Resource for studying foreign languages "Duolingo": reviews, features and efficiency

About the importance of language knowledge is said millions of times, and even more sites and applications are created to study them. Today we will talk about one more - the program "Duolingo. Learn the languages. "

What is it?

What is interesting about the program "Duolingo"? Reviews about it are most enthusiastic, as it allows you to learn the language anywhere and at any time for free.The creators are working on translations of documents for various companies.

Today, "Duolingo" is not only a resource for individual language learning, but also:

• The opportunity to use the site's capabilities in the classroom ("Duolingo" for schools);
• To check the level of knowledge and official confirmation with the receipt of a certificate at the level of IELTS and TOEFL, recognized by many foreign companies (Duolingo English Test);
• To test the knowledge of the English applicant for the position (Duolingo Englih Test for Business);
• Tinycards - flash cards that help memorize everything, from dishes of Italian cuisine to complex Japanese characters. The creators took care that users could create their own deck of cards, search for them and subscribe to those created by other users.

Incubator

To people who are keen on languages or just knowing another language, the resource invites them to participate in the creation of new courses. This step allows you to quickly develop and release a course. Another goal is the preservation of dead languages and languages on the verge of extinction.

How does it work?

So, if you want to learn English through Duolingo, the reviews are inspired, and you have at least 10 minutes a day, then it will be interesting to find out how the program works.

You can learn the language in 2 ways - through the course and translation of articles from the Internet.

All the material in the course is broken down into topics, and they are for lessons. Each lesson includes assignments for writing, reading, speaking and listening. Classes are built on the principle of "from simple to complex," and it is impossible to move to a new lesson without mastering the previous one successfully. This form of training resembles a quest that stimulates the user to learn new things in a game form. Like in the game, the user has 3 lives that burn if he does not respond correctly. In this case, he returns to the beginning of the lesson and repeats the material again. For the win you can get the game currency - Lingotes, which can be exchanged for clothes for owls, new expressions and other prizes.

Gradually, when moving from level to level, something can be forgotten. To avoid this problem, you should periodically repeat the material you have covered. To do this, you need to look at the scale below each level - if it is full, then the knowledge is not forgotten. If it is empty, you should pay attention to it. The creators of the resource say that the user who has passed all levels will know 2000 words. According to the European Competence of Languages, there are so many words to know at A1 level, that is basic. Thus, it is possible to answer an important question for users (relying also on "Duolingo" reviews): "Can I learn the language?" Yes, you can, but at a basic level. This is a good result for those who many times started and quit learning English, German or other languages because of what was uninteresting, it was difficult or not enough time.

Thus, "Duolingo" does not help you read the adapted literature and understand the speech of native speakers by ear. For these purposes, specialized services are more suitable.

What languages can be learned?

The list of languages available for learning depends on the native language. For those who know Russian, 5 languages are available: English, German, Spanish, Italian and Swedish.

For those who know English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch, Swedish, Irish, Turkish, Danish, Norwegian, Polish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, Hungarian, Greek, Romanian, Czech, Korean, Klingon, Indonesian, as well as Hindi, Swahili, Esperanto and Hebrew. This is the largest available list of languages.

How to register?

To make friends with "Duolingo", you need to register on the site. You can do this in three ways: through accounts in Facebook and Google or by registering on the site on an email account. Login requires only the user name and password. But there is an opportunity to add more personal information - full name, location, biography, profile photo and links to profiles in Facebook and Twitter. To do this, click on your name and select the "Settings" tab in the window that opens. After login, a list of languages will be available, in which you can select the one that the user wants to learn. You can also choose the duration of one lesson - from 5 to 20 minutes a day.

There is an automatic registration in applications for users of Android, iOS and Windows operating systems. At the moment there are the following applications that can be downloaded from the application directories of the specified operating systems:

• Duolingo;
• Duolingo English Test;
• Tinycards.

What to do after registration? Step-by-step instruction

1. If the user has basic knowledge, he can take a test of language skills, and "Duolingo" after the test will give the opportunity to begin learning from lessons with unfamiliar topics.
2. If there is no basic knowledge, you need to start with the first lesson, that is, from acquaintance with the most elementary vocabulary and grammar.
3. In the beginning, the user has four hearts, allowing you to make four mistakes. But with the increase in progress, the number of hearts will decrease to three. The goal of the game is to go through the whole level, saving the number of hearts.
4. If the user is not familiar with the translation of the word, he can point the cursor at him, and "Duolingo" will issue a translation or use cases.

The computer version assumes the possibility of using hot keys:

• Enter the response - Enter;
• Choice of answers to questions with multiple answers - 1, 2, 3;
• Repeated audio playback - CTRL and space;
• Repeatedly slow playback of the audio recording - CTRL, space and SHIFT.

Advantages and disadvantages of the course

What is good about "Duolingo"? Feedback from users of the resource allows us to identify the following advantages:

• The game form of learning allows you to learn the language easily and at ease;
• Thanks to the presence of a scale, under each lesson you can see topics that need to be repeated in order not to forget the material that has been passed;
• Lingotes can be exchanged for additional lessons that are not in the standard language course "Duolingo";
• There is an opportunity to discuss the tasks on the forum with other users, as well as with the creators of the course;
• The resource is adjusted to the user and gives out those tasks and words that are given to him most difficultly, or those that need to be repeated.

No matter how useful and good the application is, it certainly has drawbacks. They also have "Duolingo". Feedback from users on the network made it possible to identify the following:

• There are no explanations on grammar;

• Resource is not suitable for those who want to learn the language at a level higher than the basic one;

• Absence of alternative translations in tasks;

• The program works only when connected to the Internet;

• Not suitable for learning the language as an independent tool;

• Lack of video lessons.

Pros and cons of the test

The test, like the course, has its positive and negative sides. What they have a test of "Duolingo"? Reviews from the "Play Store" give a clear picture of them. So, the pros:

• You can quickly learn about your level of English;
• The results of the "Duolingo" test are on par with the TOEFL and IELTS exams;
• Issues an official certificate that can be used as a supplement to the resume;
• Many world companies and governments take the "Duolingo" certificate (the Uber taxi company, the government of Columbia, Harvard University) ;
• There is an opportunity to share on Linkedin your results.

And now about the disadvantages. What do they say about Duolingo? So:

• The results of the test test are not saved;
• There are no clues to the questions at the end of the test, so the user can not see their mistakes, let alone parse them;
• Paid, in contrast to the courses.

If you are interested in the "Duolingo" test, feedback about the application in the negative key is not embarrassed, then it's worth downloading the program to just check your level of English.

What else can you find on the site?

Office "Duolingo" is in Pittsburgh. On the site of the resource in the section "Vacancies" you can find out which specialists are required by the company. It can be programmers, designers, copywriters.

On the site in the "Souvenirs" you can buy T-shirts and sweatshirts with an owl - the symbol "Duolingo".

Conclusion

If you have long been striving to learn the language, but can not learn or teach it, but you can not understand, it's definitely worth downloading the "Duolingo" program. Reviews of other experienced users will complement, perhaps, yours.