this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2024
30 points (100.0% liked)

languagelearning

14166 readers
1 users here now

Building Solidarity - One Word at a Time

Rules:

  1. No horny posting
  2. No pooh posting
  3. Don't be an ass

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
Koolio@hexbear.net
30
How useful is Duolingo beyond the basics? (hexbear.net)
submitted 1 year ago by notthenameiwant@hexbear.net to c/languagelearning@hexbear.net
22 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Hello! I've recently picked up learning Spanish because I work with a ton of dudes from Mexico. How much can I reasonably expect to learn from this app? I looked at their "curriculum" and it seems pretty short compared to what I think I'll need. What are some resources beyond "talk to your coworkers", that will put me on the right track?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] unperson@hexbear.net 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I find duolingo extremely effective for recognising and recalling vocabulary. If you complete a course you learn around 2000 words on context with sample sentences.

Vocabulary is tedious and maybe 1/4 of what goes into learning a language, so I'll go against the common opinion and say it's quite solid. But it does nothing for the other 3/4, you'll never be able to think in Spanish, produce sentences, or understand when you're spoken to with duolingo alone.

[–] arymandias@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

It does help with vocabulary and I’ve used it successfully for French. But it also wastes a lot of time on needlessly specific grammar, I think at the start of your learning process it’s not relevant to learn the difference between a/au Brazil or le/la voiture. If you can put yourself to it, flash cards are way more time efficient. Then once you know at least some words (100-200) Clozemaster is a good addition to learn words in context.

But for me the most effective has always been emersion, make yourself a little uncomfortable and try to read easy books or watch simpler series in your target language. Then once in a while learn some grammar or vocabulary, in my experience this is way easier to pick up once you have a basic feel for the language using emersion.