Duolingo Review

Duolingo has become one of the best free language learning apps available, with hundreds of courses and an engaging, interactive format.

In this comprehensive review, we’ll cover every aspect of the app and its features, from the different language courses to the audio recordings of native speakers.

Whether you’re a beginner or a more advanced learner, you’ll find the information you need to get the most out of Duolingo and start learning a new language today.

Duolingo is an excellent tool for anyone interested in learning a new language.

Duolingo is a fantastic app for learning a foreign language. You can choose between multiple languages and levels, and they have great lessons and activities. They also offer live chat sessions where you can ask questions about grammar and pronunciation.

However, if you are starting, you may not have enough content yet to learn valuable things. That said, if you have a good grasp of the basics, then Duolingo is the best place to go.

PROS

It is free
Podcasts of excellent quality
The structure is clear; the exercises are excellent
You can learn as many languages as you want
Designed to let you test out easy lessons

CONS

Languages differ in the amount of material available
Duolingo could more prominently display lessons on grammar

DUOLINGO SPECS

Price Includes | All Languages, All Levels
Style of Program | Podcasts, Stories
No. of Languages Offered (Not incl. English) | 35
Average Duration of Lesson (Mins) | 4

Table of Contents

Initially, Duolingo was designed for Spanish speakers

learning with Duolingo

The app Duolingo was initially designed for Spanish speakers, but now it allows you to study any language you choose. The app can focus on French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, or other languages. The app includes lessons, quizzes, and interactive flashcards, as well as a variety of teaching tools.

It also provides audio recordings of native speakers reading aloud sentences from each lesson. You can listen to these recordings anywhere, whether commuting, cooking dinner, or doing chores around the house.

Which Languages Does Duolingo Teach?

Boost your learning with Super Duolingo

If you speak English, Duolingo offers courses in thirty-six different languages. However, there are many more courses if we count all the ones that use another language of instruction, for instance, Catalan for Spanish speakers or French for Arabic speakers.

Duolingo offers programs for speakers of many different languages, including Arabic, Bengali, Chinse, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian (Bahasa), Italian, Japanese, Korean (Korean), Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

Duolingo offers a catalog of thirty-six languages for English speakers to master, but it is not complete. If you need a foreign language that Duolingo does not provide, I suggest checking out Pims-leur first, Transparent Languages, and Mango Languages. For sign language, the best option would be Sign It! ASL, though there are plenty of options from which to choose.

What is Duolingo free? How much does Duolingo plus cost?

Duolingo began as a free application with the promise to stay free forever. For free users, you can practice any number of languages. You can sign up with your email address and password. The company kept that promise by becoming an ad-supported service and offering a paid membership program called Duolingo Plus, which costs $5 per month. Create an account with your email address and password, then start practicing!

The Plus membership costs 12.99 per month, but there is a 30% discount if you pay for one year upfront (30.00), plus a family plan that is available for up to six people at 9.99 per month or 119.99 per year.

With Duolingo Plus, you can remove ads and use the mobile app without limitations. You also get to practice your mistakes as Duolingo tracks them for you, and you get unlimited exceptional Legendary levels (opens in a new window), mastership quizzes, and unlimited test outs.

Looking at the prices for other language learning apps, the 82.88 per year seems reasonable, and the monthly fee falls within the middle of the pack. For comparison purposes, yearly access to similar programs usually costs between82.88peryearseemsreasonable,andthemonthlyfeefallswithinthemiddleofthepack.Forcomparisonpurposes,yearlyaccesstosimilarprogramsusuallycostsbetween100 and $250, with more traditional software costing the same.

Language Learning Membership

Learn anytime, anywhere

If you are serious about language learning, you should pay for it.

If you are a regular user of Duolingo but do not want all the bells and whistles but would like to support the company’s development, you might consider buying a special edition of the app.

You start with five hearts and lose one every time you make a mistake. To regain your heart, you must wait (5 hours per heart) or spend USD 35.00. Once your seats are gone, you cannot do any exercises until you have regained them.

With a Duolingo Plus membership, you never have to worry about losing your heart. You will never see any hearts if you use the web version. In other words, you may spend countless hours practicing without paying a dime. I strongly suggest using the Web version instead of the mobile app.

You might want to use the web version if you are not using the mobile app. It has more features than the mobile app, but if you are a free member, use the web version as often as possible.

Getting Started With Duolingo

Duolingo for Schools

French is one of my favorite languages, and I often use the app Duolingo to practice and refresh my French, which I need to communicate frequently. I’ve used the app to learn or review several languages, some of which were new to me but others with which I was already familiar.

It’s probably the best app you’ll find for learning another language. I started with a course, then added Duolingo, and eventually switched to using it as a supplement to a tutor while studying Romanian in Bucharest. It’s simple to follow along with a tutor and an excellent way to learn a new language.

