Duolingo - FREE App - Review

Have you discovered Duolingo? See the website to have a look that this unique product: https://www.duolingo.com/

This is a summary of Duolingo features written by a fan.  I am enjoying being a part of Duolingo since it started.  I have highlighted in bold my hopes for Duolingo in the future.  We will have to wait and see as the Duolingo journey unfolds. 

·      Duolingo currently 5 languages available for English language speakers: Italian, French, Spanish, German and Portuguese.

·      Lessons start from the very beginning.  Early lessons include pictures to help with new word recognition.  Then as your knowledge grows the game is text based.  This works as the focus is on translation through reading or listening and input through writing.

·      You can choose when you want to practise listening and speaking.  There is always the option to toggle the microphone and speakers on/off.  This is useful if you are on the bus or sitting in a waiting room and don’t want to be watched while you talk to your phone using your new language skills.

·      It will always be a free app: whether you use it as a web app on your laptop or desktop computer or you use it in other devices from iPhone to iPod to Android phone.  It is now available for iPhone and Android devices J

·      An independent study has proven that Duolingo is more effective at language teaching than a university level language course.  I believe this is supported by the gamification aspects.  It is social to play with friends online and/or new language learning buddies.  It is using a healthy level of competition to better your own knowledge, compete with friends and now on the new update, you can also compete with Duobot.  Duobot is useful if your friends online are not available for a challenge in the same minutes you have free: either your lunch break or your commute to work/school.

·      The web app has a few different functions than the app for mobile devices.  You can complete timed tests as well as the lessons you access on the go.  You can test your translation skills as you grow your working knowledge of vocab and grammar.  As you level up in the lessons, gaining more XP (experience points) you will be better prepared to tackle longer and more challenging translations.

·      As students complete lessons, there are three hearts (like lives) at risk.  Students complete enough correct translations (usually 10 in a lesson) without running out of hearts to finish the lesson.  The XP earned from a lesson is the total of the number of correct translations PLUS the number of hearts not used.  This system insists students pass with a sufficient skill level and reward students who did not make any careless mistakes.  Early on in levels and lessons, it is useful for beginners that the lessons are never timed.  The timed tests available on the web based app are a good measure of progress combining speed and accuracy.

·      An additional scoring system to XP is the lingots.  They are like high powered points to reward you on your language learning journey. You cash in lingots to reward yourself with outfits for your avatar, a timed translation test or specialised vocab in your preferred language.  I particularly like the timed translation tests.  I am challenging myself to rotate through the 5 available languages from English speakers.  I chip away at lessons, tests and games earning XP until I level up in a language.  When this coincides with 25 lingots, I challenge myself to complete a timed translation test to see how I am progressing.  It is effective testing because it is timed.  It would be useful to see the timer counting down during the test.

·      The lessons are set up sequentially in a language tree.  As you progress through more lessons, new lesson sections are unlocked as earned.  Completed lessons have full completed progress bars.  This information is updated over time.  As you complete later lessons, perhaps alternating with some real world translation practice and strengthening your skills, each word experience level is maintained in the Duolingo database.  When a learned word is not practised it looses more progress bars in the original lesson learned.   This is a reminded to go back and revisit lessons to review your vocabulary.  This is welcome feature.  Just as you might like and work in the country of the language improving your language skills, Duolingo reminds you to maintain your early foundation of language skills.  It insists you build a good sense of the language from a strong foundation.  Any language learned at a university, school or community course would be better prepared before a test as a result of revising the current course content and checking back over earlier vocab learned on Duolingo. Duolingo also has levels of increasing difficulty.  Lesson levels from XP come from completing lessons at a competent level.  However, each level requires more and more XP to reach the next level.  There is also a translator's tier. The system here is similar.  The more online immersion articles you write and/or edit the more points you earn.  However, the system is now tweaked.  You need to be at least 90% accurate in your translation writing. It is determined by how many words are in the sentence.  Say for a ten word sentence, you need the support of at 5 approval votes with only minimal down votes to be acceptable.
 

·      Language coach is a optional feature.  Students can toggle on and off for each language course and select the time commitment they would like to make to each language.  Like many apps available nowadays, optional settings such as these put the user in control.  Are they keen to beat their personal best, beat their Duolingo friends or want  to make their language learning at their own pace without a nagging daily reminder?

·      There are more language courses still in Beta form while they are being developed including: Indonesian and Dutch and Turkish (all for English speakers).  There are other languages in Beta (Italian for Spanish, English for Korean, English for Thai, German for Russian).

·      I would like to see the same features on the mobile app. It is good to see the Duobot available on mobile devices as a close match to timed tests.  I wish I could work on a web based translation on the go as well.  It is exciting to finally see your translator’s rating level up.  They may be few and far between, but the translator’s levels are well earned.

·      Duolingo has already one two awards from two of the big companies: Apple (iPhone) has awarded Duolingo App of the Year and Google Play (Android) has awarded Duolingo Best of the Best.

