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.
Comments
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.