So back to the French topic . . . I downloaded and installed the Duolingo app a few months ago but never did anything with it. Like everything else in the world, I had to create an account to use it. As quick and easy as that is, it just felt like a burden. More so for me, because I almost (always) create a new email address for every service I sign up with.
But a few days ago I bit the bullet, created the account, and settled in for what I thought would be a long and satisfying journey to brush up on mon français.
While I don’t believe in any snake oil that promise to TEACH YOU FRENCH IN THREE SHORT HOURS (and Duolingo, to its credit, does not do that), I also would expect a well-crafted and popular course to not slow me down.
The app asked if I wanted to take a placement test. As I have a solid working knowledge of French already, I was happy to get this option so I wouldn’t have to sit through the absolute beginner stuff. That said, after three days in, I still feel like I’m sitting through the absolute beginner stuff.
The lessons are divided into broad sections: Greetings, Travel, Particle Physics, and so on. Each section has a number of levels. So far, the three I’ve done have had five levels: I don’t know if that changes.
As you complete a level, the little green bird congratulates you and says, “It’s about to get harder now!”
“Harder! Yes, thank you! It’s about time,” I say to myself, quite sincerely.
But the thing is, it doesn’t. The repetition and monotony is almost overbearing at this point. I had hoped I’d be learning new things and that after I had demonstrated sufficient knowledge of a topic, the little green bird would take me to a true next level.
Just to give you an example, here are Level 1 greetings:
Good morning! Thank you! Good evening! How are you? Good day! Have a good evening!
After fifteen minutes of that, I finally make it to Level 2, where things get harder:
How are you? Good day! Have a good evening! How are you? Good day! How are you?
After another hour I finally make it to Level 5 where I almost cannot stand the heat:
Hello! How are you? Have a good evening! How are you? How are you? Hello! How are you?
I feel like I have to be doing something wrong. I was even considering going with the plus/paid version, but I’m not so sure now. Do I want to spend seven more weeks to get up to Level 49 and be smacked in the face with brain-twisters like:
I am American. She is English. He is Spanish. You are American. He is American. I am English. Are you English? I am English. How are you? Good day!
Still, I almost want to. Because I’m starting to feel like Level 99 is the little green bird popping out with:
Sucker!
E.D. Martin
I use Duolingo too. First, to refresh my French which should be a lot better considering I have a BA in it (although that was *cough* years ago), and also to learn Spanish.
I’ve found that while the content doesn’t get harder as the levels progress in each skill, the methods do. In levels 1 and 2, you’re selecting words from a bank or matching. By level 3, you’re actually typing stuff out, which can be harder once you get past the basics of bonjour/Où est le fromage? to Mon chat ne veut pas nettoyer la salle de bain (yes, they seriously do have ridiculous stuff like that because it’s as much about grammar as vocab).
My method is to hit level 2 on a skill and then move onto the next one. I try to do 4 unique skills and a review each day, by which I mean 2-3 times/week, and if I have extra time I work on the skills that are already at level 2 until they’re level 3. That way I’m learning new stuff and reviewing older content.
But it’s all about figuring out what works for you. I think Duolingo is designed for beginners, so it may not be a good fit for you if you already know the language.
Charlie
I had that thought too (“may not be a good fit for you if you already know the language”) and half-decided to try learning some German to test that out.
I hadn’t thought about moving on from a skill after hitting level 2. I’m very methodical, and taking it one skill at a time, one level at a time. Perhaps I should bounce around some more, just to mix it up.
I will admit, however, that cheating has helped me move the boring lessons along more quickly. And by “cheating”, I mean I installed a French keyboard on my iPhone. This also brought along with it a French dictionary. And iOS’s predictive text has already gotten pretty good and learning what Duo is going to say next. So when “Elle parle français” comes up for the 300th time, iOS is pretty good about prefilling “français” for me.
And on that note, one not-cheating aspect of the French keyboard is that it’s waaaay easier to type out accents. Learning the AZERTY keyboard layout takes a little bit of time, but I like that aspect too. 🙂