Can you become fluent with duolingo

Do you still feel it is better? It also now has stories. Hi James. Lingdodeer is another great option with many of the same gamification benefits. Cool to hear they have stories now I think that is one of the best features of Duolingo for their Spanish course, and wish they offered the same for Japanese.

The thing that i find demotivating is the leaderboards where you are the top learner and 5 mins. One does not compete with similar skilled players in the same language or same amount of progress crowns but instead with people with nothing else to do all day or bots with an inferiority complex that they have to be top dog each and every week.

So i have come to fhe conclusion that im not wasting my efforts to do this for 3 or more hrs just to get trick question on sunday which does not let me be at least 10th place making me stay at the same league which gives you the same content anyways. I wish i could turn off the leagues but the option posted on the internet is not available to me as of That can indeed be frustrating.

If you do enjoy the competitive side but want to keep things a little more manageable, you can complete with a few friends and even set a weekly wager that goes to whomever gets the most XP each week.

What matters is the process, not the result. I have use Duolingo since March to learn Spanish and have learnt much more in that time than in three years when at school. In Spain in July I could understand and reply to various people, order drinks and food etc in the restaurant. I think it is superb and will keep using it and practicing conversation in real life.

And yes I would like to know how I can be top of the leaderboard with points and ten minutes later someone can be points ahead of me! Learn how to immerse yourself in Japanese right where you are. My free email course, The 7-Step Roadmap to Japanese Fluency , gives you step-by-step tips for creating an immersion environment almost as good as being in Tokyo even if you're in Topeka. You'll learn how to avoid the most common mistakes, build confidence, and start practicing from the comfort of home.

The problem with translation: Most language learners and many app makers assume that we learn a language by systematically translating each word and phrase, one by one, until we have matching sets of equivalent terms in our native and target language. While occasional translations can be helpful to create context and increase comprehension, true acquisition proceeds most quickly and efficiently when we develop instant, subconscious associations between sounds and deep meanings.

Translations add an additional, unneeded step that slows cognition and gums up the works. Many learners, perhaps fearful of the inevitable uncertainty and ambiguity that language learning entails, get addicted to translations early on in their journey and find it very difficult to break the habit later. Sadly, apps like Duolingo serve to normalize and reinforce this behavior.

The problem with matching, filling in the blank, etc. What do matching words, answering multiple choice questions, dragging words into the correct order, and filling in the blank have in common? They are all easy, comfortable, and mostly useless for actually reaching conversational fluency in a language. Such exercises are easy to design and grade , but they have almost no direct relationship with the actual skill that most people aim to master: speaking with real people. When you are face to face with another Homo Sapien, you do not use your finger to drag words around a screen.

You use your vocal cords to create sound waves. Therefore, the latter skill is what needs to be practiced. Duolingo now lets you learn through stories! The only downside is that neither of these are available for Japanese yet, but I hope that is something in the works… The Duolingo Podcast available for Spanish and French learners as of writing includes a series of real-life stories presented half in English to create context and increase comprehension , and half in the target language to provide interesting listening practice.

The production quality and narrative depth is extremely impressive on par with popular shows like This American Life , there are new episodes released almost every week, and you can read complete transcripts online. In my case, this is duome. According to the Universe of Memory, you need to know 4, words to be able to have conversations and 8, to be at a native-speaker level. Since there is a different amount of crowns for each course, this is a difficult question to answer.

However, when I started to feel fluent in Italian, I had earned half of the number of crowns available in that Duolingo tree. At this point, I also had earned my Golden Owl in that course. I used Duolingo to reinforce vocabulary and grammar structures, especially while watching TV or in between conversation classes.

If you want to know exactly how I use Duolingo, here is my post on the most efficient way to use Duolingo. I would say that if you finish a Duolingo tree, then you are definitely getting closer to fluency! I'm also considering taking the Delf B2 exam in grade So to answer your question, I think Duolingo is definitely a good stepping stone to use, as long as you transfer your skills to the rest of your life and try to speak and listen to your chosen language as much as possible.

