Follow-up to my post about learning French: Is Duolingo "legit"?

[EKT]

I am so encouraged by everyone who responded to my earlier post (it looks like most of you think my daughter should go ahead and learn French!). :-)

 

I briefly looked over the Duolingo site today, but I otherwise know nothing about it. I can't believe it's free...does this mean it is terrible and too good to be true? On the face of it, Duolingo seems like the perfect thing for my daughter to do at her own pace, since it will require almost nothing from me (other than supervision) AND it's free. But I'm just wondering if the instruction is lousy or inaccurate, etc. (Again, I'm mainly suspicious because it's free; it seems too easy/too good to be true.)

 

So, I'd love to hear any feedback from those of you who have used Duolingo as an actual part of your studies. Do you love it? Hate it? (I am also open to any other French curriculum recs you might have, though.) My daughter will be going into 4th grade. Thank you!!

[HomeAgain]

I have a background in linguistic studies.  After trying several programs and being extremely disappointed by Rosetta Stone (tri-fold: buggy, very limited license, and terrible customer service), I heartily embrace Duolingo.  It does have some issues (German had some poor translations), but it is by far one of the best programs you can use without an actual classroom.  Everyone in my family has an account and we compete against each other. :)  I recommend it to everyone.  It may not have as much written practice as you might like, or be as explicit in grammar, so after first year or so you may want to add a textbook to the mix.

[mumto2]

Dd loves it. She has used it as a springboard to become quite fluent n French. She is also doing a few other languages.

[Ethel Mertz]

It's been fine for Spanish. Also, check the electronic resources of your local library; ours has Mango languages that we can access for free (though we haven't done so). Classical Academic Press also has a French for Children text. They only have one level though, so you'd have to find something after that level was done.

[SilverMoon]

We've had a fabulous experience using Duolingo's Spanish course this year. DH and I use/used it too. It doesn't teach a lick of explicit grammar, so we use Spanish for Children at an easy pace along with daily Duolingo. I've had a few fluent and/or native speakers highly praise how well they're doing for first year Spanish students, and they all encouraged me to keep doing whatever it is that we're doing.

 

Two DDs will have finished all the modules in Duolingo and are just keeping old lessons lit up for review until fall. In fall they'll add in daily Memrise practice too. Memrise has both a free version and a paid version with more perks. I've been content with the free version thus far, after about 4 months or so of occasional use.

Edited June 16, 2016 by SilverMoon

[Jackie]

I made it all the way through the Spanish program, generally enjoyed it, and learned quite a bit. Having tried Rosetta Stone before and hating it with a passion after spending so much money, DuoLingo was a breath of fresh air. There really is no explicit grammar instruction, so once it got past present tense I needed to look up how the tenses were conjugated.

[RootAnn]

After about 4 months of a grammar-first program, I introduced it to dd#1. She uses it everyday & has finished her "tree." It isn't going to be the only thing you need to learn a language, but it is a great supplement, IMO.

 

I have both my French tree (took years ago in high school) and my Spanish tree (learned along with dd#1 until she hit Spanish 1, then I outsourced) finished & I try to keep them gold. I'm also doing a reverse French tree and a French-to-Spanish tree (really tough for me!) My kids & I learn best with explicit grammar instruction, but Duo is really good for providing translation practice (for free).

 

The Duo app has ads now, I believe. Otherwise, yes, it really is free.

[Hen]

my son is using DuoLingo to supplement the Spanish class he is taking at school (this was his first year not homeschooling) - it is working for him and is really free. He likes to use it and is motivated by it, which says a lot for the program.

 

My oldest is in college now and had a desire to learn Russian in high school. It was spotty, since she had to teach herself and then brush up when we had Russian guests once or twice a year. This year she started using Mango free through our library to brush up on it and to hopefully progress in it. She says it has been helpful.

[Julie Smith]

I took french in school. I did so badly in grade 9 french (Mandatory where I live) that the teacher asked that I not take anymore french. 

