Is Duolingo a Waste of Time?
Examining the World of Online Language Learning
You’ve probably landed here because you’re wondering the same thing.
Duolingo, a gamified language learning app, purports to teach you a new language by only using 5 minutes of your time for each day. With over 300 million registered users across 38 languages, it almost sounds too good to be true.
The Ultimate Covid-19 Coping Mechanism?
Personally, I have a 260-day streak on Duolingo. This means I’ve had at least done a minimum of 1 lesson per day, and sometimes more, since the end of December 2019.
After the Covid-19 pandemic slammed everyone in March, I may have done a lot more lessons than usual, spending at least 1 hour per day learning French. It’s turned into a surprisingly adaptive coping mechanism.
My logic is that:
- I’ve mastered a new skill
- It has utility in the workplace, where bilingualism is sought after
- It makes me look smarter
I’ve mastered most of the Duolingo modules in French, with some working knowledge of Italian, Dutch, and some Latin.
I think the app has greatly improved my reading comprehension. As for speaking…