However, you cannot become fluent unless you have a good teacher and you practice your pronunciation lots as well. You could always try Duolingo Events, if there are any in your area. I've never been, but it sounds like a way to improve your speaking. It will give you a solid foundation to navigate the countries that speak the language, but won't make you fluent enough to work in the country, etc. I suggest listening to the news or podcasts in the language while your at work etc.

Speaking is the best way to learn, and hearing it all the time will help your brain cope with the speed of a new language. Duolingo will help you meet those goals wanting to learn, wanting to communicate with others. For example, you will have a hard time learning to write Japanese in all of its alphabets based on Duolingo alone. I enjoy duolingo. I do the German course and I am very happy with my progress. I will let you know when I speak fluent German.

In addition to the course I read German books as well. I am trilingual Afrikaans and English, Spanish Lots of Afrikaans and English words in German that makes it easier for me then other language groups, I tkink.

I also did the Spanish course and I am now fluent in Spanish. The secret is to use duolingo as a basic programme and read, read a lot! I look at Duolingo as a very useful "tool" for using a language. As you definitely can not become fluent from Duolingo alone, it helps you practice the language of your choice, and even boost confidence.

Many of Duolingo's language courses are comparatively short in a sense, and do not cover a lot of important aspects of a language. It is very important to learn the grammar of a language before you dive deep into the vocabulary. Look at it as a complicated math problem, you must know the formula before you can do the problem Am I fluent?

Fluency in a Language, What does that mean exactly? Yes, I agree. This question is very flawed in that it seems to pit Duo against more "traditional" ways of learning a language, like the classroom. But I don't think traditional language education, at least in the US, ever made people fluent. Now that there is a lot of bilingual public school programs that may change.

But you need to be able to go through your day in the target language to become fluent. Immersion is the only way to learn a language fluently. Younger people can become completely fluent from immersion without any formal education. The older you get, the more you may need some supplemental grammar education. But I think Duo is probably the best basis for a DIY language learning program, especially if the user is regularly seeking other resources for speaking and listening.

I Suggest travelling to a country that speaks the language your learning and trying to speak it to native speakers. Make sure to take their advice when learning new languages. When it comes to language, "fluency" is only achieved through constant use and exposure. No learning method, by itself, can make you fluent. What does it mean to be fluent? Can you get your point across? Can you get what you want done? Everyone has a different opinion of fluency. Don't stress learning a language so much, if you really want to learn it, you will!

Take the time to use other applications other than Duolingo too. Find places where you can apply these languages in daily life, and that's when you'll really get that great rewarding feeling.

Take time and respect the process : You Got This. Duolingo teaches about words in total when all is said and done. There are , words in the Spanish language. So no, you wont be fluent. But you'll know the basics. Its up to you to go further. Duolingo is teaching you addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. You're gonna have to learn the more advanced stuff on your own. I don't disagree with the conclusion, but your facts are off. My official word count of Spanish words on Duo shows words.

And Spanish is actually rather well-known as a language with a small number of words. But being fluent in a language doesn't mean knowing all the words. It means getting to the point where you can learn what you still need to learn without needing to learn in from English. But I have always maintained that this question sets up the false assumption that anyone has become fluent in a language from any course or program. The only thing that leads to true fluency is some degree of immersion.

I've never thought of Duo as a stand alone program, but a language teacher doesn't think of either himself or his textbook as a total solution either. If someone wants to use Duolingo as a central part of a self assembled language course using the many free resources as aids, they would probably be more successful than the person who is sitting in a Spanish classroom simply doing the assignments. I aced four semesters of Spanish in college.

But my next step to continue taking Spanish classes would be taking literature classes in Spanish with native Spanish speakers. I was woefully ill prepared for that. The secret isn't Duo or not Duo, it's taking charge of your own education, finding out what you need to work on, and exposing yourself to as much of your target language as possible. Duo is a valuable part of that for me, perhaps one of the most important parts. But it's the determination to find the best solution for yourself that's the key, and considering any one component the solution the error.

