The Solution For All Your Foreign Language Problems?

I’d like to start off by saying that for this article, I’m afraid I have to address a very particular demographic. They will not include international students, foreign language students […]


I’d like to start off by saying that for this article, I’m afraid I have to address a very particular demographic. They will not include international students, foreign language students or those who are fluent through traditional methods. I apologise for that, but I don’t think you have a language problem…!

And so then, there are the rest of us. We all want to learn a foreign language. The reasons why are both practical and romantic; it makes your CV stand out, chatting up the stud in the taverna is fun rather than daunting, etc, etc. Who is truly adverse to the idea, when one only speaks one language (English, if you’re reading this), to speaking another? There are few logical reasons against it. Who doesn’t want to be more like the Dutch or the Swedish, who on average speak four and six languages after their first respectively?

The problem is actually how difficult it is. I can tell you with absolute assurance that I have to spend a lot of time maintaining three foreign languages, and I’m not fluent in all of them. You have to be exposed to this language every day for it to stay strong, like working out in the gym to strengthen muscles. If you moved away from home and never spoke your mother tongue again, you would unfortunately forget it, unless you were exposed to it in some way. This is why there are so many language societies here; it’s keeping in touch with home.

Are you the same? Do you struggle to learn languages, and really wish you could rattle off in German, French, Spanish, whatever? Do you want to travel to where these languages are spoken without having to wave your arms frantically for some bread and cheese? Well then, listen up. I have a proposal for you.

Enter Duolingo. It’s a website where you can sign up, for free, to learn French, German, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese. The program is entirely powered by similar algorithms used in Rosetta Stone, where words are introduced slowly.

For example, in the Portuguese section (which is what I am studying at the moment), you start off with the words gato (cat) maça (apple) and mulher (woman). Verbs such as comer (to eat) and ser (to be) are introduced to form sentences, to encourage our mind to use the words as their own entity, rather than direct translations. As you progress and watch the sentences form, you can gain a stronger sense of how the sentences are constructed, and being introduced slowly makes you feel more confident and you make fewer simple mistakes than you would by more traditional methods.

The set up is thus: You do a lesson where you can gain up to 13 points, where you have 10 points for completing the lesson plus up to three from the hearts you have not lost. You lose a heart for every mistake you make. The questions include sentences that you translate from your target language to English and back again, as well a multiple choice, listening and speaking (microphone required).

There are also speed challenges, where you must answer twenty questions in two minutes. These are very helpful, as stress encourages you to remember the words and be more fluent in speaking.

There is also a section on real life translation, where the site makes its money. The theory is that you translate pieces from an article in your target language, with help from the in-built site dictionary for points. Duolingo then sells the translations, thus being able to maintain the site. Win-win!

Not forgetting, of course, discussion boards and forums, where translations are discussed (for example, the difference between ela/ele or tassa/copo) and natives explain certain cultural inflections in lessons or in the real life translations.

As you level up, you can progress to more interesting articles, and, if you like doing that sort of thing, tell Twitter and Facebook how you shot down those Present Tense Verbs (oh yeah!).

If you want more convincing of the strength of Duolingo’s teaching power, look no further than the study by Roumen Vesselinov at the City University of New York, quoted by the New Scientist to have “used standard tests of language ability to assess the skills of just under 200 people who had learned Spanish on Duolingo for eight weeks.”

The discovery was that “students needed to spend an average of 34 hours to learn the material that is normally covered in the first semester of a university Spanish course.” Although perhaps a little flawed by how university courses are only 2 or 3 hours a week, it still shows the strength of Duolingo as you can do it anytime, anywhere (with internet connection, of course…).

Of course, there are hitches. You have to motivate yourself to go and do it every day, which you are reminded every day through your email. On the Beta-Versions, the translations are a little dodgy, due to some being contributed by users who are also learning! However, the Duolingo team are very active in sorting out problems and issues.

But it’s also a poor replacement for interacting with native speakers. I suspect I would horrify Portuguese readers with my Portuguese, for I have learnt many words, but not necessarily how to order them. It’s an excellent tool to get started; however, once you begin to seriously progress, it’s good to practise your new skills in the real world.

Indeed, according to Adam Costa of Fluent in Three Months in his very insightful review of Duolingo, he points out (particularly with the real world translation), “I still use Duolingo to keep learning [but] it’s not a substitute for learning”. At the time of writing he was in Peru, where he could take his new words outside to practise.

So, my conclusion is, if you want help with learning a language, Duolingo is excellent. However, a program to cover all of ones needs that is free to use? We shall all have to wait.

What do you think? Would you give it go? Write your comments below.

The website: http://duolingo.com/

Fluent in Three Months Review: http://www.fluentin3months.com/duolingo/

ALSO; New Scientist’s review http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2013/01/duolingo-language-learning.html