my daughter does her homework outside in german duolingo

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Jaclyn Greenberg

How My Daughter and I Learned to Speak the Same Language

My tween daughter was bored and antsy as we waited for dinner at a local restaurant. We had just reunited after a long day, and I wanted to capitalize on our time together.

“Did you play Duolingo today? You need to keep your streak going!” I said in an effort to lighten the mood. The reminder made her eyes light up. She grabbed her phone and opened the language learning app right away. I smiled and did the same. We scootched our chairs together and each completed a lesson to meet our daily minimum requirement. Once we were done, we flashed our phones to one other as an onscreen virtual fire lit up the numbers 174 on my screen and 50 on hers, reflecting the number of consecutive days we’d each completed at least one lesson. When our food arrived a few minutes later, we were both in a better mood.

The previous September, my daughter had started her first year of middle school. She spends a lot of time out of the house now. It’s been a huge shift for our family—especially after a year of virtual school—and I’m always looking for ways to connect. One afternoon, she was telling me about her homework and mentioned that she was required to play Duolingo for a few minutes each day. The program was assigned to all the students in her Spanish class as an add-on to their lessons.

I sat next to her while she played a few games and was intrigued. For years, I’ve wanted to sign up for a language class, but I assumed most were pricey, time-consuming, or both. I took four years of Spanish in high school but haven’t used those skills since meeting the basic requirements in a college placement test. After that, there wasn’t an easy way for me to directly apply what I had learned, so it quickly fell away.

I had no idea how popular language learning apps had become over the past few years. Wanting to give it a try, I downloaded Duolingo and dusted off the cobwebs. I was surprised by how quickly the verbs and nouns came back to me. The games were simple and fun to play. Soon, using the app became routine and a more productive way to fill downtime than mindlessly scrolling through social media. It also became a fun way for my daughter and me to connect, as we reminded each other to keep our streaks going and shared lessons.

I wanted to understand more about the program and why so many people—including my daughter and me—got hooked, so I spoke with Duolingo’s senior learning scientist, Cindy Blanco.

“Duolingo leans into gamification,” Blanco says. “The program was created with enjoyment to be built in from the start. The experience is welcoming, to motivate the user.”

The games vary, so the style of learning constantly changes. One minute I’m shifting tiles around to create proper sentence structure and the next I’m matching words to their meaning during a speed round competition. I don’t feel pressured to memorize nouns, verbs, or conjugations, the way I did in high school, since the app allows me to click on words for their meaning instead of leaving me guessing. Eventually, phrases look familiar.

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“We had to take language classes in school, and they weren’t always great experiences,” Blanco explains. “We want to show learners that no matter their age, education, background, or familiarity with the language you can build up proficiency. The experience is really important to us.” I love that the program is built for everyone, even someone like me who has been out of school for over a decade.

When I took Spanish classes as a teenager, I was fairly good at reading and writing, but my listening and spoken grammar were terrible. Aside from the varied games Duolingo offers, I love that I’m regularly prompted to read out loud or listen to a sentence and move tiles around to match what I’ve heard.

“It can be really scary speaking a different language,” Blanco agrees. “Adults shouldn’t feel embarrassed, but we do. We’re supposed to sound confident. But how can we when we’re learning a new language? The program allows users to build competence and confidence by repeating sentences in private and having it graded by the artificial intelligence in the software.”

If I’m in a noisy environment, or not interested in speaking or listening that day, I can opt out of that function.

Duolingo has been around for 10 years and has an interesting history . Several other apps , such as Mondly , Babbel , Memrise , and Busuu , are also popular. Rosetta Stone was one of the first to offer the flexibility of language learning at home with CDs in the 1990s, and it also has an app.

I just wish I’d known about language learning apps sooner. Years ago, when I left my career to support my family, I missed the mental stimulation my job provided. A few minutes of language emersion here and there keeps me thinking throughout the day but doesn’t make me feel pressured. Duolingo also offers local and virtual events where users can engage with one another, gain confidence speaking a new language, and enjoy host-led conversations . They create podcasts with real-life stories and English narration that are an easy way for me to continue learning when I’m in the car heading to pick up my daughter. Then we can listen together on the ride home.

While I don’t expect to become fluent anytime soon, Duolingo certainly keeps me moving in the right direction. I’m surprised by how much I’ve learned so far. I asked what happens when I finish the program, or if that is even possible. “The goal of the software is to understand enough language to get a job, whether in another country or your community. But there is no end to learning, even once the units offered are completed,” Blanco says. The company continually modifies the program and incorporates new ways to interact with the language. For example, since my daughter has school-issued software, her app has an open writing function, which is only being tested amongst a few users in the Spanish and French stories. The program makes suggestions, similar to the way Google prompts the next word when we type , so the user has an easier time crafting sentences. I haven’t seen that function on my app, but I have the speed-round game and my daughter doesn’t. She loves to grab my phone and play, especially since she’s faster than me and can match 90 Spanish words to English words in less than two minutes. I love that our programs are different. It keeps us engaged in each other’s profiles and regularly comparing progress.

