Re:Luis von Ahn, co-founder and CEO of Duolingo
by nmfisher on Monday January 27, 2020 @07:30PM
(#22165289)
> I know a lot of people like to speed through the tree and only complete the first level, which I suppose is a more vocab-focused way of using the app. But if you go deeper on each level it forces you to grapple with grammar a lot more.
Probably a fair point - as mentioned I wasn't really using it to learn the language, rather to get a feel for "how useful would this have been when I was learning". So I admit I didn't dive into the later levels.
How exactly were you using it? It speaks to you, which is invaluable for developing an ear for the language. It forces you to translate both ways, which helps with reading and writing immensely. And optionally you can even speak answers in the foreign language to practice pronunciation (such that your phone can correctly transcribe what you're saying).
It's not exactly an immersive language course, but it is vastly more useful than flash cards.
I know a lot of people like to speed through the tree and only complete the first level, which I suppose is a more vocab-focused way of using the app. But if you go deeper on each level it forces you to grapple with grammar a lot more.