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Original poster

Duolingo changes

19 replies

SayingwhatIreallythink · 31/10/2023 08:07

Anyone else pissed off at the changes to Duolingo?
I’ve subscribed since Covid, do it almost daily, but recently they’ve taken away the option to get explanations unless you super-subscribe. I feel I’ve been robbed of part of the app.

OP posts:
BrandNewBicep · 31/10/2023 08:32

I've stopped using it now because of the changes. I'm doing my own thing now and using YT videos and feel I'm 'getting it' way better now.

allsfairin · 31/10/2023 08:39

can you not get the explanations elsewhere on line?

I love duo lingo, but it is never going to work in isolation, is it. The free offer is amazing, but of course they have to make money, and they won't if everything is free

BlackCatsAreBrilliant · 31/10/2023 09:01

Ah, so that's why I can't see the chat/explanations any more. They were useful, but I'm not going to subscribe to get them back.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General education
EmpressaurusOfCats · 31/10/2023 09:05

I did Duolingo for a long while, but then I switched to online classes - and then to going in person. And having a teacher, and getting to actually speak & listen in conversations, makes a bloody massive difference.

TroubledTide · 31/10/2023 09:06

I went duolingo mad for a couple of years. I've stopped now.

I found it great for languages you already had some knowledge of, and were getting back up to speed BUT it's actually fairly poor at teaching completely new languages.

You can really get immersed in and motivated by the gamification... the Xp... the leagues etc etc but there is very little explanation of basic grammar principles, rules and social context.

You can't practice whenever you want (if you don't have enough hearts) -- and repetition and practice are the absolute fundamentals of language learning.

I'm using other free stuff now- eg Hello Chinese. Much more interesting. Less gamification but still a little. SO much better for actually teaching and learning

Original poster
SayingwhatIreallythink · 31/10/2023 10:36

I subscribed so the lack of hearts wasn’t an issue, and I could go on it as much as I liked. The competition side of it definitely does get me more incentivised to do more.
I just really liked the chat bit as well☹️.

I appreciate its May not be as good as real life classes, but I wouldn’t do real
life classes when I’m lying in my bed or watching MAFS so Duolingo works for me.

OP posts:
BlackCatsAreBrilliant · 31/10/2023 12:19

The competition side is annoyingly addictive. I have a streak I don't want to lose and a longstanding place in the diamond league. So I'm stuck doing it forever.

TheNoodlesIncident · 31/10/2023 12:40

I find it so annoying now. I used to like the topics with their badges that cracked after so long really useful, I did lots of revision and liked the prompts to recover a topic I hadn't done for a while. I really hate it as it is now, the stupid pathway with its unnamed exercises make it difficult to find the topics I want to revise; they're scattered around and a lot shorter - and the questions in them are usually much the same in each exercise so what's the point?

I'm starting to forget areas of vocabulary I was quite comfortable with and felt I knew, but not revising it for so long shows me I don't know it as well as I did. It's so disappointing as I was going great guns and felt I was achieving so much - I'm not a natural at languages and the one I'm doing isn't easy - but it feels like it's all dribbling away.

I really need another language app that was in a similar style to the original Duolingo, but I don't know what to try and I get overwhelmed easily, hence my still stuck with Duolingo!

FWIW I am in an online class with a tutor but the Duo helps because you're doing some every day, rather than once a week.

EmpressaurusOfCats · 31/10/2023 13:39

I really hate it as it is now, the stupid pathway with its unnamed exercises make it difficult to find the topics I want to revise; they're scattered around and a lot shorter - and the questions in them are usually much the same in each exercise so what's the point?

Yes. I know what you mean & I'd find Duo really helpful still if I could specifically revise conjugations or the future tense or something, but that seems to be long gone!

What I use for that kind of thing instead now is the Coffee Break Italian podcast. You can search for episodes on specific topics & that can be really useful.

Saverage · 01/11/2023 07:18

I wondered where the grammar tips and discussion option had gone. It's definitely made the app worse, I learned a lot from the tips and discussion.

I've paid to subscribe for a few years, but I think will cancel this year and try something else.

Fairyliz · 01/11/2023 07:24

You can practice if you haven’t got any hearts!
Just press on the heart symbol top right and it gives you the option to practice to earn more hearts.
This is the free option btw which I think is great; certainly good enough to learn basic words and phrases for holiday.

Knotaknitter · 01/11/2023 07:59

Once the link to the forum posts had gone I didn't feel that I was getting the most from my time. I needed a grammar page open at the same time rather than clicking the flag to take me straight to what I wanted. It's why I left, if I have to pay then I decided that I'd be better spending my money on something that taught me in the way I liked to learn. That is not Duo-style, getting it wrong until you work out what the new grammar point is.

I now spend my time on a language site that has a structured lesson plan and teaches the vocab alongside the lessons. At some point I'll be looking for in person or online teaching for speaking practice but at the moment I'm still trying to hammer some vocabulary into my head. (Someone will ask, it's Renshuu but only if you are learning Japanese)

LameyJoliver · 01/11/2023 08:02

I was doing Portuguese for about a year and thpightbi was doing well ...until i started talking in actual Portugal where I was told that it is actually Brazilian Portuguese and not actually very good.
I can't find anywhere that does 'actual' Portuguese! Any ideas?

RafaistheKingofClay · 01/11/2023 08:09

I sort of liked the new pathway but now they’ve changed immune again and it seems less useful.

Getting rid of the chat forum was a huge mistake. This might be of some use.
https://forum.duome.eu/

Duolingo Forum - Forums

https://forum.duome.eu/

JadeSeahorse · 01/11/2023 08:25

Hi Knotaknitter I'm doing Japanese too on Duolingo and have been daily for 2.5 years.

However, I find it fine for nouns and some adjectives but pretty crap for verbs which I can never remember and can I hell as like get my head around most kanji. I look at pictures of signs in Japan and still can't read them.☹️

I've just recently paid for another year but think next year I will look for
something better suited to what I need.
I'm presently doing a really difficult section that is the sort of stuff you would never need as a visitor in Japan too.

Good luck with yours!

Knotaknitter · 01/11/2023 16:31

@JadeSeahorse I also have a kanji study app (called Kanji Study) which I use every day. I would say that nothing is sticking in my head but that's wrong, I came across the back of an envelope where I'd written the new ones that I would never learn. That was at the beginning of July and I've seen them often enough now that they are familiar. I don't need to know stroke order, I'll never need to write them, but I would like to be able to read at a basic level.

HappiDaze · 01/11/2023 16:35

I've never subscribed to it and don't have any issue

JadeSeahorse · 01/11/2023 16:37

@knotaknitter. That is exactly the same as me.

im not really interested in being able to write kanji I would just like to read it. I’m fine with about 50 kanji which are very familiar words but when you get to those less familiar they all tend to look the same.🙄

Mega thanks for the tip about the Kanji study app. Will definitely have a look at that.👍

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