Duolingo Review: Will it Make You Fluent?

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“One who speaks one language is one person, but one who speaks two languages is two people.”- Turkish Proverb

Learning and speaking a new language is crucial because it enhances your knowledge and broadens your mindset. In this global village world, you need to learn multiple languages to have successful businesses, educational journeys, and professional lives.

But, learning a language requires you to spend hours and a whole lot of energy. Investing money and time for second language acquisition is not possible for everyone. Luckily, Duolingo could save you from all of this effort. Let's discuss this app in detail in this blog.

What is Duolingo?

Duolingo is a language learning platform that has a bunch of language-related content and exercises. It provides free language learning anywhere you want. You just need to invest 10 to 15 minutes to master any aspect of the second language. 

It was released in a beta form on November 27, 2011. Its waiting lists were on, and by June 19, 2012, it had grown to 500,000 users. On June 19, it was released to the public. In recent years, the monthly active users of this app have grown to 500 million learners. As compared to its competitors, such as Zaplingo, this app has the largest language dataset.

It covers a wide variety of languages, such as English, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, Portuguese, and many more. It has different exercises related to various aspects of language such as grammar and pronunciation. All of its exercises and courses are based on different scientific theories and modules.

It has dropped a massive update in November 2022 that makes it more effective and fun for language learners.

How does Duolingo work?

The first thing you need to do is sign up. Go to the website of Duolingo or download the app on Android or iOS. Once you have downloaded the app, it will ask you to select the language you want to learn and what your learning level is. If you tell it you have the basic knowledge of the language, the app will give you a test. According to that test's results, it would generate your language course.

You can have your streak on the app when you continue learning the language. The course of language is in the linear path form where you have to complete one lesson and it would open the next step. 

The majority of the courses have a similar structure: 25-30 skills per unit with five difficulty levels per skill and 5-6 lessons per level. 

After the end of every level, there is the revision exercise which will test your knowledge about the skill learned in the level. Upon answering correct answers, you will get any sort of reward.

When you win crystals, you can buy something from the Duolingo store. For example, buying the streak freeze. At the end of each unit, there is a trophy waiting for you. You will win it if you do all the exercises correctly.

Pricing of Duolingo

Duolingo has three pricing plans. One is free in which you get all the basic features of Duolingo. You can sign up and learn for free but there will be limitations and annoying ads in it. After the 2022 update, Duolingo’s number of ads has increased, making learning a language a frustrating experience. The second is the Super package, which you can subscribe to on a yearly or monthly basis.

If you subscribe to it every month, it would be 12.99 dollars per month. If you go for a yearly plan, it will be only 5 dollars. But, if you want to add ChatGPT with Duolingo, you have to buy Duolingo Max. That price will be 30 dollars per month.

There is a Duolingo package for families too. Duolingo Family allows you to add five family members together so that all of you can learn a language and motivate each other on Duolingo. It is best for homeschooling parents or self-directed learners.

Duolingo English Test- Everything You Should Know!

Duolingo has an English test option similar to IELTS. It could test your English language skills and tell you where you are lagging. It is the computer adaptive test that is a bit different from all other tests that you have taken earlier. In it, your next question could be difficult or easy from your previous one based on your performance.

Pattern of English Test

This test is divided into two parts: a 45-minute adaptive exam and a 10-minute writing and speaking test. The adaptive exam assesses your English proficiency level through different questions. The next 10 minutes are open-ended prompts that are focused on writing or speaking tests.

Passing Scores of Duolingo English Test

There is no such passing score on the Duolingo English test. The minimum score is 10. But you need a 120 or above score to prove that you are proficient in English. A lot of educational institutes and companies accept above 120 results. If you don't get this score, you can't be admitted to your dream university, can't take your favorite course, or can't apply for a visa and job.

Requirements of Duolingo English Test

You can apply for the Duolingo English test no matter where you live in the world. You could go on their website, submit your fee, which is 65 dollars at this moment, and select your test’s date and time. You can give the test at home or in the center.

You should make sure that there is no noise and no person near you. Your computer’s front webcam and microphone are on, and you have reliable internet. You can't give tests on Chromebooks, mobiles, or iPads. Your face and lips should be exposed to the webcam. Moreover, you need a passport, driver's license, or government ID if going to the center for a test. 

Duolingo Test VS IELTs

The score of 120 on Duolingo’s English Test is equivalent to IELTS 6.5 bands. The highest score of Duolingo is equal to IELTS 7 bands. So, this test could replace your IELTS exam.

A lot of people prefer Duolingo because it is affordable and provides flexible times and dates. Moreover, you don't need to go anywhere to take this test.

Key Features of Duolingo

Mobile App

Duolingo is available in the mobile app form on Android and iOS. You could download it from the Google Play Store and Apple Store and sign up for free. Except for it, it is available in the web form too.

Duolingo Languages

There are more than 50 languages on Duolingo, such as Hindi, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish, etc. You could learn these languages through different courses. Moreover, you could learn a language through various translation courses such as English to Portuguese. 

Duolingo Courses

Duolingo Courses are full of various practices and lessons that cater to different language skills. It provides you with a grammar guidebook before each lesson and guides you on how to use that grammar in the lesson. It provides you with various practices such as filling in the blanks, answering questions, matching answers, and listening or speaking practices. It also has story lessons that enable you to learn language through real-world scenarios. These courses keep updating from time to time. 

Except for languages, you could learn math and music too. These courses are only available for iOS users.

Duolingo for Schools

Duolingo provides free services to teachers to manage their classrooms and teach languages to the students. You could add all of your learners in one classroom on Duolingo and keep an eye on their progress. This service provides you with a free management layer that helps you to know the strengths and weaknesses of your students.

The platform provides a curriculum based on CEFR and ACTFL learning standards. So, it ensures that kids get a high-quality education.

Gamification Aspects in Duolingo

There are fun motion graphics, an owl, a leaderboard, and scores that add fun gaming elements to learning. Each correct answer gives you some coins that you could use to buy any stuff for your animated owl. There is a leaderboard where your position will keep updating after passing every level. You could win the trophy after passing every specific level.

The Podcasts

There are video lessons in the courses, too. These are kinds of podcasts that could enable you to converse with different people and use language in real-world situations. These video lessons are in the premium packages only.

Personalized Learning

Personalized learning is also in the premium package. In each lesson, you have to do some exercises to practice your learning. After a few lessons, Duolingo gives you a personalized lesson session that will be based on the mistakes you have made in the previous lessons. It would allow you to do some extra exercises related to your mistakes so that you could keep them in your mind.

AI Features of Duolingo

Duolingo has partnered with OpenAI to give ChatGPT services to Duolingo Premium users. There are two major kinds of services you could get: Explain My Answer and Roleplay.

In the explain my answer feature, you could ask Duolingo to explain your wrong answer. Let's suppose you do an exercise and some of your answers are wrong. You could ask Duolingo to explain them to you. 

In the roleplay, the Duolingo chatbot will give you a scenario, and you have to do a conversation according to that scenario. For example, it could give you the scenario of ordering a coffee and you have to converse with the AI waiter in the chatbot to place your order.

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