I'm still puzzled by duolingo - it uses an outdated pedagogy and an overemphasis on 'fun'. I have only looked briefly at the courses but I find the structure unconvincing.

Regarding something mentioned in the article: what is the point of learning 'entertaining' phrases like 'they are washing the holy potato'. From a pedagogical point of view this is a waste of time is no better than the famous 'plume de ma tante' (look that up if you want to know more).

For any language learner, it's important to remember that the most fun you can have in language learning is experiencing success. That success needs to come from your language acquisition, not arbitrary games.

Learning a language is great!