Here's a fact for you: Duolingo works great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know, DD has been trying to learn Russian on Duolingo and it’s pretty cr@ppy (I’m a native speaker). She’s very good with languages in general so I think it’s the app.

Well most of us don't have a parent or had a parent who spoke another language. Is there some reason you didn't teach her? ( assuming you didn't?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the responses. Does anyone with experience have a recommendation for the best tools to learn Spanish? This is for someone is who not gifted at learning new languages.

There is no substitute for human interaction. Audit a class at a community college (some have programs for adult learners that are not for credit), join a conversation group, hire a private tutor (can find some who work abroad and charge less for virtual sessions). Some churches and non-profits will offer conversations classes for free. You can use Duolingo to help reinforce and practice in your spare time, but honestly you need to use the language in a meaningful way with live humans.

Yeah. If you want to be a competitive bicycle racer, you need to ride a bicycle. A lot. But when you can't, ride the Peloton.

[Anonymous]

I just love the Spanish!! I spoke Spanish as a kid and took it K- senior year of college. I really wish I had learned this way as a kid versus how painful the classes were. Duolingo is kind of addicting too, especially if you try to beat your score or compete in the challenges.

I have Super DuoLingo but I think there's a level above where you get to speak to people. Like I (English speaker) would speak Spanish to a native Spanish speaker learning English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just love the Spanish!! I spoke Spanish as a kid and took it K- senior year of college. I really wish I had learned this way as a kid versus how painful the classes were. Duolingo is kind of addicting too, especially if you try to beat your score or compete in the challenges.

I have Super DuoLingo but I think there's a level above where you get to speak to people. Like I (English speaker) would speak Spanish to a native Spanish speaker learning English.

THe level above is for AI assistance -- you can talk to an AI bot. They occasionally give me free weekends of it, and it's interesting. I intentionally refused to follow the conversation and after gently trying to guide me back, the characters changed up and started responding. No matter what the alleged story line was, I accused Zari of having chased my dog away and said I needed help. The characters reacted various ways, but definitely were responsive to my subject changes. It was neat, but not worth paying for neat. At least not yet.

[Anonymous]

Here's a fun fact--sticking with any learning prgroamme works!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's a fun fact--sticking with any learning prgroamme works!

True, but some are easier than others to stick with!

[Anonymous]

Bumping this thread...I've been sucked into duolingo and it's fun. I'm surprised dcum is so down on it since you're all supposed to be a bunch of world travelers but I guess you get enough immersion that way?
I am doing two different languages. One I studied in college that my niece and nephew can speak. They are little and get a huge kick out of me trying to speak it with them. The other is a language that my grandmother spoke and some friends currently speak. I have never studied it before and it is really a workout for the brain. Both are considered very difficult for English speakers.
Anyway it's a lot of fun and something for my fellow boring people to consider trying

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this thread...I've been sucked into duolingo and it's fun. I'm surprised dcum is so down on it since you're all supposed to be a bunch of world travelers but I guess you get enough immersion that way?
I am doing two different languages. One I studied in college that my niece and nephew can speak. They are little and get a huge kick out of me trying to speak it with them. The other is a language that my grandmother spoke and some friends currently speak. I have never studied it before and it is really a workout for the brain. Both are considered very difficult for English speakers.
Anyway it's a lot of fun and something for my fellow boring people to consider trying

IMHO, most languages are harder than English. We don't have a complicated gender system. Spelling is the only difficult thing in English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this thread...I've been sucked into duolingo and it's fun. I'm surprised dcum is so down on it since you're all supposed to be a bunch of world travelers but I guess you get enough immersion that way?
I am doing two different languages. One I studied in college that my niece and nephew can speak. They are little and get a huge kick out of me trying to speak it with them. The other is a language that my grandmother spoke and some friends currently speak. I have never studied it before and it is really a workout for the brain. Both are considered very difficult for English speakers.
Anyway it's a lot of fun and something for my fellow boring people to consider trying

+1 hooray!

Did you get into it because of this thread?

I pay for it, and on the scale of dumb things I pay for, it's both relatively cheap and worth it. My kids love it too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I use it to maintain my Japanese level and improve my kanji recognition — it’s pretty meh and I think it would be very hard to learn Japanese from scratch with just the app but I appreciate the structure and variety in the exercises and the fact it really encourages me to do something every day. Having tried to review Korean and learn Mandarin with Duo, I think I can conclude it’s not as good with East Asian languages. Although both of those experiments were like 8 years ago so maybe I should try again.

Recently I’ve also been using it remember the French I learned in middle school which has actually been going pretty well so I appreciate your story OP — I know Romance languages are a strength for duo so hopefully I’ll have as much success as you!

Agree - my Japanese is not great, but I found Duo’s Japanese program to be ridiculously easy. I tested right out of the top level immediately, and I am definitely not fluent, more like intermediate-advanced. I’ve also submitted at least three corrections that have been accepted. Has been a great supplement for learning German tho, and for refreshing my French.

[Anonymous]

My current streak is 143 days. My whole family (wife and son) use it and we trash talk each other about streaks, scores, leagues, etc. I find myself able to listen in on Spanish conversations and pick up what they’re saying. Some Spanish speakers talk very fast though!