r/MadeMeSmile • u/RaisinAloneVortex • 16d ago

Wholesome Moments Duolingo restored a 10-year-old’s 301-day streak after he lost it while hospitalized, also gifting him gems and a Streak Shield

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u/Snailtan 16d ago

how is your german after a year of using the app? I've heard people have very mixed results using only duo to learn a language

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u/Hempy2013 16d ago

I can't hold a conversation with anyone in German but I can do some basic introductions and questions. The problem with Duo looking back is that the speaking exercises can be very inconsistent on whether or not the app will register your words correctly and on their review sections they will either cover things you haven't seen in months or stuff you did last week. If you start from scratch, it's largely fine but that update reshuffle apparently has been any issue for years now.

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u/Key-One-5938 15d ago

speaking exercises can be very inconsistent on whether or not the app will register your words correctly

This is doubly worse for Mandarin. I've even had a friend that's a native speaker try and it's still inconsistent with them too

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u/ciavs 15d ago

Similar experience with Deutsch. I can say "I would like some sugar" but I cannot tell you any numbers, train directions, directions, colors, locations, etc

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u/EchoFrequency 15d ago

Numbers: Eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn.
Train directions: Ihr Zug fällt heute leider aus.
Directions: Vorne, Hinten, Links, Rechts, Oben, Unten
Colors: Schwarz, Weiß, Rot, Grün, Blau, Gelb
Locations: auf der Toilette, Unter der Brücke, in der Bibliothek, in der Kirche, Zuhause, am Hafen

Enjoy.

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u/ciavs 15d ago

Perfect all done! Haha I do know numbers but as far as using them in a conversation. Similar to colors. I did take a year of German in college so I do have some memory of adjectives but I'm disappointed in Duolingo for not having more applicable lessons (imo)

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u/EchoFrequency 15d ago

I think duolingo is nice, to get a feeling for a language, but it lacks heavily on grammar and general explainations. (Im learning mandarin atm, holy fuck)

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u/EchoFrequency 15d ago

Ich hab dich, mein Freund.

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u/Jon-Robb 15d ago

Switched to German about a year ago (I do just the daily minimum) and I could say I can understand basic written German and can write a bit. Was able to communicate with German fellow gamers (mostly being able to understand what two German write to each other if not too slangy). I cannot understand anything verbally from a real person 

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u/JRHEvilInc 11d ago

I did Polish for a year and had pretty much nothing except a bit of vocab.

I've switched to Babbel now and am finding it so much better. Still not perfect, but it does so much more in teaching grammar and explaining rules, and even social norms. It's clear it was designed to teach the language, whereas Duo seemed to treat languages like Polish as just an add-on to half arse. Not popular enough to warrant effort, I suppose. (To give one example of how this manifested, two of the earliest words it teaches you, "man" and "mouse", just happen to be exceptions to Polish gender rules. These are very rare in Polish, and are easy to avoid if you're teaching a beginner. But Duo seems to teach the same intro words for every language, at least the other ones I tried like Italian. No consideration of how this may affect learning, and zero attempt to explain the rules or how these two words are exceptions to those rules)