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Duolingo is losing one of its hardcore fans

We are not Duolingo, we cannot solve any problems directly, but we can provide community-based advice.


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SweNedGuy
Belgium

Duolingo is losing one of its hardcore fans

Post by SweNedGuy »

Evan Edinger has quite a reputation in the YouTube community among Duolingo fans.
But even hardcore fans are now having their doubts: His latest video is titled: Duolingo’s AI Update is Quietly Ruining Everything

Why is everyone deleting Duolingo?

(well not really everyone, but the exodus of dissatisfied users is snowballing.)

Speaking :netherlands: :fr: :uk: :es: Learning :de:(B1+) :it:(B1) Image :sweden: :portugal: (A)

L13P15
Japan

Re: Duolingo is losing one of its hardcore fans

Post by L13P15 »

I just can say 3 words:

He is right

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MoniqueMaRie
Germany

Re: Duolingo is losing one of its hardcore fans

Post by MoniqueMaRie »

The German in the extended DE-IT is outright wrong (I gave up loosing too many hearts because of my "wrong" German answers) while the German in the new DE-中文 is just a bit strange (I'm getting used to translating Chinese word by word to German).
I wonder how two results can be so different. AI should check it's sources.

Native :de: / using :uk: :fr: / learning :cn: :it: / once learnt Image / trying to understand at least a bit :poland:

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PtolemysXX
Europe

Re: Duolingo is losing one of its hardcore fans

Post by PtolemysXX »

SweNedGuy wrote: Sat Jun 14, 2025 9:48 am

Why is everyone deleting Duolingo?

I can tell why I deleted Duolingo. The last language I was learning on Duolingo was Spanish. With the path conversion and all the rubbish hurdles on the path I figured I would need 6 years to complete the course. What? six years to reach [passive] B2 on a language that is not considered that difficult (depending on where you come from of course)? I ended up jumping over every single unit and managed to complete it in under two years. I am happy with the result but once I reached the "wheel of eternity" that was it for me. The app is gone. There are better tools out there to continue learning.

Evan Edinger is a great example showing how succesful the business model of Duolingo is: despite all the complaints Evan still brags about his 3000+ day streak and can't quit. The video is very humorous - I must admit - but a better use of one's time is to read the comments underneath it instead of watching the video - the comments present a wider selection of opinions from current and former learners.

There is nothing wrong in taking advantage of AI to create courses. Thanks to AI Duolingo has managed to launch so many courses lately in the shortest time. If only they had cared for quality. An old product development wisdom says that out of the set: [quality, cost, speed] you can have only two. Duolingo went for speed and cost...

sleepy
Italy

Re: Duolingo is losing one of its hardcore fans

Post by sleepy »

MoniqueMaRie wrote: Sat Jun 14, 2025 7:45 pm

The German in the extended DE-IT is outright wrong (I gave up loosing too many hearts because of my "wrong" German answers)

Totally correct!
I am getting wrong answers when I am totally sure I am right (my DuoLingo German level is waaay below my real German proficiency, though it is not a wasted effort. You always learn something new).
I am reporting it, though I know it is not very useful.

I am not quitting though.
Still relatively satisfied with it.

Last edited by sleepy on Sun Jun 15, 2025 11:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
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HeyMarlana
Canada

Re: Duolingo is losing one of its hardcore fans

Post by HeyMarlana »

I had taken my target language of Ukrainian, but the course was too short, and after completing it in about three months, it was just the daily grind to go over the same short content. For some reason, the course removed some content that included holiday information and greetings (not sure why), and it was outright missing key lessons on how to tell time or how to say the date, among other things. I came to find out later that for an English-speaker, saying the date is a bit tricky to do because the lessons on how to say cardinal numbers was glossed over.

It was then that I realized that Duolingo is a good introductory way to learn a lesson, but is definitely not meant to be the only way. From there, other language learning techniques such as taking classes with real people in real time, using alternate sources to learn, and incorporating daily tips and tricks to keep the language fresh in your mind are still needed.

Remember...do something nice for yourself today.

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SweNedGuy
Belgium

Re: Duolingo is losing one of its hardcore fans

Post by SweNedGuy »

I have just finished drafting a blog article titled after this thread.

Duolingo is losing one of its hardcore fans

I started writing on Saturday, including some bio on Evan Edinger (and his Duolingo activity). And since he criticizes 'AI-first', I also added a video where he goes into detail on how to detect AI produced 'content'. The final video (added Sunday evening) is by somebody who could lay hands on the (flawed) statistical study involving the decision making by Duolingo.

Speaking :netherlands: :fr: :uk: :es: Learning :de:(B1+) :it:(B1) Image :sweden: :portugal: (A)

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