·      Duolingo has a merchandise line available for the keen Duolingoists to promote the app, their language learning and be an active part of the community of learners.

·      And finally, the discussion board gives Duolingo users an opportunity to share their learning, ask questions of Duolingo features, discuss vocab and grammar points of the language being learned, and even request new features for future updates.  There is a down vote/up vote system to help the admin team of Duolingo.  This is useful to monitor which features are most requested and may be added to the Duolingo agenda for future updates soon.

·      I would love to see Afrikaans and Welsh available soon.

Have you discovered a web app or mobile device for language learners?  Which one is your favourite?

Focused word lists

I ask my students to brainstorm from prior knowledge. I want to see which direction it takes.  Each group is different when I have worked with adult beginners in the community to five years olds in the first year of school to twelve years olds at the end of primary school. This activity allows the scope of learning to be opened up more than if I was to share new vocabulary at the beginning of a new unit of work or a new chapter from the textbook.  If I merely, sent around a photocopy of the vocab list and asked “Which words can you predict? Which words do you know? And which ones do you not have any idea about?”  I would not stimulate the same discussion in the group of learners.  And one or two at least would be nodding off in the corner.

PRONOUNS

I introduce pronouns as hand gestures.  There are six pronoun groups: I, you (singular), he/she/it, we, you (plural) and they. The first three are all singular.  The last three are all plural.  Within the singular groups, I is in the first person, you is second person and he, she, it and even formal you (for example, in Italian) are third person. 

First person refers back to the speaker.  First person in the plural is we (referring back to us). Second person it the listener or person you are speaking to.  Third person is a different person/group from the speaker and the listener.  These ‘others’ are being spoken about and not directly to.

Beginners in learning a language (be it foreign or improving their knowledge of their native language) often confuse these terms and labels.  Often initial knowledge up until a focused lesson on pronouns, is intuitive and is what sounds/feels/looks right to the speaker/writer.  When you start to learn a foreign language, you don’t have years of experience to lean on to determine what sounds/feels/looks right to you as the speaker/writer.  

I teach pronouns with hand gestures to simplify some of these of the beginning language learner. Most of these hand gestures are obvious, but help the learner to process the context of who is speaking, who is listening and/or who is being spoken about.

PRONOUN LIST

In the singular, point to the appropriate person. 

In the plural, circle in the air to indicate the group of 2 or more people.

For ‘I’, simply point to the speaker.

For ‘you singular’ point to the listener.

For ‘he/she/it/formal you’ point to who the speaker is telling the listener about.

For ‘we’ circle in the air to refer to the speaker and the listener.

For ‘you plural’ circle in the air to refer to both listeners.

For ‘they’, circle in the air to refer to two or more other people being spoken about by the speaker to the listener.

CALENDAR

A basic list for learning any language.  Note: in Italian days and months, both DO NOT have capital letters.  In English, they always have capital letters. Just a convention to be aware of.

NATIONALITIES AND LANGUAGES

A surprising list for nationalities and languages. In Italian, countries and cities have capitals.  However, nationalities and languages DO NOT have capitals.

IDIOMS

It’s always a good idea to occasionally take a break form the grammatical side of learning a new language to explore some idioms.  Here are some of my favourites: Italian olio di gomito (lit. oil of elbow) is elbow grease. French la grasse matinée (lit. the fat morning) is a sleep in.

HOLIDAYS

I work with students to brainstorm and research some common festivals and holidays.  Start with festivities common to both cultures: birthdays, Christmas, Easter, even Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.  Then, challenge their knowledge / introduce some cultural holidays to the target language: national holidays, regional festivals like Carnevale.

THE NEWS

I brainstorm from the news: It is always powerful to start with common knowledge like world news or famous people.  Recent natural disasters, known disasters even Pompeii in Italy, famous sports people, films stars, singers, tv personalities.  Most people surprise themselves with their own prior knowledge or even with how much they knew but didn’t realize was linked to Italy as a country or the Italians as a people.

TIME AND PLACE

This is one of my favourite topics – because you can take it anywhere to any place and time: list in three column famous people, famous places, historical events in time. Each group takes this in their own direction. Sometimes modern people, sometimes more historical.  Sometimes recent political events, or recent natural disasters that made the world news. Some people are more interested in Italy when it became a Republic or the influence of the Roman Empire.  There is something for everyone.  Children are often either more interested in the modern famous people or the gladiator era in to main groups.

Summary and Reflection of Report "Europeans and their Languages" (2012)

Research has been conducted into the languages learned after mother tongue in European countries.  Europe as a continent is interesting because its contains many countries that happen to have more than one national language.  This in itself promotes language learning.  If many citizens speak at least two languages as least at conversation level, they are more likely to try learning another language for work or travel reasons.  I know that since I learnt Italian at high school and university level, I was then more comfortable to learn another language when the opportunity arises. Personally, I learn some French and German at primary school and high school before taking up Italian at senior high school and into university level.  I then because a languages teacher after completing a double degree in Arts with Education and a Diploma of Language.  This certified me to teach French to year 12 (senior) and Italian to year 10 (junior high school) from my minor and major respectively.

