Duolingo is free, convenient, and fun. It is also the most downloaded language learning app in the world.
But is it enough?
This question is actually asked a lot in the homeschool groups I am in. I am going to answer that with my favorite German word: jein. If you are not yet familiar with this delightful little portmanteau, it combines two opposites, ja and nein to create one beautiful word which is wholly missing from English.
Is Duolingo enough? Jein.
Yes and no. Like so many things, it really depends on what your goals are. Are you planning a trip to Germany and want to be able to tell the waiter about your unemployed, one-eyed dog? Then yes, Duolingo is a perfect choice. Are you a homeschool family looking for a high school foreign language credit? Then no, Duolingo is not enough.
What Duolingo does, it does very well. What it doesn’t do, however, is what should be at the heart of language learning. It doesn’t foster communication in the target language, nor does it build cultural competency.
What is Duolingo good at?
- It is free. Sort of. If you are really trying to learn much from the app, however, the heart system gets very frustrating very fast. You really need the paid version to do more than just play with the app.
- It is gamified. This makes the tasks relatively enjoyable and increases time spent in the app. In theory, that translates to increased practice. The research on this, however, is — well, let’s save that for the next section.
- It is good for teaching vocabulary. New words are taught in context (albeit often strange contexts) and through spaced repetition, an evidence-based practice which has been proven to increase the rate of learning.
- It is silly. There are whole articles dedicated to Duolingo’s often comical constructions, and even book recommendations based off them. But the silliness helps the sentences stick.
- It is excellent review. If you know some German, Duolingo will help you use it a little every day. It may even help you regain language you lost over years of not practicing.
- People like it. In fact, most of the research I have seen touting the effectiveness of Duolingo really focused on how users perceived Duolingo. They liked it. They enjoyed their time on it. They thought it helped. But did it really?
Where does Duolingo fall short?
- Duolingo’s methodology is built on translation and rote memorization. Translation and memorization are not bad on their own. However, half the time spent on the app is spent processing your native language. Translation has its place, but overuse can actually hinder proficiency.
- It does not promote cultural literacy. We learn languages to understand people, not just the words that they say. Cultural understanding is actually an important part of language learning.
- It is silly. Yes, I realized I put this as a strength. You do learn how to say a variety of things in the target language, and the silly sentences are the ones that stick. But I will likely never have the occasion to tell someone that the horse drank all my beer. And I had to figure out how to ask basic things like where the restroom is from other sources.
- It lacks grammar explanations. This point actually frustrates a lot of users and is one of the reasons users tend to lose interest in the app as they progress. The complete lack of explanation makes it difficult to apply the grammar to new sentences.
- It does not build proficiency. A lot of students come to me with experience on Duolingo. They are generally at the top of the class, but I have never had a student who was ready to enter a higher level of German based on their Duolingo experience alone. Students who are using Duolingo outside the classroom are getting additional practice, but they also tend to be highly motivated. Interestingly, researchers found no difference between students who learned Italian on Duolingo and those who covered the same material on an online slideshow.
- It is not communicative. The real goal of language learning is communication. Communication is a complex process that extends beyond vocabulary and grammar. When communicating in the target language, students must process a lot of information as well as think about ways to express what they want to say using the language they know. Memorized target sentences cannot replace communication activities.
Final Thoughts
I enjoy Duolingo. I have worked through the entire Swedish tree, but I only started to be able to actually use the language after taking a class.
In short, Duolingo is an effective tool for language learning, but it does not replace human interaction or instruction from a teacher who is passionate about the language and knowledgeable about the culture. Find opportunities to immerse yourself in German. Read children’s books and watch cartoons. Find people to speak with. And if proficiency is your goal, find a teacher to help guide you.