In the future, I hope to take my daughter to a Spanish-speaking country and directly apply our hard work. It’s a long-term goal we can work toward in five-minute increments throughout the day. For now, we need to look into the family plan. My husband is working on his French, and my eight-year-old son is interested in joining him. Perhaps the next time we are out to dinner, my daughter and I will have more competition.

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Learning a language and translating the web: does Duolingo work?

Senior lecturer and academic course advisor for Interpreting and Translation courses, Western Sydney University

Disclosure statement

Ignacio Garcia does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Western Sydney University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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Duolingo , a new free language-learning site, says it can help you learn a language for free while simultaneously using your learning exercises to translate the web.

A pretty big claim, but at the heart of Duolingo is an interesting idea – that people can use computers to do something while computers, in the background, achieve something else.

It’s much the same idea behind the founder of Duolingo, Luis von Ahn’s other venture – reCAPTCHA . This program uses the simple tests that prove you’re a human (and not an internet bot) to also help identify words scanned from old books.

Released to the general public in June 2012, Duolingo already boasts over 300,000 active learners and has raised $US15 million of venture capital. But despite a great deal of attention , all the information we have on how it works is from one condensed TED talk . And as yet, no formal independent review of the program has been published.

Earlier this year, I took the program for a test-drive (as a reviewer, not as a genuine learner), to check whether what Duolingo offers matches von Ahn’s promises on language learning and translating.

The new lingo

Von Ahn claims that with Duolingo people can learn a language about as well as with the leading language learning software through translation.

For centuries, translation was the core of formal instruction for language learning but then, in the sixties, the communicative approach replaced it. Duolingo is basically bringing the translation model of language learning back.

So does it work for language learning?

It does, surprisingly well. Translation gives the learner control over the process and a sense of achievement – translating words is often easier than dealing with lots of interaction, especially if you’re a beginner.

Duolingo also uses gamification to great effect and always gives immediate, automated feedback and points.

The program also allows learners to review and look at how other learners have translated text, which can help with understanding their own translations.

But the program also makes mistakes, and the more you advance, the more you notice them, which can be frustrating.

Is it as good as the leading language learning software as promised? It is good, but lacks many of the bells and whistles available in others: audiovisual context ( BBC Languages ), speech recognition and synthesis ( Rosetta Stone ), use of virtual words ( Avatar English ), native-to-learner interaction, not just peer-to-peer ( Livemocha ).

Lost in translation

The other half of the Duolingo project is translation.

For translating the web, machine translation is not good enough and relying only on professional translators is far too expensive. Duolingo offers a third way, with translation as a by-product of language learning – making it notionally almost as cheap as if done by machines and almost as good as if by professionals.

Once learners make some progress, they are asked to participate with real texts in real translation projects. It is by clients paying for these learner’s translations that Duolingo will make money.

It’s a clever idea but, does it work?

Below are two examples, one that featured in von Ahn’s Ted Talk and the second from my own own test-drive.

The first indeed shows a translation equivalent to a professional. But my example shows a translation equivalent to one done by a machine.

My first attempt (in Figure 2) also got disappointing feedback, but when I entered it into the Google Translate version, it got “94% agreement with correct solutions from others”.

So what’s happening here? My guess is that the system gets machine translation as the reference on which to base its automatic feedback. Then they hope learners, by voting, will end up getting the final version right.

That’s what they did in the German example above (in Figure 1) – which must have had the professional version entered as a learner’s input.

If I’m right, this makes a professional quality translation uncertain, unless there was at least one professional quality version for each sentence in the database – and that’s unlikely.

The final verdict

Duolingo will only work for texts for which accurate and elegant translation is not critical, and only if it’s capable of retaining massive numbers of advanced learners. It needs to capture the “whole” language learning market and be recognised as the undisputed leader – the Facebook or Google of language learning.

But there is fierce competition out there and expectations are very high. Major tweaking in its feedback algorithms is still needed.

Technology-wise, taking the source from the web, translating it in Duolingo and inserting the target back in the web seems less complicated than what reCAPTCHA does with words - but language is not about words, it’s about meaning. And ultimately, this is where Duolingo falls short.

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German Skill:Jobs

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Jobs is the seventh skill in the German language tree on Duolingo . The skill has four lessons and teaches a few common occupations and how to talk about your job in German.

• 1.1 Getting -in to it!
• 1.2 Dropping out?
• 1.3 Mein, dein
• 1.4 Pronunciation Tips
• 2.1 Lesson 1
• 2.2 Lesson 2
• 2.3 Lesson 3
• 2.4 Lesson 4
• 3 References

Tips & Notes [ ]

Getting -in to it [ ].

