappointing.
kddavis 7y ago
Duolingo in a nutshell... the complete gamification of language learning...You don’t actually have to learn anything as long as you “feel” like you’re doing something. > Anything that gets people interested in languages is a good thing. Whatever. If you want to really commit to learning a language for some reason, that is fine and great and there are now countless resources to do so, getting language partners is easier than ever... but it’s not a moral imperative, and if you’re just spending time on activities that have no hope of leading to fluency it really is just a mastubatory exercise (albeit one that is more appropriate to talk about in mixed company), or basically a game... which there is also nothing wrong with!! I masturbate.. but then again I don’t lord it over everyone as some moral imperative.

moojd 7y ago

I've been using the voice-to-text included with the google keyboard on android to practice speech on duo. I'd be interested to hear from a native speaker how accurate the voice-to-text model is but I find it fun getting a computer to understand me in a different language. It can be pretty unforgiving for certain sounds that aren't in my native language so I feel like I really have to nail the pronunciation.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

kddavis 7y ago

This is really Duolingo in a nutshell... the complete gamification of language learning. You don’t actually have to learn anything as long as you “feel” like you’re doing something. > Anything that gets people interested in languages is a good thing. I don’t share this view. If you want to really commit to learning a language for some reason, that is fine and great and there are now countless resources to do so, getting language partners is easier than ever... but it’s not a moral imperative, and if you’re just spending time on activities that have no hope of leading to fluency it really is just a mastubatory exercise (albeit one that is more appropriate to talk about in mixed company), or basically a game... which there is also nothing wrong with!! I masturbate.. but then again I don’t lord it over everyone as some moral imperative. The more serious point: if Duolingo gets your rocks off, great, but as language learning tool it’s pretty poor. Sure you have to work to learn a language, but if you’re going to commit to that effort there are staggeringly better options, which given all the hype is a bit disappointing.

kddavis 7y ago

Duolingo in a nutshell... the complete gamification of language learning...You don’t actually have to learn anything as long as you “feel” like you’re doing something. > Anything that gets people interested in languages is a good thing. Whatever. If you want to really commit to learning a language for some reason, that is fine and great and there are now countless resources to do so, getting language partners is easier than ever... but it’s not a moral imperative, and if you’re just spending time on activities that have no hope of leading to fluency it really is just a mastubatory exercise (albeit one that is more appropriate to talk about in mixed company), or basically a game... which there is also nothing wrong with!! I masturbate.. but then again I don’t lord it over everyone as some moral imperative.