What are your thoughts about Duolingo?

I use Duo Lingo to learn Spanish. It's kind of like a game and I do not care about streaks, leagues, or points. I think what I have learned besides a little vocabulary, is mostly grammar by showing how it's done, not just telling. Spanish has gender agreement words and English doesn't and as I play the sections, I am learning how that works and the way verbs work according to tense. It's fun to me and I do not pay for any extras.

I’ve used it plenty over the years. I think they’re really good at gamification. But I think sometimes incentives in the app don’t fully align with your learning goals - so they drive app usage and particular actions but it’s not necessarily aligned with learner efficacy. I think it’s gotten better with writing and speaking (in that they’ve added activities for that). And production activities like that are so important if you want to actually speak the language. But they still have a way to go in that regard. Currently I think you really need to supplement Duolingo with something that involves more/better production activities. And I think they’ve gotten better with conversational language but it’s still not the main focus. So to my mind, it’s a very engaging way to learn and practice vocabulary and a little language production/conversational language.

I hate its VIP ads

Personally, I like to use it for building daily habits and picking up vocabulary fast, but it doesn’t really teach you how to actually speak. Let alone speak naturally. Try combining it with [Italki ](https://go.italki.com/rtsgeneral2)for 1 on 1 lessons with native tutors.

I believe it is good to improve grammar and vocabulary. However, it doesn't help you to be a good speaker. Speaking is highly enhanced by speaking with a partner. But if there is no one you can practice with, you should try shadowing as an alternative.

It’s fun. It’s simple. It’s motivational. It can be social. I use it to learn Korean, Spanish, and math. I’m a native English speaker so I don’t use it to learn English. I find that it’s better for reviewing what I already know that it is for teaching me what I don’t know. Having learned three languages besides English - I can assure you that Duolingo is an excruciatingly slow way to learn a language. You need the interpersonal interactions and more challenging coursework than Duolingo will provide. At least as far as I’ve gotten in the language as I’m studying. Do I learn words? Yes do I learn some grammar? Occasionally. Do I learn to speak, fluently or clearly, not necessarily. But it challenges my reading and listening comprehension, better than nothing.

They say you can learn just the basic things from duolingo

DOOOOO YOURRRRR STREEEEEAAAAAKKKK

I hate that they’re going to start prioritizing AI now. This sucks. They used to be cool. Now Duo is dead and AI is taking over.

It's a fun game that casually teaches you a little bit of a language. I would rather people play it than not learn a language at all. My mother in law used to spend tons of time playing Candy Crush, and now she spends tons of time playing Duolingo. She's picked up more French from Duolingo than she did from Candy Crush. I don't think it's a very good way to learn a language, especially not on its own, but most people who use it weren't going to make any attempt to learn a language otherwise, so I am 100% pro-Duolingo. If you *are* serious about learning a language, it's a great supplement.

In my opinion, it’s a decent starting point. It won’t be the thing that makes you fluent, but its an extremely accessible first step that can be a fun way to make sure you’re practicing regularly and serve as a good jumping off point for other forms of learning. But, you are going to need to supplement it, heavily, if you actually want to use the language. In addition to Duo, I primarily focus on getting a large amount of audio input and reading (duo provides a little bit, I’m talking about at least 30 minutes to an hour daily) and a bit of grammar study from a textbook in my target language.

It's a starting point, but it's also really bad in quite a few ways. Rather than translating things word for word in ways which may share etymological contexts, Duolingo translates to American English in ways that a person translating accurately would never do. For example in Japanese the terms for school years are basically 'first year' 'second year' 'third year' etc, and this is how they are written in the Japanese writing systems: it's the number and then the classifier. When translated to American English they become freshman, junior, sophomore, and so on. Terms which not only do NOT translate accurately between the American and the Japanese, but also are not used significantly in most English speaking countries. Things like Futbol in Spanish are converted to Soccer, while Futbol Americano is used for American Football. Basically, use Duolingo only if you don't want translations accurate to the language and its contextual use.

Duolingo is great for building a habit as those daily streaks are super motivating. It’s also pretty good for vocabulary and basic grammar patterns. But you’re right: it doesn’t really teach you how to *use* English in real conversations, especially when it comes to speaking fluently or naturally. If your goal is to improve pronunciation, speaking flow, or confidence in real situations, you’ll probably need something more interactive... like talking to real people or getting feedback from a coach. I run a program that helps with that (more on pronunciation and communication than textbook grammar), and I’ve seen a lot of people use Duolingo as a starting point, then build on it with other tools or coaching. Some other apps people like: * **Elsa Speak** – for pronunciation (BoldVoice is now being talked about but I'm yet to see some serious success with my students using these apps) * **HelloTalk** or **Tandem** – for chatting with native speakers * **YouTube or Podcasts** – for listening to natural speech Bottom line: Duolingo is a solid piece of the puzzle, but for real speaking skills, you’ll need to go beyond the app. Keep going, though! You’re doing great just by being consistent. 💪

I think it works well for the casual learner because the gamification keeps the learner engaged. However, it does not work well for serious learners, especially intermediate and advanced learners. I would second what u/ChattyGnome said about Italki. The 1:1 lessons can be very helpful.

