Duolingo’s is designed to keep your streak alive so you use the app every day and are exposed to ads. That’s its main function and Duolingo is very good at it.
If they were serious about helping you learn a language they would use flash cards to memorize vocabulary as a main feature.
It did help me learn some words and concepts but I see it more as entertainment than anything else.
If they were serious about helping you learn a language they would use flash cards to memorize vocabulary as a main feature.
I respectfully disagree. I think that learning a language is not only about learning thousands of words, for different reasons:
- First, Duolingo makes you practice vocabulary, in quite a few different ways. It has some kind of "flashcards" system where it makes you practice weak words or old words.
- There are often one-to-many relationships between words in two languages. For instance, on your flashcard you may learn that "to miss (english) = vermissen (german)", and then that "to miss (english) = versäumen (german)". How do you know the difference (there is one)? You need context. Duolingo helps you learning words in a context, and that is very important.
- By reading/writing full sentences, you can practice grammar. And I find that grammar is a lot more important than many people tend to think. It's similar to context: depending on the grammar, the word takes a different meaning (is it the subject or the object? etc.)
Duolingo is a good tool. It's very nice to practice many different things. But it's not enough. You need to seriously learn grammar, too. And at some point you need to start reading, and watching movie, and writing, and speaking.
Said differently: I am convinced that it is easier to learn a language with tools like Duolingo than without (i.e. 30 years ago it was harder). But learning a language is still very hard and requires effort and dedication.
Why flashcards and memorizing vocabulary? I'd think more customization settings would be best, so you could learn in a way that works well for you, gaining the skills you need. Personally, I often find myself wishing I could read untranslated Spanish literature, so some sort of way to say "no, for my purposes I just need to know how to read and I don't need to learn about restaurants or shopping" would be best.
Basically, give people a very customizable course (with defaults if you don't want to fiddle around in settings) and lots of side tools, and let them decide how to use it.
Comments
Duolingo’s is designed to keep your streak alive so you use the app every day and are exposed to ads. That’s its main function and Duolingo is very good at it.
If they were serious about helping you learn a language they would use flash cards to memorize vocabulary as a main feature.
It did help me learn some words and concepts but I see it more as entertainment than anything else.
I respectfully disagree. I think that learning a language is not only about learning thousands of words, for different reasons:
- First, Duolingo makes you practice vocabulary, in quite a few different ways. It has some kind of "flashcards" system where it makes you practice weak words or old words.
- There are often one-to-many relationships between words in two languages. For instance, on your flashcard you may learn that "to miss (english) = vermissen (german)", and then that "to miss (english) = versäumen (german)". How do you know the difference (there is one)? You need context. Duolingo helps you learning words in a context, and that is very important.
- By reading/writing full sentences, you can practice grammar. And I find that grammar is a lot more important than many people tend to think. It's similar to context: depending on the grammar, the word takes a different meaning (is it the subject or the object? etc.)
Duolingo is a good tool. It's very nice to practice many different things. But it's not enough. You need to seriously learn grammar, too. And at some point you need to start reading, and watching movie, and writing, and speaking.
Said differently: I am convinced that it is easier to learn a language with tools like Duolingo than without (i.e. 30 years ago it was harder). But learning a language is still very hard and requires effort and dedication.
Why flashcards and memorizing vocabulary? I'd think more customization settings would be best, so you could learn in a way that works well for you, gaining the skills you need. Personally, I often find myself wishing I could read untranslated Spanish literature, so some sort of way to say "no, for my purposes I just need to know how to read and I don't need to learn about restaurants or shopping" would be best.
Basically, give people a very customizable course (with defaults if you don't want to fiddle around in settings) and lots of side tools, and let them decide how to use it.
Basically, they have an economic incentive to engage but not succeed. Kind of like dating apps.