[Semaphor]

It’s useless for properly learning a language. For getting the basics of a language in a game-y way that doesn’t feel like studying, it’s great. My wife managed to pass her German A1 (CEFR [0]) exam almost completely by just using Duolingo. She took some free Deutsche Welle exam prep courses in the week before, but to even get to the level to understand those, she used Duolingo.

If you need to learn a language quickly, I’d call it the wrong tool. If you are okay spending time properly studying a language, I’d say that will be better. But for certain cases, Duolingo is great.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_R...

[vr46]

So I am using Duolingo as I will have to take the sane exam at some point over the next year or two. I think it works ok for being able to consume simple German but less well for understanding spoken German, or constructing one’s own ideas.

In other words, it doesn’t make the hard things easy or easier.

It is a great alternative to wasting time on social media or news sites, however.

[Semaphor]

The A1 exam is a pretty simple test ;)

[vr46]

Is that right? So how come they’re charging a fortune for the course in London??!!