Duolingo - Language Lessons 4‏+

I’ve been on Duolingo for over a decade and it’s amazing to see how far it has come with the aim of becoming the best online and engaging service for learning languages and skills, and it’s also been amazing seeing the pace pick up so much the past two years. Really kudos for the amazing work you’re putting in. It really shows.

I do have a small bug that I’m not sure how to report, so I’m putting it here. This is an outstanding bug in Duolingo for iPad for at least two years now, and it’s that the app crashes when it’s used on an external display. When I connect my iPad to an external display, and extend my display to use the display as a second screen, Duolingo will not work on the external display. I will finish an exercise, and it will immediately crash. When connected to an external display I can use Duolingo either on the iPad screen, or if I mirror the iPad display to the external display. But not natively on an external display. I don’t know how difficult this bug may be track and fix (or even how urgent it will be since it must be such a rare use case), but I’d really appreciate if it will be solved.

Thanks, and keep up the good work :)

I was always using Duolingo here and there but never actually invested time in it. A few months ago I decided I want to be a better French speaker so I enrolled into the French course and made an annual payment (and got my wife into it too) in order to remove any limits. I can honestly say this is money well spent. This is my second month of learning and I’m already feeling confident speaking some French with coworkers and friends. Duolingo have perfected their AI speakers in such a way that when the characters speak they sound completely natural. The animations and sounds are polished and I actually find myself eagerly waiting for that “tan-tan” sound at the end of a lesson (and the cute owl animation too).

I have to negatives though -
1. I don’t like the fact that even after you’re paying annually, you still need to purchase gems for streaks or if you run out of time when practicing words.
2. The algorithm that builds the lessons seems off to me. Sometimes you find yourself practicing the same words and lessons over and over again for 5 lessons straight, and sometimes you have new words that you never repeat.

Of all things I use my iPhone for, Duolingo is certainly the best use of my time. It’s both fun and educational. I started learning Spanish when I understood that if at some times I feel like I need to sit and scroll, maybe I can replace it with something more productive.

I tried it for a short while a few years ago, and it was nice, but then I felt a bit stuck. But in my second attempt a few years later, I noticed it got smarter - it recognizes where it’s more difficult for me, and gives me more exercise on these areas, and tips.

I also absolutely love their stories which are smart and funny, and their LGBTQ+ representation. For that alone they deserve a 5 star ranking, but my 5 stars are genuinely given for the different aspects that makes this app so great.