Personally I feel that Duolingo is a great start. However, in order to really become fluent you should speak it more often in your daily life, practice, probably even communicate with native speakers and people who are also learning the language like you. I have trouble understanding the words when spoken rapidly in Spanish.

But my hearing is poor - I would have trouble understanding those words spoken quickly in English. There is an option - it's a "turtle speak" - when every word is spoken slowly and clearly. I find it a great help to first listen to the words spoken quickly - try and understand a few - then hear the words in "turtle speak. I recommend this option to anyone, like me, who has trouble hearing. As to the question - can duolingo make you fluent in Spanish?

Seems like a poor question to me. It's a start. It's not as though you think the tooth fairy is going to replace your old tooth with a bag of gold. It's a beginning. Absolutely, but they are obviously somewhat specific to your circumstances. What is your access to communities that speak your target language or movies and shows in that language.

The goal is to get at least small periods of time where you surround yourself with the language. If you have a smart phone, change the interface to work in your target language. In terms of additional resources for grammar and the like, Google is your best friend. Very simple grammar questions can yield lots of results and expose all the free sites that deal with your target language.

And if there is an authentic restaurant in your area with staff or guests who speak your target language, at least explore whether there may be an opportunity for conversation there. Speak whenever you possibly can, and don't worry that you're messing up.

You probably are, but if you keep at it, you won't anymore. Begin to consult a single language dictionary before you consult one that translates to English.

The tipping point comes when you can follow a conversation at normal speed and can be taught a new word from within your target language. Once you can do that, you're golden, although there will still be a while before you speak fluidly. But at that point, you're in more control of your own language education. I was once able to use dueling on my MacBook Air. Suddenly, it stopped and now nothing comes up when I go to log in. Any suggestions? I have been using it on my phone and PC but want to use the laptop when traveling.

I am assuming it was some Spell checker that changed Duolingo into dueling. I don't have any recent Mac experience at all, but if you can log on to the website on your PC you can find a link to the help files at the bottom of the page. They might give you some information there, but at the bottom of the help file there is a button to report an issue.

If you take a couple of screens hots on your Mac and send them to your PC, the email form for reporting issues is roomy and allows file uploads. Duo is probably the best source for your answer.

I started learning Spanish after visiting my friends in Barcelona 2 years ago. I've been on and off Duolingo since then, started of great and then kinda did the minimum just to keep the streak since the old OCD kicked in. That being said, any chance I get I'll try to converse in Spanish as much as I can. Its not perfect, but just getting there and trying to understand conversational Spanish in normal conversations is worth dozens of lessons.

So, I wouldn't say one can become a linguistic genius with Duolingo alone, but it does help people get started. Try finding friends that speak the language you're learning, TV, music and even narrating whatever you're doing in that language might help. At the end of the day, everybody has their own way of doing things. I have found it good and bad, since my 6 year old cheats on it, and moves to mouse to the words, and it displays the english words at the bottom.

May be they should remove that option. That function will often not get a positive response. I can't tell you how often I have had to explain to an adult that they were called hints for a reason. Those are not created for each exercise, so they often show a range of meanings and not all will be appropriate to the sentence. In fact a couple times in the Italian course the accepted answer wasn't even among them.

I can read Spanish and German fairly well now but my ear hasn't developed to hear it spoken quickly and put it together, nor can I respond in more than rudimentary phrases. I need that conversational practice. In terms of hearing, watching videos or Netflix is a good exercise. And listening to a lot of the spoken language will help you with speaking as well, although you will still need to practice.

If you live in a city you may well find Meet Up groups for those languages as well. But converting your reading to understanding will be harder for Spanish. It is spoken considerably faster than German, and uses a lot of elision as a bi-product.

I had to stop practicing Spanish for a while. I would like to start Spanish again, at the beginning of the program, but I can't seem to do that. How can I do that?