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How Much Can You Really Learn With Duolingo?
I practiced Italian for 10 to 20 minutes every day for four years
The last time I studied a language, we barely had computers. Mobile phones hadn’t been invented. ‘App’ wouldn’t enter my vocabulary for another 20 years. I struggled with languages at school but found I picked up a usable amount of Spanish and French while working and travelling in Central America and West Africa in my twenties. I made daily lists of words to memorise, worked my way through books of grammar exercises and tried to speak the languages as often as possible. Old fashioned, but it worked.
In 2017, I discovered Duolingo and thought it would be a good tool to revise my rusty French and Spanish. However, I got bored with the beginner exercises you need to work through before you can progress. Instead, I decided to learn something new. For reasons that remain obscure to me, I picked Italian. I had recently visited Italy for a swimming event and I could see myself going again, so I guess that was one motivation. I probably also thought it would be relatively easy as I already knew some French and Spanish.
The thing I rate most highly about Duolingo is its ease of use. First thing every morning, I make myself a cup of tea, then sit on my sofa drinking the tea and doing Duolingo. I normally spend around…
