Summary

The author shares their personal journey of learning Spanish through Duolingo, initially engaging enthusiastically, losing momentum, and eventually regaining consistency to make significant progress in multiple languages.

Abstract

The author began learning Spanish with Duolingo after developing an interest from watching Spanish series on Netflix. They started with high motivation, maintaining a streak for a week, but eventually, their commitment waned. Over a year, the author neglected the app despite its persistent reminders, reflecting on their lack of consistency and the passage of time. However, a turning point occurred when they realized the loss of potential progress, prompting a renewed commitment to daily learning. As a result, the author not only improved their Spanish but also learned French and started learning Finnish, emphasizing the importance of consistency and community support in language learning. They conclude by inviting readers to join them on their language learning journey and recommend Duolingo for its fun and effective approach.

Opinions

Duolingo is praised for its gamified interface that makes learning fun, which is uncommon in traditional language learning methods.
The author initially underestimated the app, thinking it was for children, but later recognized its value for language learners of all levels.
The persistent reminders from Duolingo, likened to a nagging owl, were initially ignored but eventually contributed to the author's return to learning.
The author acknowledges personal responsibility for their lapse in learning, citing personal and academic challenges rather than issues with the app itself.
The author reflects on the importance of consistency in language learning, highlighting the potential progress that can be made with daily practice.
There is an expressed appreciation for the Duolingo community, which provided additional support and motivation.
The author expresses a sense of accomplishment and confidence in their language skills, which have improved enough to understand Spanish and French TV shows.
They offer to be a language learning buddy to others, suggesting that collective effort can enhance the learning experience, as per an African proverb they cite.

I tried learning Spanish with Duolingo. This is what happened.

I would cage the green owl if I could.

If you’re familiar with Duolingo then you’re probably aware that this friendly looking owl can be as persistent as an alarm on a Monday morning. It’s very much like a nagging push notification on my phone.

If you have not heard about Duolingo, it is an app that aims to help its users learn virtually any language by using a gamified interface and experience.

And no, it is not a kid's app if that’s what you are thinking.

If you want to learn any new language at all, even endangered languages, you should try out Duolingo. Maybe it is what you’re looking for or maybe it’s not. Read to the end if you want to know.

There is a funny back story about how I started learning Spanish on Duolingo. Back in my sophomore year of college, I had this habit of watching TV shows every time I was having a meal (I still do it).

Anime, Netflix and Hulu originals, Disney Plus, you name it.

This was around the same time COVID-19 had hit China and was spreading to other parts of the world. It was not in my country at this time but it would eventually rear its ugly head a few months later.

I came across a cool Spanish series on Netflix and decided to watch it with its original audio track and English subtitles.

And that was it.

I fell in love with the language immediately. From the word pronunciations to the tones and articulations of the actors, everything about the language screamed “rizzzzz”.

No wonder it’s one of the romantic languages. Unfortunately, I did not see the elegance of it when Dora the Explorer was teaching me Spanish on TV as a kid.

I searched for the best language learning apps on Google Play Store and Duolingo seemed more appealing than the other results. I installed it, set up my account, chose the language, and started learning.

The first week was great. I was already on fire with a 7-day streak and Duo(the green owl up there) is really good at hyping you up. I found the gamified nature of the app really helpful because it made learning fun. Learning and fun, right? That’s something you don’t see every day, especially from the lens of college-me. Talk about the trauma from learning a new language in college (yeeesh).

Another week approached and that meant a chance to level up to a 14-day streak. I was all pumped I had an inner expression like this guy:

But yeah, no that did not happen.

I lost my streak. Duo kept reminding me to take some Spanish lessons but I was very inconsistent. I was doing about one or two lessons a week and just so you know, one lesson for a beginner does not exceed 2 to 3 minutes.

So much for someone who “loved” Spanish, right?

Things worsened. A few weeks later I ghosted. By ghosted, I mean I did not do a single lesson in the app for over a year. Yep, 12 months.

And before you start concluding that I stopped because of the app, I’m here to tell you that it was not the app. It was me.

I had so much going on in college and even after my university was shut down in March 2020, I still stayed off the app. During this one year period, I started writing online, taking some online courses, and trying my hands on other things just to keep myself busy. Duolingo was not one of them.

But while I wasn’t engaging with the app, I never deleted it. I don’t know why, but I think I was procrastinating the deletion because I thought I’d do a lesson sooner but I did not, yet I kept thinking I would and that’s how this vicious cycle helped Duolingo live rent-free in my phone’s storage.

About the nagging I mentioned earlier. . .it got about a 12x multiplier during this period. Long story short, I got Duo and a few of his friends sad or disappointed maybe.

Except for Lily, one character who gives the “yeah whatever I don’t care” vibe all the time.

The last notification I got from the app said this:

Hi, it’s Duo. These reminders don’t seem to be working. We’ll stop sending them for now.

Pretty bad, huh? That’s when it hit me.

I wasted a whole year not working towards my goal of becoming fluent in Spanish with no concrete reason. Had I spent only five minutes every day I would have come so far after 12 months.

This is the truth about consistency and the reality of time I learned the hard way from my experience. I lost time, so I made a resolve to make it count.

Everything changed from then.

I became more consistent, had longer streaks, and even had a community of Duolingo learners on and off the app. I lost my streak a couple of times but I picked myself up to start again.

The result was not in the streak but it was in what I obtained from every lesson I did every day.

A few years after this rollercoaster event, this is my profile on the app:

I would not say I have achieved so much but I can confidently say that I have made progress a ton from where I started. Nowadays, I never go a day without learning a new word or sharpening my listening, writing, and speaking skills with Super Duolingo.

Interestingly, I’m beginning to understand Spanish sentences spoken by actors in Spanish TV shows. The same goes for French shows too. I was blown away when I realized this.

I ended up learning French and Finnish too. I’m still new to the Finnish language but I believe I’ll make significant strides soon, and so can you with any language you want to learn!

If you want to start your language learning journey, I’d love to be your language learning buddy. Just leave a comment down below. I could be that added layer of support besides Duo, hehe. After all, there’s an African saying that,

“If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.”

So if you want to learn a new language for free, and if having fun while learning is your thing, you should definitely give Duolingo a shot.

Thank you for reading to the end.

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