 

I finished my English to French tree, and then my French to English tree. I'm now watching Pokemon in French, with French subtitles and I would say I understand about 80% of what is said. :) The show is the perfect first French show. 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

We love DuoLingo FOR WHAT IT IS.  That is to say, it is a great computer-to-person teaching tool, but probably shouldn't stand alone completely.  

 

It can stand alone for quite a while though!  

 

We used it alone for a while, and now are continuing at a pace of 1 new and 2 review lessons per day for ds and 1 new and 1 review per day for dd.  In addition, they oldest has a German tutor once a week and a workbook he does with DH, who speaks German relatively well.

[SarahW]

Yes, it's legit. Especially for a "big" language like French. 

 

There's some grammar instruction, you have to look for it. I think it's only in the PC version, not the app. But it's just a written summary of what's going on. Not very clear or directly taught.

 

Pairing Duolingo with a grammar-instruction text, like CAP or MP's French, would be a good combo.

[luuknam]

I can't stand DuoLingo (the web version - I don't have the app). I don't recommend learning a language by translating a zillion sentences, unless maybe your goal is to be a translator. I don't translate languages in my head, so why on earth would I want to type out translations? (and losing a life because I typed 'the' instead of 'a' is not cool... of course I know the difference between 'the' and 'a', I just focus on getting the idea across when translating, not on getting every word right verbatim). Long story short, I couldn't even test out of my native language (born and raised speaking Dutch in The Netherlands for 19 years) with DuoLingo (one sloppy mistake, an alternate translation it should've counted as correct but didn't, and a sentence where it was impossible to tell if they said 'zou' or 'zal' - I'm not a fan of the computerized voice reading the sentences).

 

I do like Rosetta Stone (I did all 5 levels for Spanish, kids and wife are currently working through RS Dutch), but not as a stand-alone - you probably will want a grammar book to help explain some of the grammar stuff (or someone who can explain the grammar, like me for Dutch), and a dictionary (there are free dictionaries online). RS is not free, but you should be able to get all 5 levels for $180 or so if you wait for one of their many, many, sales. That said, I've heard people say that the app version of DuoLingo is more like RS and has fewer sentences to type out and translate. I might be willing to try DuoLingo for some unusual language (Guarani is 100% hatched...), but for something like French, no.

[mom2scouts]

I've been using Duolingo as an introduction to German for one of my students. He really enjoys doing it and spends lots of time on it. He is now able to have conversations with an older sibling who is fluent in German and has traveled and studied in Germany. I'll continue to use it as a supplement to high school foreign language while adding grammar and writing.

[MeghansMom]

My daughter has started French this summer before she starts seventh grade. She does Duolingo and has a tutor. I just ordered La Francais Facile in addition to the tutor and Duolingo. She wants to do four years of French and then two years of Spanish and Spanish in college too. Her tutor likes Duolingo.

[MeaganS]

There's a Ted talk by the creators of duolingo a few years back explaining how it is free and how it works. I think it is this one:

 

https://www.ted.com/talks/luis_von_ahn_massive_scale_online_collaboration?language=en

[LMCme]

My family and I are using Duolingo for Spanish and it is very good for what it is, i.e. I agree with everyone else about the lack of explicit grammar.  I just looking things up on google as they come up, but not sure a student learning their first language would know to do this or what types of things they need to know.  If you are learning it with her, you would be able to help her fill in the blanks.

 

p.s., my son (4) just told me last night he no longer wants to learn Spanish, he wants to learn French.  I thought you might be amused!

[TKDmom]

Yes, it's legit. I took a couple years of high school Spanish, and DuoLingo has helped me brush up on those skills, and then continue to learn more Spanish. I've also learned it to start learning French and Russian. Learning a new language is obviously way harder, but it's possible to gain some basic fluency with DuoLingo if I put the time in.

 

Here is a Ted Talk by the creator, which explains how it came to be and why it's free. This was the way I learned about DuoLingo and started using it:

 

https://www.ted.com/talks/luis_von_ahn_massive_scale_online_collaboration?language=en

Edited June 25, 2016 by TKDmom