kot_manul
(I actually don't know the answer to this)
Taking GP's example further, let's say they have enough money to build their 3000W sound system AND maybe also build a cushy new building for the local police, who will then respond to your noise complaints by telling you it's really not that bad and maybe you should invest in some noise-canceling headphones.
It'd be nice to know to have some idea how long we've all been exposed.
I remember only two sentences from the Dutch Duolingo, maybe because they were constantly repeated:
"Ik ben een appel." (I am an apple.)
and: "Nee, je bent geen appel!" (No, you are not an apple!)
For comparison, I did self-study with Japanese in my teens and learned enough to ace the first 1.5 years of college Japanese instruction without much effort. And I remember taking Spanish classes in high school and to this day can at least fumble my way through a basic conversation.
In contrast the only use I would have for what I learned of Dutch via Duolingo would be if I came across someone having a psychotic break. You're _not_ an apple, dude.
Granted, I spent more time with both Spanish and Japanese than with any language I tried with Duolingo, but my point is simply that Duolingo just doesn't make languages "click", at least not for me and apparently not for a bunch of others either.
IIRC the disk controller had firmware that loaded the first 256 byte sector from disk into memory.
Granted, the horse got shipped off to become glue, rather than ground down by life, but the effects are pretty much the same.