What do people say about it ?
Please take a look at the compilation of various Duolingo reviews that i have created from youtube. They have been edited to convey the essence.
Please take a look at the compilation of various Duolingo reviews that i have created from youtube. They have been edited to convey the essence.
Some more good points
1. Duolingo also provides the facility to skip basic levels according to your competency by taking a test.
2. Tries to incorporate all the four - reading, listening, writing, speaking
3. You can play with your friends, share your progress, follow what others are doing.
4. Many of the reviews on the web find it comparable to Babbel (a popular language learning software), with the additional advantage that it is free !
Added Edge
According to a study by Ambient Research, Mobile based language learning is predicted to soar faster than any other form of language learning as indicated by the snapshot below -
1. Duolingo also provides the facility to skip basic levels according to your competency by taking a test.
2. Tries to incorporate all the four - reading, listening, writing, speaking
3. You can play with your friends, share your progress, follow what others are doing.
4. Many of the reviews on the web find it comparable to Babbel (a popular language learning software), with the additional advantage that it is free !
Added Edge
According to a study by Ambient Research, Mobile based language learning is predicted to soar faster than any other form of language learning as indicated by the snapshot below -
How effective is it ?
Duolingo claims to take to the learner to an intermediate level by the end of the entire course.
According to an eight week study independently conducted to assess the effectiveness of Duolingo as a language learning tool, a person with no knowledge of Spanish would need between 26 and 49 hours (or 34 hours on average) to cover the material for the first college semester of Spanish. Since a one semester university course usually takes more than 34 hours of work, this study suggests that Duolingo is more effective than university.
The study was done by an external research team that previously evaluated the effectiveness of other methods such as Rosetta Stone (The biggest player in Digital Language Learning). It is of note that it took 55 hours of study with Rosetta Stone to reach the equivalent of one semester of college, Duolingo needed just 34.
Some Criticism
1. It does not introduce you to the natural conversational style of the language until quiet late. Since it picks up sentences from Wikipedia, many appear out of context and ones that one would rarely use in everyday life.
2. The structure of the South Asian languages is different from English, so a word to word translation goes wrong sometime.
3. Duolingo does not educate the learner on the grammar of the language.
4. Multiple translations which could be possible are not provided for.
5. Translation is not supposed to be the best method of teaching a language.
All in all, i would say that it would be great for an at ease informal learning. It would also be great as an add on for students who do not have opportunities of exposure to the desirable language outside of class. But currently, it might not be the best as the only form of learning a language for serious pursuits.
Duolingo claims to take to the learner to an intermediate level by the end of the entire course.
According to an eight week study independently conducted to assess the effectiveness of Duolingo as a language learning tool, a person with no knowledge of Spanish would need between 26 and 49 hours (or 34 hours on average) to cover the material for the first college semester of Spanish. Since a one semester university course usually takes more than 34 hours of work, this study suggests that Duolingo is more effective than university.
The study was done by an external research team that previously evaluated the effectiveness of other methods such as Rosetta Stone (The biggest player in Digital Language Learning). It is of note that it took 55 hours of study with Rosetta Stone to reach the equivalent of one semester of college, Duolingo needed just 34.
Some Criticism
1. It does not introduce you to the natural conversational style of the language until quiet late. Since it picks up sentences from Wikipedia, many appear out of context and ones that one would rarely use in everyday life.
2. The structure of the South Asian languages is different from English, so a word to word translation goes wrong sometime.
3. Duolingo does not educate the learner on the grammar of the language.
4. Multiple translations which could be possible are not provided for.
5. Translation is not supposed to be the best method of teaching a language.
All in all, i would say that it would be great for an at ease informal learning. It would also be great as an add on for students who do not have opportunities of exposure to the desirable language outside of class. But currently, it might not be the best as the only form of learning a language for serious pursuits.