Duolingo

Duolingo: Learn New Languages With Ease

Duolingo has stayed as the number-one choice for many new language learners. It is a tool that systematically teaches you the ropes around a language which includes grammar, spelling, pronunciations, etc. By using this tool to learn a new language, you can enhance your cognitive abilities, seize overseas career opportunities, enrich your travel experience, etc.

But is it truly capable, or does the haze created by the marketing campaigns say so? Well, to debunk the quality, I created this Duolingo review that will help me answer whether the tool is worth your time or not.

Pros and Cons of Duolingo

App Specifications of Duolingo

To assess whether the application is accessible on your device, here are the app specs to check:

Duolingo Features

Duolingo app and website deliver all the necessary features as one of the apps for education. Features that can aid you in your journey to learn a language. So, let’s check them out one by one.

1. Multiple Site Languages

Duolingo understands that the users coming to it to learn new languages may not necessarily speak English. So, they have provided the option to access the website in multiple languages, as shown in the image above. For the application, it detects the preferred language through the smartphone’s settings making it automated.

2. Multiple Languages to Learn

The most important feature of Duolingo languages is that it offers lessons in multiple languages. For better understanding, look at the cards above for choosing different languages. However, to give you an idea, there are up to 43 languages like Greek, Vietnamese, Hebrew, Latin, Swahili, etc., with new Duolingo languages getting updated to the mix time after time. Plus, it offers regional languages within a nation like Bengali, Cantonese, Zulu, etc.

3. “Duo” Mascot

Duolingo offers a cute mascot named “Duo.” The Duo is a green owl that will be your mascot for each task, motivating you to do the next. The great thing about this mascot is that it makes learning interactive and funny because of Duo’s quirkiness.

4. Get Tips

Well, to conduct this Duolingo review, I chose Japanese as the language to learn (#animelove). Duolingo provides tips to ease the process of learning, as shown in the image above. The tip section of the tool gives you grammatical explanations, vocabulary definitions, pronunciation guides, etc., of the language selected. Basically, these are additional nudges to seek out the best understanding of the lessons.

5. Interactive Lessons

Duolingo is primarily known for its interactiveness. The image above shows a basic example, which is more or less the same depending on the exercise, i.e., vocabulary expansion, grammar, and pronunciation. 

The system also provides all the relevant data to internalize a word. Basically, Duolingo delivers input to all the senses, which are visual, auditory, reading, and kinesthetic. For example:

• The app offers an image that describes the word for visual learning.
• You can check out the pronunciation through audio upon clicking on the word for auditory learning.
• There are written words with characters for verbal learning.
• It is an experiential exercise for kinesthetic learners.

6. Gamification of Language Learning

As you can see, I chose the right option, so I was able to save my heart. However, each mistake will cost me a heart, and once I have exhausted all the hearts provided for a single day, I am required to pay to attempt further exercise. However, this heart-losing mechanism gamifies the exercise, keeping you interested for longer. 

Plus, there are multiple points and rewards you can unlock that can affect your overall progress and unlock new levels for you. You are also required to maintain a streak of exercise on the platform. This keeps you motivated to stay consistent.

7. Duolingo Dashboard

Duolingo has provided a dashboard that will share all the details about you in a concise manner. Some of the info you can see here is:

• Learn: This tab showcases your journey so far with the number of sections and units completed throughout the journey.
• Characters: These are characters used in the language you are learning. In the case of Japanese, for me, they were Hiragana and Katakana.
• Leaderboards: It unlocks where you stand on the leaderboard in terms of learning, just like a game. However, it is unlocked only when you have completed more than ten lessons.
• Quests: These are daily quests that are delivered to you to earn more XP or experience, which means rewards. 
• Shop: This option basically allows you to get power-ups like Streak Freeze and Double or Nothing.
• Profile: It showcases your complete personal data fed to the system.
• More: It allows you to see more options like settings, help, sign-in, etc.

Duolingo Prices

The Duolingo cost is zero if you don’t care about a zero ad experience or unlimited hearts. However, if you decide to purchase it, then it is offered to you in two paid tiers. These are Super, and Super Family. Since you only need to pay for Super and Super Family, here are the prices:

Note: You can also redeem a Duolingo promo code to reduce the price of the subscriptions. However, these are timely offers and might not be available throughout the year.

Essentially, both Duolingo Super and Super Family deliver the same features. However, the only major difference is that Super Family offers support for a group of up to six individuals while Super is an individual plan. The primary advantage here is that the per-user subscription cost is much lower.