41–50 of 85 posts
It was nagging me, and I just ignored it. It's bad, of course, that I have ignored it, because as a result, learning hasn't happened. But it was very easy for me to ignore it. I didn't feel blackmailed.
And then I keep wondering what all those years of nagging telemarketing calls one has learned to hang up on despite all the tricks can do to one's psyche.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I like Duolingo for the exact reasons you don't. I want to learn a language, and I will need to know the basics to be able to talk to people on my honeymoon next year. What you see as "nagging" I see as "holding me accountable to a goal I've set for myself." I can definitely see why you'd want to be able to dial back the notifications, though. On principle, I'd usually be on your side in this kind of situation. But a…
> I want to learn a language Then why are you using Duolingo in the first place? That app has to be the worst method, because people think they are progressing while they in fact don't. From personal experience it's the worst method I tired to learn a language, and the content present for languages I know isn't good either.
The reason I use Duolingo because it's the only thing I'll actually use, thanks to the emotional blackmail.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could you elaborate on which features you'd miss from Duolingo if you switched? For context I'm working on a language learning app (phrasing.app) and I'm pretty against gamification. I've got a couple different review methods (listening, tapping, and typing) but I assume you're referring to a more complete feature set. PS: If anyone wants to beta test the application, contact me on twitter @barrelltech. I just got ev…
I don't think they do anything special. It's just on aggregate between their various interactive mechanisms, there is nice variance to the types of interaction you get to do. Speaking, typing, word selection, etc.
Thanks!
The whole purpose of Duolingo is emotional and psychological manipulation to get us to override our tendencies to procrastinate, forget, etc. Otherwise we'd just pick up a foreign language book. I don't really get the framing of this article.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I want to learn a language Then why are you using Duolingo in the first place? That app has to be the worst method, because people think they are progressing while they in fact don't. From personal experience it's the worst method I tired to learn a language, and the content present for languages I know isn't good either.
I plan on adding a community college class into the mix, so there is some education outside of the app that will happen eventually. But, there's at least a few reasons why you'd use Duolingo exclusively. 1. If you can't afford something better. I keep getting pummeled on the leaderboard by people doing 5000+ XP/week worth of English for Spanish Speakers. None of them have Super Duolingo (you can see if they have it b…
I'm a former military linguist who was trained to learn Arabic. I've always disliked and distrusted Duolingo (and before that, Rosetta Stone), for providing people the basics (which they do just fine) but making it seem like fluency is always just one more upgrade or lesson around the corner while not-so-subtly implying that it's your fault that you're not there yet. Even for the most talented learners of languages i…
It's disappointing to me how many people try learning a language with Duolingo, do not succeed, then just "accept" that they're "bad with languages" and "can't learn them".
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Babbel or Rosetta Stone
Can you elaborate? It seems pretty opaque what they are like since it seems to be credit card up front with both of them.
Rosetta Stone was the big player before Duolingo. They had a method that involved not using your mother tongue, which they called 'immersion'. I believe in the recent years (since Duolingo ate their pie) they have moved more and more towards dueling style learning. They have an app that's a lot more corporate, but I've heard good things about it too
Note, I haven't used either of these applications in years, I just work in the space and this is my understanding of them