Can Duolingo actually teach you Spanish?
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Can Duolingo actually teach you Spanish?
1–10 of 252 posts
Re: Can Duolingo actually teach you Spanish?
#2I learned Spanish in HS and started using Duolingo to see if it was useful for teaching my young child Spanish. She had exposure to spoken Spanish via her nanny, but had very little exposure to written Spanish.
My first reaction was that there was no way for someone to learn Spanish just by using Duolingo, as there wasn't enough 'teaching' happening. But then I realized that there is some scaffolding in the app, but you have to go search it out. This could work for a motivated adult (or older student who has some existing language knowledge). But I wouldn't recommend it for a younger student starting out.
Re: Can Duolingo actually teach you Spanish?
#3What would be your best app for learning a language?
Re: Can Duolingo actually teach you Spanish?
#4I learned Spanish in HS and started using Duolingo to see if it was useful for teaching my young child Spanish. She had exposure to spoken Spanish via her nanny, but had very little exposure to written Spanish. My first reaction was that there was no way for someone to learn Spanish just by using Duolingo, as there wasn't enough 'teaching' happening. But then I realized that there is some scaffolding in the app, but…
What do you mean by "scaffolding in the app"? Are you still using Duolingo?
Re: Can Duolingo actually teach you Spanish?
#5I learned Spanish in HS and started using Duolingo to see if it was useful for teaching my young child Spanish. She had exposure to spoken Spanish via her nanny, but had very little exposure to written Spanish. My first reaction was that there was no way for someone to learn Spanish just by using Duolingo, as there wasn't enough 'teaching' happening. But then I realized that there is some scaffolding in the app, but…
What do you mean by "scaffolding in the app"? Are you still using Duolingo?
You can get hints and tips when you're doing problems. This helps you understand root words and such. I'm not using the app anymore.
Re: Can Duolingo actually teach you Spanish?
#6Re: Can Duolingo actually teach you Spanish?
#7I, like half of us, took a ton of Spanish in high school, enough to generally stick even without continuing to build it afterwards.
I tried Duolingo back before the pandemic was trendy, for maybe a year or so, to keep that streak going.
While I don't really feel that it was teaching me very well, I can relay this single anecdote. Duolingo has these stories that it figures you can read, based on the level of your scores. While reading a very short story in Spanish, I had the experience of the first time, a second language making me laugh because what I was reading, was funny. Nothing during my five years of 8th-12th grade did that. Just sharing, it's not meant to mean anything.
Re: Can Duolingo actually teach you Spanish?
#8I learned Spanish in HS and started using Duolingo to see if it was useful for teaching my young child Spanish. She had exposure to spoken Spanish via her nanny, but had very little exposure to written Spanish. My first reaction was that there was no way for someone to learn Spanish just by using Duolingo, as there wasn't enough 'teaching' happening. But then I realized that there is some scaffolding in the app, but…
Duolingo is great for building a base but after maybe the first 5 levels it’s a complete waste of time.
If your goal is to actually learn Spanish you need to be listening and speaking it as soon as possible. Both the listening and speaking parts of the app are absolutely terrible. I think the worst thing is people get stuck in the trap of thinking they are learning by keeping the streak going but in reality it has diminishing returns.
All this coupled with Duolingo gamifying it more and trying to squeeze money out of you by making the timed challenges pay out more points.
Overall great for beginners and then you are wasting your time.
Re: Can Duolingo actually teach you Spanish?
#9Betteridge's law of headlines be damned, the answer is "yes".
I've basically only used Duolingo for learning a particular new language. I started from nothing, and just did a little every day during the pandemic. Then I travelled to the country in question, and was able to tell stories in the language.
Not easily, and with bad grammar and my vocabulary sucked, but this is more than being able to order at a restaurant. My stories could be understood, and if they spoke slowly and gave me time to think then I could mostly understand them too.
But surprisingly many people will not make any adjustments at all when you say "Please, if you speak more slowly I can understand", and instead will go maybe even faster. Like… do you think this will help us communicate?
Re: Can Duolingo actually teach you Spanish?
#10Recently I encountered a tourist who didn't understand anything I said, but said he's from Korea. Recalling that I have been studying Korean on Duolingo for over a year, I excitedly probed my memory for a few seconds, then finally exclaimed, "annyeonghaseyo!" (hello), then blurted in English, "sorry, I don't speak Korean"
Later I encountered a fellow who spoke English. He told me he's from Germany. Recalling that I have been studying German on Duolingo for over a year, I excitedly probed my memory for a few seconds, and finally came up with "sehr gut!" (very good), then "sorry, that's all the German I know"
Then I was at a pizza shop and realized the person at the counter only spoke Spanish. Recalling that I have been studying... finally she lost her patience and thrusted her phone at me, with Google Translate.
True story. I still use Duolingo everyday. But surely, it isn't enough to "know"