Because German has grammatical gender, the words for most occupations will change depending on the gender of the person. Many masculine ones end in -er, for instance ( Kellner, Schauspieler, Lehrer ) while their feminine equivalents end in -erin ( Kellnerin, Schauspielerin, Lehrerin ). In fact, -in at the end of an occupation is always feminine!

Dropping out? [ ]

When you say what kind of person someone is (for example, their occupation, their nationality, their role), in English we say someone is a something ("He is a professor). In German, this "a" usually disappears (" er ist Professor " instead of er ist ein Professor ).

Mein, dein [ ]

Everything that you've learned about mein (my) is exactly the same for dein (like turning into deine for feminine nouns).

Pronunciation Tips [ ]

The "sh" sound in German is spelled sch but also words starting with sp and st have a hidden "sh" sound in them! That means Student sounds more like "shtu-dehnt."

Lessons [ ]

Lesson 1 [ ].

• der Kellner = the waiter
• die Kellnerin = the waitress
• der Schauspieler = the actor
• die Schauspielerin = the actress

Lesson 2 [ ]

• der Professor = the professor (m.)
• die Professorin = the professor (f.)
• der Beruf = the occupation
• dein(e) = your

Lesson 3 [ ]

• der Arzt = the doctor (m.)
• die Ärztin = the doctor (f.)
• der Freund = the friend, the boyfriend
• die Freundin = the friend, the girlfriend
• der Student = the student (m.)
• die Studentin = the student (f.)

Lesson 4 [ ]

• der Lehrer = the teacher (m.)
• die Lehrerin = the teacher (f.)
• die Arbeit = the work
• interessant = interesting
• stressig = stressful

References [ ]

Duolingo Lesson: www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Jobs

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How to learn German for travel: Is 4 weeks enough?

Earlier this year, I planned a trip to Italy and studied Italian for 4 months to prepare. It was great! I had lots of meaningful conversations, confidently navigated cities and towns in the countryside, and successfully ordered what I intended, every single time. 💯

But this time was different: I made plans to go to Germany for work, which was exciting except… I didn’t know any German! I've never studied it, everything I know comes from "99 Luftballons," and when I went to Germany in 2008 (pre-Duolingo days), I learned the word for "once" and mistakenly used it in coffee shops across Berlin ( einmal croissant, einmal coffee, "once croissant, once coffee"). Ack. 🎈

This time, I used Duolingo to prepare—and I only have 4 weeks! Here's how I prepared for my trip and how it went. Maybe it'll give you ideas of how to prepare for your own trip, especially if you only have a few weeks!

Learning German for travel:

Setting goals for myself.

• 4-week study guide

How I studied

What i learned in 4 weeks.

• Unpacking: Was 4 weeks enough?

Setting clear goals was important for staying motivated and keeping my learning on track, and it helped me be realistic about what I could accomplish in just 4 weeks. After a month, I was still going to be a beginner—definitely at the A1 level in the international language proficiency scale we use at Duolingo ( the CEFR )—so here were my specific, personal language-learning goals for German:

• Be able to greet and be pleasant to German speakers. I wanted to feel comfortable saying hello, good morning, thanks, you're welcome, see you later, asking basic questions, etc. I hoped to avoid the stereotype of the typical American who travels abroad and doesn't know a single word of the language!
• Be able to recognize information, especially on menus and schedules. I pictured having a quiet breakfast and coffee alone, and also wanted to visit a museum or two, so I wanted to understand what I'm ordering when friends and colleagues weren’t around to help, order it successfully, and buy the appropriate tickets for tours or at museums.
• ⚠️ STRETCH GOAL ⚠️ Have one small conversation in German. My reach goal was to have a short exchange in German—whether it was explaining where I'm from and why I'm in Germany, or a rave review of a meal (I was very excited about German bread!!), or being able to tell hotel staff about something I need. This was a wildcard! But wouldn't one real conversation be cool?

I could see that Unit 1 ("Order in a cafe, describe your family") is shorter than the others, and I know that Duolingo scaffolds lessons , so they'll gradually build on each other. I planned to work on regular lessons, the Stories that are mixed into the path, Legendary Levels , and the Practice Hub . I also resolved to mix up my practice with new side quests —these are lessons that you complete to earn stars under the Duolingo characters playing on either side of the path. They're timed, so they are a fun challenge, and they review material from the regular lessons.

I only had four weeks, so I focused on only what I needed to accomplish my goals. I consulted the titles and guidebooks at the top of each Unit to see what would be covered, so my goal was to get through Unit 7.

