I Achieved a 600 Day Streak on Duolingo
and this is what I learned…
What does a 600-day Duolingo streak mean?
Duolingo is an educational application that can help individuals learn almost any language in the world. You complete challenges and pass levels to progress in the language you’ve selected. Every day in a row that you complete a challenge, Duolingo adds a number to your overall streak. Makes the 600 sound more impressive right? Well, there are these other things you can acquire called Streak Freezes which save your streak in case you miss a day and don’t complete a challenge. These Freezes can be purchased through their store or earned by beating certain levels or challenges. I went through my 600-day streak and counted that I’ve used 77 streak freezes during that time. So although I’ve reached a 600-day milestone, I’ve been using Duolingo for almost 2 full years and was definitely not perfect by any means.
Has Duolingo Helped Me Learn a New Language?
To be Frank, I’d have to change my name… sorry… but the answer to that question is yes, but no. Throughout the 600-day streak, I have worked on Spanish, Japanese, and Latin. I would say I am nowhere near fluent or confident enough to speak (the two spoken ones) to anyone in public, but Duolingo has tremendously improved my vocab in each language. I think that’s what Duolingo is amazing for. It helps you learn vocab like no other and is a great tool for learning new words if you are also practicing speaking the language outside of the app. It has speaking and listening challenges, but I don’t think they are great for actually getting you out of your comfort zone to try and speak the language to native speakers (unless of course, you are as confident as my friend Mark). If you are looking to improve your vocabulary or want a great starting point, I would say that Duolingo is perfect, but if you seek fluency, I’d suggest taking a class or better yet, immerse yourself in that language to the best of your ability.
How have I stayed consistent?
This is the section to hype me up… 600 days is a pretty neat milestone to hit and no easy feat. If I’m being honest, I do use Duolingo almost every day, but only for a few minutes in order to keep my streak. I complete one challenge which could include: matching vocabulary words, doing a short story exercise, or even trying to speak some words into the microphone. I’ve made it a daily habit of mine to always click on the Duolingo app and run through one or a few of those exercises. It used to be routine for me to use it in my car before I drove to work, but now I keep a checklist of daily tasks I want to complete and it always includes Duolingo which is an easy win! However, I will not take all the credit, Duolingo is smart. Really smart. They know it makes you feel good to continue your streak and hype you up when you do. They know you’ll spend money to keep your streak if you’ve worked hard on it and you might miss a day. They reward you with Streak Freezes if you’re out of them. The list goes on and on. I will say I’ve never purchased the Freezes but I did purchase Duolingo Plus to make it less stressful with unlimited lives. Duolingo has gamified learning a new language and made it easy for anyone in the world to try it out. Whether you spend the money or not, it’s a really cool application that makes learning new languages (vocabulary) fun.