·       The most widely spoken mother tongue is German, then Italian, English, French, Spanish and Polish.

·       Most respondents in Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Malta, Slovenia, Lithuania and Sweden speak at least two languages.

·       The five most widely spoken foreign languages remain English, French, German, Spanish and Russian.

·       Just over 40% of Europeans are able to understand at least one foreign language well enough to follow the news on radio or television.

·       Most Europeans are able to read a newspaper or magazine article in a foreign language. However, Europeans are slightly less likely to understand any foreign language enough to communicate online (e.g. using email, Twitter, Facebook etc.)

·       Europeans regularly use foreign languages when watching films/television or listening to the radio, then using the internet and communicating with friends.

·       Most Europeans are not active learners of languages. Over 40% have not learnt a language recently and do not intend to start.

·       Most Europeans identify working in another country as an advantage of learning a new language, then using the language at work (including travelling abroad), the ability to studying abroad and possibility of using it on holidays abroad.

·       Most Europeans think that knowing other languages is very useful.  English is perceived as the most useful before German, French, Spanish and Chinese.

·       Most Europeans consider mastering other foreign languages as useful for the future of their children, first French and German then Spanish, and Chinese.

·       Most Europeans say free lessons would make them significantly more likely to learn a language, then if they were paid to learn, if they were able to learn it in a country in which it is spoken, and if it improved career prospects.

·       Most widely mentioned barrier to learning another language is lack of motivation, then lack of time to study properly and that it is too expensive and lastly not being good at languages discourages them.

·       Most widespread method used to learn a foreign language is attending lessons at school, then by talking informally to a native speaker, with a teacher outside school in group language lessons, and by going on frequent or long trips to the country in which the language is spoken. 

·       More than 40% of Europeans prefer subtitles to dubbing when watching foreign films or TV programmes.

·       Translation has an important role to play in a wide range of areas across society, from education and learning and in health and safety, getting news about events in the rest of the world, participating in or getting information, accessing public services or enjoying leisure activities such as TV, films and reading.

CONCLUSION

Fact: Europeans are feeling favourable towards multiligualism.

·       Europeans have a positive attitude towards multilingualism. Most know other languages is very useful and almost every European considers mastering languages useful for the future of their children.

Fact: Research does not prove that multilingualism is increasing.

·       Most Europeans consider English as one of the two most useful languages then German, French, Spanish and Chinese.

Fact: Passive skills increasing

·       More Europeans regularly use foreign languages on the internet and watching films/television or listening to the radio.

Fact: Advantages and Barriers of Language Learning

·       More Europeans identify language learning with working in another country. A little over 40% of respondents think that learning a new language would help them to get a better job in their own country and study in another country.  Just under 40% believe learning a new language would help with understanding people from other cultures.

Fact: Young people are the future

·       Cultural, societal, economic and technological change opportunities among young Europeans, to engage them in learning new languages and using them in a wider context.

·       The majority can use their languages in passive activities, and communicate online and read the press or watch TV. However, cost, time, quality of teaching, availability of learning resources and motivation remain significant barriers to learning foreign languages.

·       Young people aged 15-24 years are more likely to choose English, German, Spanish and Chinese to learn as a foreign language.

·       Although the language skills need to be improved, the Europeans’ favourable attitude will probably be reflected in the abilities of the young generations in years to come.

Personal Reflection

My students have mixed reactions to the challenge of learning a new language. I teach in a regional town 5 hours from our state capital.  The main employer is town is the steel works company.  So, many families have parents working 12 hour shifts in a roster of 4 days on and 4 days off. I feel some of the people in this demographic may have always lived locally and never expected to travel.  This seems to have affected the perspective of the students.  Some expect they will never travel further than Adelaide our capital city.

Personally, I use all forms of technology to engage my interesting a variety of texts and extend my understanding of new vocabulary and grammar.  If you read my blog post (http://italienfrancesetpt.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/7-ways-to-expand-vocabulary.html) you will see I combine internet, film, books, people just to name of few.  I actively do this since I live in a regional town and do not have as many opportunities as I used to when I lived in a suburb of Adelaide.

In conclusion, this report finds that in general Europeans as a population are not becoming more proficient in more languages yet; most have enough proficiency to listen to target language radio of watch foreign language television and movies.  Many of these people preferring subtitles and not dubbing over the original language. Many young people continue learning another language (mainly English, German, Spanish and then Chinese) primarily to gain work in another country.

Implications for teachers

As a teacher, teaching outside of Europe, I suggest we use authentic target language sources to engage the interest of our students. Teachers should choose authentic digital texts with optional subtitles for  beginning language learners.  Beginners can use subtitles as needed without loosing the listening skills experience in the target language. Encourage your students to make connections with language learning and their world: it can open doors to working overseas, getting a better job in their own country and understand other cultures more deeply.

Reference

Eurobarometer, Special. "Europeans and their Languages." European Commission (2012).



Cheers,