If you want to learn Spanish, you can take one course at a time, but you don’t have to stick to just one language. You may be able to skip specific lessons that focus on basic vocabulary and grammar if you begin with a placement test. You are free to change your mind at any time.

Duolingo’s Structure

Reading is one of the most important skills but can be difficult to master if you’re not used to it. These questions are similar to those you might ask following an exam. Users who click on an error message are taken directly to the correct section.

Students can access topics, courses, and lessons from the main menu and create and sort through custom lists. Users can get assistance from the app, and if you know how to format a document properly, you’ll find writing essays much easier.

You begin with basic grammar and syntax and progress to more advanced topics like punctuation and capitalization. If you complete all of the levels in a module before moving on, the module’s icon changes to a golden coin. You could, for example, learn how to conjugate verbs in French.

However, the coin icon becomes a broken symbol if you do not return to practice after a certain time. You can correct it by returning to the lesson and completing the remaining levels. Some languages may have fewer words than others. Some modules may only have one level.

Skip Level Tests and Intermediate Challenges

If you find a particular module too difficult to take, you can take an exemption test to bypass it. I’ve discovered that starting from scratch isn’t always the worst option – sometimes, you just need to re-learn the module.

Duolingo’s core exercises may be too easy for some, so I recommend exploring all of the stories within the app and any podcasts for the language. I must review basic vocabulary and grammar before progressing to more advanced lessons. I can also finish some introductory courses in minutes with Duolingo.

Lingoda has videos of native speakers speaking in various accents and using everyday language. If you want to concentrate on speaking, Lingoda offers free lessons. Read the transcript for each lesson so you can hear how native speakers sound.

The Learning Experience

Duolingo English Test

Duolingo is a great way to learn a new language, but it doesn’t teach you enough to be able to write books or articles. You won’t learn everything you need to know from it, for instance, if you aren’t given enough challenges to advance your language proficiency. Duolingo can help you get started by introducing you to the vocabulary and grammar of a new language.

Reading, Writing, and Translating

Duolingo is designed to help you improve your knowledge of several different languages. The app does not provide grammar instruction but helps you learn how to read and understand written texts. For example, you might be asked to translate a short story from Spanish to English. Or you may be given a text and asked to select the appropriate verb and complete the sentence.

These include noun and verb quizzes, verb conjugation questions, and prepositions and pronouns tests. By doing these exercises, you will improve your vocabulary, see verbs in different tenses, and become familiar with the structure of sentences in Spanish.

Duolingo could benefit from your careful attention to specific aspects of a concept. When using a dictionary to translate a sentence, you can frequently eliminate words that are completely irrelevant to the others. Translating also helps with the agreement and other grammar skills.

If a sentence appears to be about grandmothers’ cooking, words like “architecture” and “swimming” can be removed because they will not help you understand what the rest of the sentence means. A more difficult challenge would be to fill the dictionary with related words or to repeat the same word. Duolingo currently has an exercise in which you must select the correct spelling of a single word, but it appears only infrequently and does not mix the words into sentences.

Listening and Reading

Duolingo’s podcasts are now available in English and French for language learners and English for Spanish and Portuguese speakers. You can listen to them on the company’s website or download them to your preferred podcasting app. The advantage of listening to the audio file rather than downloading it is that the full transcript is also available there.

Native Story is a podcast where native speakers from around the world share their stories in English, with a nonnative speaker providing context or summarizing in English. In each podcast episode, native speakers tell true stories in short segments, with a member of the audience providing context and highlighting for each story. It is ideal for intermediate-level students or anyone who has not yet reached a conversational level.

Have you read a short story for one of these interactive stories while asking questions about it? There are several languages to choose from, including Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese. The voice acting is natural, making them easy to follow. The questions appear similar to any other exercise, except that they require you to pay close attention to the content of what you just read.

We have included some short explanations of grammar points within the modules to make learning more accessible. The games become more complex as you progress through this section, with new vocabulary, longer sentences, and a mix of past tense verbs. Any area with a lightbulb image is another place where you can read – you may also find one by selecting a new module.

Speaking and generating

You can temporarily disable them in the settings if you cannot speak or listen. The core program places little emphasis on speaking and listening. In these exercises, you usually repeat or read something on the screen aloud, and the app checks to see if you said it correctly.

If you want to improve your English speaking and writing skills, I strongly recommend taking LingoDada’s online courses. Pimsleur (an audio-guided program) is one of the most effective ways to learn English. Attending Duolingo’s online meetings is another way to practice speaking (opens a new window).

Is Duolingo a Sound Educational Tool for Homeschoolers?

Duolingo is a favorite of mine. It’s a hit with my kids! They learned basic Spanish vocabulary while having fun and playing games. However, as a parent and a language learner, I am concerned about some aspects of the program. For starters, Duolingo does not provide grammar feedback.