I have ADHD and the streak system is basically all that keeps me going sometimes. I’m sure I won’t learn Spanish properly with just Duolingo, but I’m planning on buying some books in Spanish to help with that.

Duolingo operates a pretty good Mexican restaurant in Pittsburgh. I have no opinion on their language apps, though.

It’s fun but only for beginners or intermediate users. Also doesn’t help with conversation. To hire a tutor, use [Verbling](https://www.verbling.com), [preply](https://preply.com), etc. For advanced learners (you know 6000+ words already), I’d recommend [Lexioo](https://www.lexioo.io), which is an all-in-one practice platform. I personally use it. Like today by reading a [news article](https://www.lexioo.io/reading/The%20Guardian/us-news%2Fcommentisfree%2F2025%2Fapr%2F30%2Fwe-are-witnessing-slow-constitutional-collapse-in-the-us) I picked up 17 new words To practice pronunciation, my personal go to app is BoldVoice

I used Duo to learn Japanese for a while.  I had a streak of about 1500 days. Duo's streak system is crazy good. Their actual learning wasnt great. Great to get you started but you need to move on eventually.

I’m a native English speaker but I use Duolingo to learn Spanish. The goal of keeping my streak alive forces me to think in Spanish every day, even if it’s just for 5 minutes. That is very useful to me.

I think an immersive environment is the most important for learning English

Absolutely evil company

I looked at Duolingo and Babbel. Gabe them each a week, doing lessons at least once per day. Decided to go with Babbel. Duolingo is probably better for children; it's too "cute" for adults. It does offer more languages than babbel, but Babbel does a better job with the 14 it currently offers. Additionally, I was interested in becoming proficient in Castilian Spanish (what is spoken in Spain). Babbel distinguishes between this and Latin American (aka Andolsian) Spanish. There are enough differences to make wanting to focus on one or the other important. Babbel let's you specify which one you want to learn, and it will still point out some of the differences as you go. Duolingo is mainly if not exclusively Latin American Spanish.

Duolingo is a great tool for building a daily language-learning habit. Its game-like format, streak system, and short, engaging lessons help keep motivation high. It’s especially useful for learning vocabulary, basic sentence structure, and some grammar rules. However, many users find that while it’s helpful for reading and recognition, it doesn’t provide enough depth for speaking or writing fluency. The lack of real conversation practice can make it hard to apply what you've learned in real-life situations. To improve your English more effectively, it’s a good idea to use Duolingo alongside other tools. Apps like HelloTalk or Tandem let you chat with native speakers, which is great for practicing speaking and understanding natural conversation. Watching English shows or YouTube videos with subtitles can also improve listening skills and help with pronunciation. For writing, keeping a daily journal in English or using tools like Grammarly and ChatGPT to check and improve your writing can make a big difference. Mixing Duolingo with these resources can give you a more complete learning experience. Also, don’t underestimate the power of reading and speaking out loud. Try reading short stories, news articles, or even children’s books in English, and say the sentences out loud to practice pronunciation and rhythm. You can even record yourself speaking and compare it with native speakers to catch mistakes. Language learning takes time, but combining multiple methods—apps, conversation, reading, and writing—will help you build real confidence and fluency.

I’ve been using Duolingo for a while now and honestly, it kinda goes hard—slatt! The streak system got me in a chokehold fr, like I’ll be brushing my teeth and suddenly remember I gotta learn how to say “the cat eats bread” in Italian or else that lil green owl finna pop out my closet like what!. It’s fun tho, I can’t lie. The lessons are short, gamified, and just ADHD-friendly enough to make me feel productive even when I’m procrastinating bih. But at the same time, I’m not gonna pretend I walked out fluent—I can order a coffee and maybe insult someone’s shoes, but hold a convo? nah fr fr. It’s definitely not gonna carry your speaking skills alone, especially when Duolingo got me out here saying “I am a banana” in perfect Spanish. I’ve been mixing it with watching shows in English w/ subs, yelling random phrases at my dog (he’s certified in 3 languages now), and lowkey journaling like a teenage girl on Wattpad just to get the writing in yah. Anyway, 8/10 app, but you gotta combo that thing with real convos or you’ll just end up knowing how to say “I drink milk” in 12 languages while struggling to ask for the bathroom irl. what… what… huh? NAH FR