Learning languages with Duolingo

Don’t want to depress any of younGaelic learners but did you read Jenny Colgan in The Guardian?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/25/why-i-quit-gaelic-language-forefathers-vocabulary

I had a 900 day streak but then went on holiday and lost it

FarNorth

Halò Ailidh agus a Ghrammaretto.

Tha mi ag ionnsachadh beagan Gàidhlig cuideachd.

Halò a FharNorth!

Tha 716 day streak agam ach chan eil mi fileanta idir!

Hello, FarNorth.
I have a 716 day streak but I'm not fluent at all! ?

FarNorth

StarDreamer I think you are taking all the XP and times too seriously.
You can ignore most of that and just learn at your own pace.
You do have to watch out for losing hearts, tho, but you get more each day so no big deal.
Buying a 'Streak freeze' with gems can be handy if you'd like to clock up an unbroken streak for your number of days of learning (while actually missing one) but that's not really important.

It is just how I am!

Ps
My previous post said - I am learning a little Gaelic too.

StarDreamer I think you are taking all the XP and times too seriously.
You can ignore most of that and just learn at your own pace.
You do have to watch out for losing hearts, tho, but you get more each day so no big deal.
Buying a 'Streak freeze' with gems can be handy if you'd like to clock up an unbroken streak for your number of days of learning (while actually missing one) but that's not really important.

I have just started learning Gaelic with Duolingo, and I’m loving it. I really enjoy learning languages, probably because of the linguistic aspect rather than being able to communicate. I like to understand the why and the how of the grammar etc. I have registered for a zoom course so I’m hoping that will help to reinforce the Duolingo.

Halò Ailidh agus a Ghrammaretto.

Tha mi ag ionnsachadh beagan Gàidhlig cuideachd.

Oh! I have made a mistake!

The graph is not of times, but of XP (experience) points!

Oh, well I now have 15 for today.

The 15, and the one from before, are shown as an unfilled circle, whereas the others are filled.

So it appears that the streak count increases for completing one lesson but to get the circle filled one needs to go above one's daily goal, which for me is 20 experience points it seems.

I am learning Welsh on Duolingo.

I am wondering how Duolingo assesses time studying.

As I proceed, unhurriedly, making notes in an A5 notebook, I note the time I start a session and the time I finish, though not trying to watch the clock as I proceed.

Yesterday afternoon I took 41 minutes for a lesson and yesterday evening I took 35 minutes for a lesson.

Yet the chart shows that I took, my estimate from the graph, 30 minutes in total.

The important thing is learning the language, but I am just wondering.

Looking at the chart it looks like it might be 15 minutes per lesson, as I seem to have, in thec six days from Friday to Wednesday, entries for 15, 30 (x2). 45 (x2), 75.

Nil points for today thus far.

If you run out of hearts you can go back and repeat a lesson from any circle especially if you are still not confident about that topic.

When you have completed a few, it is a good idea to recap and do what they call "cascade", whereby you are revising the units you have finished and simultaneously progressing on the new ones one lesson at a time

When you have completed all the levels in a unit you get a chance to earn more points for each of four sets of questions.

Thank you, Oldnproud. Thank you, NanKate.

Thanks OldnProud for the link. ?

Hello StarDreamer I have been learning Spanish for coming up for 3 years and I am loving it. I complete a whole circle going from level to level. I don’t do the little stories very often.
I refuse to sign up and pay so make sure I don’t get 5 wrong answers. In order to do this I use a dictionary, occasionally check on Google Translate. I also keep corrected sentences in a notebook.

I just wish the whole procedure of using DuoLingo could have been explained clearly somewhere. It’s just a case of learning as you go along.

StarDreamer

Can someone who is using Duolingo advise me on something please?

I have been learning Welsh.

Each time I have "completed a circle" a new circle has become ungreyed and I have followed that.

Having completed five circles Greet 1, Greet 2, Present 1, Present 2, Days I have found that each of those circles has a number of levels.

Is this what happens with the language you are studying?

I am thinking that perhaps I should have done each level of each circle in that order, but if that is the case, why did the next circle become ungreyed?

I am studying Russian, and yes, each of the circles (skills) has several levels.

Personally, I do each level of each circle/topic in order, because I like to feel that I've given myself lots of practice with all the new vocabulary and grammar in that topic before I move on to a new one, but you don't have to do that if you don't want.

In fact, I've just Googled it, and the 'hovering' method is recommended. Here's the link to the page I found that explained what that means:
blog.duolingo.com/whats-the-best-way-to-learn-with-duolingo/

Can someone who is using Duolingo advise me on something please?

I have been learning Welsh.

Each time I have "completed a circle" a new circle has become ungreyed and I have followed that.

Having completed five circles Greet 1, Greet 2, Present 1, Present 2, Days I have found that each of those circles has a number of levels.

Is this what happens with the language you are studying?

I am thinking that perhaps I should have done each level of each circle in that order, but if that is the case, why did the next circle become ungreyed?

Yesterday, Saturday, I received a weekly report from Doulingo, my first.

It shows me as having done around 40 to 50 minutes each day, except a week ago today, at about twice that.

I wonder how they measure it, given that one might leave web page displayed mid-way though a session while one goes and gets something to eat.

I like your attitude LadyGaGa ⭐️? and I’m sure you’re right - just keep going!

For the Welsh I have got an A5 notebook (from Tesco) and I write each word or phrase and its meaning down as it arises, and also an "Englishy" way of pronouncing it (of my own devising), which I put within quote marks.

I had a quick look at Japanese the other day, so I am going to wait to do any more until I use a notebook to draw the characters.

I too have a family membership with my daughter, and we can celebrate each other’s successes. I have a streak if 1075 in Spanish. I do ok- I can write and understand most things. But when I go to Spain and try to converse I feel like a right plonker as no one seems to understand what the heck I’m on about! ? I enjoy the challenge though so I’ll just keep going…….

I am almost 900 days into the Spanish course.
I enjoy the method of learning. I just have two gripes.
Firstly it is American English.
Secondly it is Latin American Spanish. Not European Spanish.
This can be quite confusing as I also take Spanish lessons.
However I really enjoy the daily challenge.
One of my son's has a family package that I am part of.

Your hearts renew every day, so you can continue using the free version.

Also, if you click on the heart at the top of the page, you can do some exercises to earn an extra heart. Finding that tricky at the moment because I'm temporarily at the far end of my comfort zone recognising some of the verb tenses and the spellings of place names, but I can sometimes squeeze out an extra heart.

Cille Mheàrnaig = Kilmarnock?
Inbhir Àir = Ayr?

I did Spanish on Duolingo during covid and really enjoyed it as well as learning a lot but then I got to a point where I was making too many mistakes, mostly due to the fact that my Spanish pronunciation is rubbish. I lost all my hearts and would have had to pay to continue so I gave up but am now thinking it might not have cost very much to continue and perhaps I should have done that. Does anyone know how much?

There are a lot of Welsh programmes on BBC iplayer on the
S4C channel.

Also, live S4C