2000 Days on Duolingo

 

Imagine that - it’s been 2000 days, or about five and a half years, since I started learning languages on Duolingo, and I haven't missed a single day!

To my greatest joy, Duolingo finally updated the German course. I’m no longer spinning my wheels with repetitive revision exercises or struggling to learn through English and DeepL. Now, there are actual structured units and vocabulary nests; working with the app finally makes sense and yields real progress.

So much so, that I now listen to German podcasts every day and feel comfortable enough to understand most of what is said - with the caveat, of course, that it depends on the topic, vocabulary, and speed of speech. I also read simpler books, like chick lit, almost without a dictionary. I've been listening to audiobooks too, though the frustration there is higher; my comprehension level is lower, and I still need to acquire a lot more word stock to feel comfortable, especially with authors who have an extensive vocabulary.

However, I have to admit that, as with any foreign language, the abyss between my passive and active knowledge is enormous - and only growing. Without active usage, my speaking skills lag significantly behind, and an app like Duolingo can do little to help with that.

To counter this, I’ve introduced something new to my routine lately: I’ve started writing down all of the exercises and using the stories as dictation practice. I also record myself reading the exercises on my phone, then test myself by translating the sentences or new words. It takes much longer to finish a unit this way, but the goal isn't to rush ahead or collect points. I am actively ignoring the gamification part of the app, focusing instead on vocabulary and the few grammatical structures the app provides. I'm not stressing too much about grammar, since I covered the basics years ago; now, I just need to build my vocabulary and polish how I apply those grammar rules in actual speech.

Where do I stand on getting certified? I still haven't gotten around to it, but I am considering taking a B1 level exam once I feel comfortable enough. For now, I'm just enjoying my morning coffee and homemade cake alongside my daily dose of Duolingo. One little step at a time - on a long journey that is already well underway.

Four Years on Duolingo

 

So, today is the first day of my fifth year on Duolingo and of those four years I have about three years and four months of studying German. Of course, everybody knows, that period of time, per se, means nothing when it comes to learning, what matters is the method, intensity, actual time, spent with the language, passive learning( acquisition) vs active usage, etc.

If these three years and several months had been spent in an intensive German course, I should have been fairly fluent in the language. On the other hand, were it not for Duolingo, my knowledge of German, as it is, would be non-existent. 

Duolingo is firmly a part of my daily routine, and I can assuredly say, of the happiest of it - my morning coffee. I'm not a fan of sleeping, although I have a very strict sleeping routine, and my first thought when I go to sleep at night is "I can't wait for it to be morning!". The thought of drinking my first morning coffee and opening the Duolingo app makes the beginning of the day so welcome, whatever that day may bring :)

During my fourth year on Duolingo I finished completely the German course and the English course, which contained German translations. This was a bummer, as now my use of Duolingo is much less productive - the revision exercises, which the app provides, are extremely repetitive and I already know the limited set of sentences and stories by heart. 

I am pushing on with the English course, but it's a slog, as I have to consult with external apps, like Google translate and DeepL. Still, I think the effort is worth it, as it requires very intense active use of the knowledge of the language, instead of passive filling in of words or arranging a set of given words in a sentence, as is the intended use of the app. Actually, I believe a lot of people have little or barely noticeable progress with Duolingo, because they use it very passively and with an accent on the game and competition aspects of the app, and not so much as a teaching tool. For instance, instead of listening to a story in English, I turn off the sound, read the English sentences and translate every line of the story into German, checking with the hidden translation, which is revealed when you click on an English word. Meanwhile I write down all of the words and phrases I find interesting and new. Then I do the revision (Legendary level) of the story, without the translation. And I use this approach for every exercises on the app.

I also listen to a lot of German podcasts and audiobooks and I read books in German. I'm still behind on my vocabulary - both passive and active, I find German words very, very difficult to remember and distinguish. Some sources I could recommend:

Super German - a podcast with essays on various topics. I find it extremely useful, as the vocabulary is more or less at my current level, a lot of phrases are clearly explained and it provides a useful structure for expanding on a topic in German.

Matthias Zehnder - a Swiss author and media expert. I like listening to his book recommendations, but I should acknowledge, that the language level of his podcast is quite above my current level, so I grasp the general ideas, but miss the details, so far.

Learn German Relaxed with Gabriel - I think I recommended this channel earlier and I still enjoy listening to it, it is easy and understandable for me and has plenty of useful phrases and idioms in German

I recently heard that Duolingo is preparing the launch of the next part of the German tree, I can't wait for it! Meanwhile I continue with the English tree plus a lot of revisions of the previous levels. Maintaining the acquired vocabulary is a big part of going forward :) Language learning, especially past the childhood years, is a red queen race - you have to run as fast as you can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that. :)

One Year on Duolingo

This weekend I am celebrating my whole year, 366 consecutive days as of today, on the language study platform Duolingo. I am one of those people (I believe the majority of all people) that like to start things on the first, on Monday, on New Years' day. However, when on January 22 I decided, finally, to check out Duolingo, I didn't expect to find it so delightful, so engaging and satisfying, that a year later I would be celebrating my first milestone streak. Had I known, I would have chosen a first, or at least a Monday :))

Anyway, I started with Spanish, which I later found out to be the best developed and curated of all the language courses, with its own Podcast and loads of Stories. As I already had some knowledge of Spanish, I did the test and the platform placed me somewhere in the middle of the second level, I think. Just a few minutes a day, sometimes with only two or three stories, but never skipping a day, I gradually worked my way to the Diamond league and to the end of the Fourth Unit, trying to complete every unit at least to the golden and most to the legendary level.

Then on October the 1st I added German to my Duolingo practice and things changed a bit. Probably because German is a language I started learning from scratch, I got so engulfed in it, that I stopped my progress on Spanish and concentrated all of my efforts on getting forward with German, alternating between German through English and German through Spanish (thus keeping my Spanish alive, if not kicking).

Would I recommend Duolingo - definitely yes, especially for languages, which are popular and the courses are well made, like Spanish, French and German. There is, for example, a distinct difference between my two German courses - German through English is well balanced, well spaced, with lots of grammar and vocabulary tips and it has stories, which are really great for learning the spoken language. German through Spanish is very chaotic, random and uneven, the tree is short and there aren't any stories. I work with it, because it is a double challenge, but if it was my only German course, I would find it rather frustrating. Besides my two German courses, I use additional grammar videos on Youtube and I plan to add written grammar exercises when I get further in the language, eventually.

Even if I don't get anywhere near to being able to communicate in German or Spanish, I still find the platform perfect for working adults, who can spend half an hour a day learning a language instead of browsing FB or IG. Duolingo is now part of my morning coffee routine and I am truly happy I gave it a go a year ago.