My 4-week study guide

I followed the same rhythm for the whole four weeks: each day, I completed about two circles of the path (does that make them pebbles ?), plus a little extra (like Legendary Levels or side quests), so that I completed about two Units a week. Here's a detailed look at my Week 1, followed by my 4-week plan:

4 week study plan

Since I didn't have much time before my trip, I was pretty serious about my study routine. It helped that many other parts of my day were focused on Germany, too, like my tasks at work and figuring out what to pack (for me: long underwear).

Here's how I studied:

• I focused on my lessons. When I was studying, I wasn't doing anything else, like listening to music or watching TV. (Two exceptions: once I did lessons quickly on the subway platform to not lose my streak, and on Thanksgiving I did my lessons while watching the oven!) This meant I was really thinking about German and was focused on everything I was seeing in my lessons.
• I spoke—a lot. Since my goals were mostly about speaking, I made sure to speak in all my lessons. I never turned off speaking exercises (...except on the subway platform), I repeated everything out loud, and I used the microphone to speak answers even when I could have typed them.
• I took notes by hand. During the first week, I started keeping track of what I was learning—and what I wanted to remember—in a notebook. I made lists of words from memory, and I categorized them by grammatical gender . I wrote important question phrases (like "Where is ___ ?" and "How are you?") and made little groups of words (like "always," "never," "sometimes," and "often"). I wrote mini dialogues and imagined telling someone about myself. It didn't matter that no one was checking my work or grammar, because there was no way my German was going to be perfect in time for my trip anyway! Plus, making myself remember everything "from scratch" was just what I'd be doing in Germany.
• I saved important words and phrases in screenshots. Whenever I came across an important word (especially if it felt hard to me) or a useful phrase, I took a screenshot so I could easily flip back to it to practice. I used my screenshots when I wanted to add things to my notes, and also as an easy way to remind myself of vocabulary throughout the day. They were also a sneaky reminder whenever I opened my photos app!
• I used German every chance I could. Now, I didn't have tons of chances to practice using my German before I left for my trip… but I used every one of them! 😂 I said Guten Morgen! (Good morning!) to my English-speaking colleagues, I muttered greetings and my breakfast order under my breath while I walked to brunch, and I thanked hotel staff in German when I emailed them with questions.

In just the first week—completing the first three units of the course—I had already learned a lot of the key expressions and building blocks that I used in Germany:

• Vocabulary about food and drinks, like Kaffee (coffee), Brot (bread), and Wasser (water)
• Some words for people and animals, including Schwester (sister), Mann (man, husband), and Katze (cat)
• The most important question for travelers: Wo ist ___? (Where is ___?)
• Combining words like und (and) and oder (or), which were especially helpful for my food orders (always mit Käse, bitte "with cheese, please")
• Grammatical gender categories and basic word order
• A lot of words that will help me interact in conversations, including ja (yes), nein (no), bitte (please), and tschüss (bye)

By the end of Week 1, I could also introduce myself, make simple sentences ( Die Katze ist sehr gut! "The cat is very good"—which wasn't even in my lessons, I don't think!), and be polite (I knew I'd need Entschuldigung (excuse me) a lot!).

Here's some of what I learned to do in Units 4-7:

• Talk about where people are from ( Ich komme aus Amerika und Frau Heidi Klum kommt aus Deutschland, "I am from the U.S., and Ms. Heidi Klum is from Germany")
• Use formal titles and speak formally to others (I'd need this if I met Frau Klum or Frau Angela Merkel, according to my lessons)
• Discuss some activities and hobbies, conjugate verbs about them (!!), and say how often they happen—which means I can make longer sentences to say it all!
• Describe all kinds of buildings and businesses and where they are located (and I heard those direction words a lot, for where bathrooms were, which train doors would open, and more)
• Count up to 10, which was basically all I needed for a quick trip, since large numbers like prices were usually printed on receipts or displayed on cash registers

So, was 4 weeks enough to learn German?

I wouldn't say I learned the entire German language, but I had a great time with the German I learned! I kept track of what I was able to do in German in a Twitter thread . This was a really fun way to celebrate using the language during my trip, and I love having it as a souvenir to remember not just what I did in Germany, but all the ways I was able to use German!

I also accomplished all my goals: I was able to greet and be pleasant to German speakers, I recognized information all around me (including on menus and train schedules)—and I achieved my stretch goal of having a small conversation! Or, sort of 😅 The conversations I had were very tiny, but my big accomplishment was ordering my breakfast at a German café, in a convincing enough way that staff responded to me in German—far more German than I could understand! 🏆

For my traveling style, I'm much more comfortable having a few months of language study under my belt, like I had for Italy , so I can express myself better, understand people's responses, and put more words togethers. I felt comfortable and confident using what I learned in under a month, and I wonder how my German will be after eight months, next summer! 😉 🇩🇪

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