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Duolingo is NEITHER a learning NOR teaching app ...

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For technical support, please, contact your respective service provider.
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The language learning product subforums are listed in alphabetical order.

User avatar
Basler Biker
Switzerland

Duolingo is NEITHER a learning NOR teaching app ...

Post by Basler Biker »

... that's the question, can be discussed...

As for learning - if there is a saying that "one learns from one's mistakes" ...maybe true, but only if "one" is corrected.
There maybe TIPs to be read, but students don't relate tips to errors made... and DL won't link you from the errors to the tips... so the explanation is none. There used to be the "Discuss" button, but their built-in forum and the mods answering there, are gone.

We = Duome.eu is/are the only one implementing the DUOME button which when (installed and) pressed will lead you to the forum here, where the DL-sentence can be discussed - enough people are on board here to explain construction, declension, conjugation and other details.

As for teaching - that would be about helping students to formulate and express their own thoughts. That's the idea of immersion, and that(s the idea behind our recent forum restructuration. As an observer I see indeed more interaction between students learning tha same target language, yet having different mothertongue.
So that goal is imho achieved... and interaction is increasing.

If one member wrote "years of DL spent, with little result, and learned more in half an hour on AI-generated sentences, translations, and explanations" ... that should ring a bell...

Another discussion could be that AI is the end of forums - but that has been a false rediction about other technologies too... maybe by chatting and texting and SMS'ing people do "talk" less, but people still have a deep need to "talk with whatever means, and share ideas" ... and AI won't take away that need.

So no fear, AI is there to help us, we'll all sooner or later "see" the use of it, and understand where the good part is, and which parts are of no help. It will become a tool, correctly or badly understood and used, just like we all adopted ABS-assisted breaks and Stearing Assists in cars or even our bikes.

Here is how I see the products that I use, and their learning/teaching aspects

For vocab there is so much more available. DL probably being the worst (no real Spaced Repetition, no way to eliminate the words already known, endless repeating the same) - and worst of all "no context" for translations !!! (how bad can it be)

For listening/speaking there are far better apps. Langua/LanguaTalk, Google, Gemini, Android, Samsung... anything with a good microphone input and transcription (you get to read what it seemed to understand from you, so you get feedback on how to pronounce better till "it understands you" ...)

For the quickest way to any level, up to fluency and beyond, nothing better than a live ITALKI tutor.

For reading assistance on any subject of your choice and personal interest, there is READLANG - unbeatable, also for auto-creation of flashcards, and with a decent follow-up of words known or those which need more practicing. It explains words and phrases in their context... (and ANKI is more like a personal database, not bad, but too technical for some)

BB - Basler Biker - Positivity and constructiveness will prevail.
Either you win or you learn, but you never lose. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

Native :belgium: :netherlands: / fluent :fr: :de: :uk: / getting better every day :sweden: / fan of :switzerland: (bs/bl)

User avatar
John Little
Brazil

Re: Duolingo is NEITHER a learning NOR teaching app ...

Post by John Little »

Basler Biker wrote: Mon Jun 16, 2025 10:12 am

... that's the question, can be discussed...

As for learning - if there is a saying that "one learns from one's mistakes" ...maybe true, but only if "one" is corrected.

If you pay for one of their schemes, explanation of errors seems to be a benefit they advertise.

But I don't fully agree with either premise. For all the changes and limitations, It still seems one of the best apps

John661162

User avatar
Basler Biker
Switzerland

Re: Duolingo is NEITHER a learning NOR teaching app ...

Post by Basler Biker »

John Little wrote: Mon Jun 16, 2025 10:35 am
Basler Biker wrote: Mon Jun 16, 2025 10:12 am

... that's the question, can be discussed...

As for learning - if there is a saying that "one learns from one's mistakes" ...maybe true, but only if "one" is corrected.

If you pay for one of their schemes, explanation of errors seems to be a benefit they advertise.

But I don't fully agree with either premise. For all the changes and limitations, It still seems one of the best apps

maybe you are willing to expand a bit on how it "helps" understanding things? ;-)

BB - Basler Biker - Positivity and constructiveness will prevail.
Either you win or you learn, but you never lose. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

Native :belgium: :netherlands: / fluent :fr: :de: :uk: / getting better every day :sweden: / fan of :switzerland: (bs/bl)

User avatar
John Little
Brazil

Re: Duolingo is NEITHER a learning NOR teaching app ...

Post by John Little »

Basler Biker wrote: Mon Jun 16, 2025 12:14 pm
John Little wrote: Mon Jun 16, 2025 10:35 am
Basler Biker wrote: Mon Jun 16, 2025 10:12 am

... that's the question, can be discussed...

As for learning - if there is a saying that "one learns from one's mistakes" ...maybe true, but only if "one" is corrected.

If you pay for one of their schemes, explanation of errors seems to be a benefit they advertise.

But I don't fully agree with either premise. For all the changes and limitations, It still seems one of the best apps

maybe you are willing to expand a bit on how it "helps" understanding things? ;-)

Well, I don't pay so I don't get corrected but I imagine it would help if I did.

John661162

User avatar
PtolemysXX
Europe

Re: Duolingo is NEITHER a learning NOR teaching app ...

Post by PtolemysXX »

John Little wrote: Mon Jun 16, 2025 3:46 pm

Well, I don't pay so I don't get corrected but I imagine it would help if I did.

Here is the thing: Duolingo dangles the carrot of AI-generated corrections if only one buys a subscription. Yet we won't really know how well it works until someone who actually uses that feature tells us. Doubts are justified: the feature "videocalls with Lily" that was advertised last year as non-plus-ultra and requires a MAX-subscription has gathered mixed opinions. Anyway, with the MAX subscription Duolingo becomes a premium service. In the meantime competition offers better tools for less money.

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