How far can 250 days of Duolingo get you?

Can you really learn to speak a language with just 10–15 minutes of Duolingo?

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I’ve been using Duolingo to learn German for 8 months now. On most days, I do about 10–15 minutes per day. I rarely go below 5 minutes, and on rare occasions, I practice about an hour. This is usually when I’m feeling extra motivated to hit the next league, particularly the highest, Diamond league.

Duolingo Diamond League

So, how well can you learn a language with Duolingo?

If you want a TLDR, let’s just say you’d have no problem setting up a date on Bumble after 250 days on Duolingo. It is definitely enough to get past most introductions and ice breakers. To make any meaningful connection on said date however, will be more challenging. If you want more details, read on!

The rest of this article is divided into 4 parts:

1. My linguistic background and how it helps with learning German.
2. How much content can you get through in 250 days.
3. What that content translates to in terms of written skill.
4. What that content translates to in…