You may believe you have mastered a foreign language, but you have not unless you have had your work checked by someone else. However, Duolingo does not provide much cultural immersion. You can listen to songs from various countries, but it is limited compared to real life. Online, there is no way to interact with native speakers.

Direct translation is also frequently used, which results in some unusual phrasing and is not always the most effective way to learn a language.

Duolingo is free and simple to set up, so you can practice without spending any money. Direct translation does not work as well for more advanced concepts. The most significant disadvantage is the repetitive nature of Duolingo’s translation lessons. Babbel appears to correct translations from English to Spanish better than vice versa.

Duolingo Review ADVANTAGES

The app combines gamification, storytelling, and audio recordings to help users learn languages. Each lesson begins with the user selecting a story about a real person to help teach vocabulary and pronunciation. They can either listen to the story or read it along with notes and highlights. Its simple design makes it accessible to everyone, and the game mechanics keep players interested.

As you progress through the lessons, you unlock new stories that build on the previous ones. After completing a lesson, you will be given feedback on how well you performed. Learning what you overlooked will assist you in improving your performance. Another useful feature is the option to record yourself speaking in the target language.

When you finish a recording, you can see your score and compare it to others—and you can contact support if you have any questions or problems.

You can earn points by completing activities such as watching videos, reading articles, and taking surveys. After reaching certain levels, you will be able to redeem rewards such as stickers, virtual pets, and emoticons. Duolingo provides some additional rewards in addition to the core features.

There are also Duolingo Stories, which feature short video clips of native speakers discussing their experiences with the app.

Duolingo Review Negatives

It was one of the first social networks to compete with the now-dominant Facebook. It’s getting a new brand, interface, and a focus on grammar and pronunciation. The gamified learning program at Duolingo has been around for a long time.

Students can now access a list of languages divided into groups based on their difficulty in mastering. Each group covers a specific topic, such as food and culture, but there is also a section titled “Learn Languages with Friends.” The most notable change is the addition of the “Languages” tab.

People can form study groups by connecting with others who speak the same language. It also hopes to add a system for people to earn points and badges for completing lessons.

How Effective Is Duolingo?

Duolingo is the most downloaded educational app in the world, with over 500 million registered users. Over the years, Duolingo has added many different language courses, but they all follow the same formula. On desktop and mobile, thirty-five languages with English lessons and over ninety language courses are currently available.

It provides instruction in the following languages: Hindi, Hindi, Dutch, Latin, Greek, Irish, Polish, Norwegian, Hebrew, High Valyrian, Vietnamese, Hawaiian, Danish, Romanian, Indonesian, Welsh, Czech, Swahili, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Klingon, Esperanto, Navajo. The short lessons make practicing easy and quick.

Exercises have game-like elements and are engaging and enjoyable, but grammar lessons are not included. The audio quality of text-to-speech is occasionally poor; you cannot create your sentences. Being a part of a community is energizing and makes you feel like you are part of something bigger than yourself.

Conclusion: Duolingo is a Great Tool for Language Learners

Duolingo is a free language learning tool that allows people worldwide to practice speaking various languages. Using a language app will not automatically make you fluent in that language. But it is an excellent place to start if you want to improve your vocabulary or learn a new language.

The app Duolingo tracks how much you’ve learned each week and provides feedback on your weaknesses. It assists you in determining where you should concentrate your efforts. The app is intended to help you master one language per week while keeping track of your progress. There are several ways to stay motivated while learning new skills.

Duolingo provides various tools to ensure that you are always learning something new. Correct answers are frequently rewarded. Duolingo can even help you figure out what phrases you don’t know and see if they exist in another language. It might spark some ideas for future research.

You can, for example, choose to review specific topics every day or take quizzes to test your knowledge. There are also numerous games to choose from – word searches, crossword puzzles, memory games, and other activities fall into this category. These are enjoyable ways to stretch your mind and are often fun ways to challenge yourself.

FAQ

What is the Best Free Language-Learning App?

Duolingo is the best option if you want something that will teach you a foreign language quickly and effectively. You will not be able to become fluent using it alone, but it will provide you with a wealth of useful information.

What are Duolingo’s drawbacks?

Some sentences would not be used in natural speech—many advertisements in the app’s free version. The fixation on translation is counterproductive; repetition becomes monotonous and teaches you ineffective phrases. There has been much criticism of Duolingo’s incorrect translations, though I did not encounter this as frequently as other users.

What is Duolingo?

Duolingo is a language learning app that uses game-like methods to entice users to return daily to learn a new language.

What are the benefits of Gamified Learning?

Gamification helps motivate and keep users on track by providing visual revision reminders and a visually appealing interface.

Does Duolingo help children improve their language skills?

Duolingo’s practice reminders encourage students to keep up with their language skills. You could instill some friendly competition by having them compete to see who can maintain the longest Duolingo streak. Parents can send e-mails directly to their e-mail accounts, eliminating the need for older children to be reminded daily.