Duolingo will help you more than you think.

Just use Duolingo already…

Yeah, you read that right, just use Duolingo. It’s not the devil. Even if Duo makes you want to run scared sometimes…

Language learning is hard enough as it is. Why should you spend hours upon hours looking for the most optimal resource when a free resource will work out just fine? Seriously. Duolingo does the one thing that many other language platforms kinda fail at: it keeps you consistent. The app gamifies the process of language learning and accountability to the point that you feel like you’re disappointing everyone’s favorite owl buddy by NOT doing your language learning for the day.

Look, as a second language instructor, I know full well that Duolingo isn’t going to get you fluent in a language. I know it’s not the optimal way of learning and retaining information and that some of the sentences are some of the stupidest things you will ever read. But, that’s not the point.

Everyone lives busy lives. We have so many things to do and so many interests and hobbies that we struggle to find the time to dedicate to learning new skills, learning like a foreign language. Let alone trying to find the time to do all the dishes, the laundry, clean the bathroom, and just trying to relax for a few minutes before going to bed or going to work. I’m not blind to that reality.

However, if you’re anything like me, you hate being “sub-optimal” with your skill acquisition. You want to find that one resource that’s worth your time and money because it has proven results. But here’s the reality: that cool, expensive resource is going to get used once or twice, then you’ll never touch it again until your next decluttering day in 5 years.

I have so many stupid hobby-things I’ve purchased over the years because I wanted to learn some new skill, but those tools and resources are now just collecting dust. (Journal collections, anyone?) Language learning is no different for me. There are tons of resources – books, apps, classes – that I’ve spent good money on that I’ve never touched or only touched a handful of times. I had fully intended on using those resources to learn the respective language, but I let other things get in the way of my learning.

Duolingo, on the other hand, makes sticking to language learning so much easier. I can do lessons from anywhere with my phone, a computer, or a tablet. I mostly just use my phone, but the computer option is really nice to have when you want to sitdown and really crank-out some quality learning.

I have the Duolingo widget on my phone that makes the friction between learning and scrolling so easy that it’s the first app I open up while making my morning coffee. The cool thing about the widget, too, is that it shows your learning streak. As of today, for example, I have a 33-day streak from learning Italian. Plus, Duo’s often just hanging out after you’ve completed your daily learning or looking at you disappointed until you successfully complete it.

But, you know better as a language teacher…

Correct, I do know better. I also know how I like to learn and have learned my previous languages: French, Russian, and Polish. But so what? That doesn’t change the fact that Duolingo is a great, easy starting point in the beginning of a language learning journey. It gives you the small wins that motivate you to keep going.

I love reading beginner-oriented books and using self-paced textbooks and even Babble (a better alternative to Duolingo, in my opinion). These are the tools I’ve used in my previous language missions, but I’ve also used Duolingo because, surprise-surprise, it’s FREE! How can you not use a free resource!?

Sure, the app was absolutely terrible for a long time and was the subject of insane amounts of memes criticizing the terrible sentences and the lack of grammar explanations, etc. But, it still worked. It’s job was getting people to learn languages and it pretty much succeeded. The ads are annoying, of course, but they’re pretty easy to ignore most of the time. So, they’re kind of a non-issue.

Duolingo has improved a TON since its inception and that’s why I’m using it to this day to supplement my Italian learning. Do I get to cheat a little bit because I speak fluent French? Of course. Are some of the sentences still stupidly useless in the app? 100%. Does that really matter? Not a bit. The app provides tons of repetition of grammar points and slotting in other vocabulary words to show you how the language functions (sometimes a bit TOO much repetition…). But, without needing flashcards (which I hate), I have already memorized a decent number of words in Italian and can use them in sentences and stupidly basic conversations, with proper conjugations, too! Obviously, I still make tons of mistakes, but that’s ok. I’m learning. You also don’t learn by being perfect (I’m looking at you French education system…).

Language learning is supposed to be fun. And, if you’re really motivated to learn your target lanugage, you’ll be capable of learning it with just about any resource because eventually you’re going to be using 10’s of 100’s of different resources to get to whatever level you’re aiming for. Starting with Duolingo isn’t a bad thing and continuing to use it for the beginning steps isn’t wrong.

In the end, just choose a resource to stick to for learning the basics of the language and get the “newby gains” and motivation to continue. Then, after a month, re-assess your program to see what’s working and what’s not, then adjust where you need to. It’s just like working out. You won’t see the results you want if you aren’t consistent and sticking to a single program. And, if that program is Duolingo, just go for it.

It’s free, it’s easy, and it works. So, just use it.