Lang1234.com
Search site (except tables):
  • Better Language Teaching
  • Reviews for Beginners
  • Best Courses in Each Language
  • Lessons
  • News

Duolingo

8/1/2029

0 Comments

 
Review of Duolingo.com
Web+Apps, No pronunciation scores, free, ★
They teach a little speaking, a lot of dictation, text, pictures, and translation.

They show a lot of text and spelling variations before having you speak. Then you speak just once before they go on to more text, so there is no chance to practice pronunciation. When you speak, they mark you correct even with very poor pronunciation. All the text they show can mislead you into pronouncing letters as they would be said in your own language, rather than in the language you are learning.

Therefore it does not help beginners learn good pronunciation. It also starts slowly, teaching 7 words in 10 minutes.

Its focus is on translation, to get free translations of web pages from more advanced learners. There is also dictation, where you type what you hear, and they check it. Dictation can be helpful to intermediate students, helping them learn what the language sounds like at full speed, There is also a turtle button to slow it down a little.

All the languages they teach are available in better programs, which are also free and which teach more, such as Book2, BBC, and FSI.

Other than those free programs, if you can spend $25-$30, try Transparent, or at least a  month of Pronunciator. These listen when you speak into a headset or microphone, so they can score your pronunciation. Transparent has the best graphs of your pronunciation. Pronunciator lets beginners learn from pictures, with no distractions in your own language, and they have more vocabulary. Pronunciator conjugates 100 verbs, and it lets you choose topics which interest you. Transparent has some grammar, and you can keep using it without a monthly subscription.

Duolingo sponsored a study by Vesselinov and Grego of 196 Duolingo students learning Spanish. They tried to test students 2 months apart, using a written test (no listening or speaking) developed for college placement at Brigham Young university (WebCAPE).
  • 108 students did not take the 2nd test, perhaps because they had dropped the course,
  • 16 of the 88 students who took both tests were complete beginners, scoring zero on the first test. These were too few to study separately.
  • The 88 who took both tests saw their test scores rise an average of 8 points per hour of study (on a scale of 0 to 956), though some students' scores fell.
  • Based on the learning rate of all 88 students, the authors conclude a complete beginner would need 34 hours to learn as much written material as taught in the first semester of college study.
  • Most actual beginners did not spend enough time to cover a semester. Indeed most lower level students dropped out of the study. Among the 157 initially scoring less than first semester competence, 57% did not take the second test.
  • About half of higher level students dropped out.
  • Most students who stayed with the project studied less than 20 hours during the 2 months.
  • The average student was 34 years old. 69% had already graduated from college. More than a quarter already knew at least one foreign language.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Like:  Facebook, Twitter,
    Google+1,  Renren,  Weibo,
    Baidu Like,  Baidu Tieba,
    Baidu Cang,
    Reddit

    Dates are assigned arbitrarily to sort the articles.  Most articles have been updated more recently.

    Reviews of Courses

    All
    $
    $$$
    $0
    0bstacles
    0missions
    0ptimum Learning Time
    0verview
    101 Languages
    2practice
    50languages
    About Us
    Alison
    All Languages
    Andriantsivohony
    Arizona
    Asiatheque
    Assimil
    Auralog
    Babbel
    Babla
    Barrons
    Bbc
    Behindthewheel
    Berlitzaudiocd
    Berlitzcdrom
    Berlitzonline
    Bilingualbooks
    Blair
    Book2
    Britishcouncil
    Broadway
    Buske
    Busuu
    Byki
    Canada
    Carla
    Centralindian
    Colloquial
    Contact Us
    Cortina
    Criticallanguages
    Dalarna
    Defenselanguage
    Deutschewelle
    Deutschmitjulia
    Dietrichreimer
    Dioluin
    Dkpublishing
    Dorlingkindersley
    Drblair
    Drivein
    Drivetime
    Dummies
    Dunwoody
    Duolingo
    Dynamicenglish
    Dyned
    Earworms
    Elanguage
    Englishcentral
    Esperanto
    Europeanunion
    Eurotalk
    Faithcomesby
    Firstvoices
    Fluenz
    Foreign Service Inst
    Free Samples
    Fsi
    Gettheskill
    Gibberish
    Globalrecordings
    Gloss
    Goenglishme
    Harmattan
    Hearsay
    Hotels
    Hueber
    Hugo
    Idiotsguide
    Ielanguages
    In10minutesaday
    Indian
    Innotime
    Instantimmersion
    Intermediate
    Internetpolyglot
    Justenough
    Kauderwelsch
    Kershul
    Klett
    Langenscheidt
    Language30
    Languageguide
    Langues+mondes
    Learn35
    Learnables
    Learnalanguage
    Learninyourcar
    Learnoasis
    Learntospeak
    Letslearn
    Linguaphone
    Listennlearn
    Livemocha
    Livinglanguage
    Livingtongues
    Lonelyplanet
    Looknlearn
    Lund
    Madesimple
    Mango
    Maps
    Martindale
    Mcgrawhill
    Michelthomas
    Mp3
    Newspaperreader
    Obstacles
    Omissions
    Openculture
    Overview
    Parlons
    Passport
    Peacecorps
    Pimsleur
    Polyglot
    Powerglide
    Practicenimprove
    Privacy Policy
    Pronunciation
    Pronunciator
    Quickonlinetips
    Quizlet
    Radio
    Randomhouse
    Reise
    Rocket
    Rosettastone
    Rudigerkoppe
    Schaumsoutlines
    Schools
    Scored
    Skype
    Slang
    Speakinaweek
    Speedlearning
    Spokenlanguage
    Spreadsheet
    Startspeaking
    Stella
    Survivalphrases
    Swarthmore
    Talk
    Teachselfbusiness
    Teachyourself
    Tellmemore
    Texas
    Ticketto
    Transparent
    Traveltalk
    Ucla
    Voa
    Vocabularybuilder
    Vocabulearn
    Wannalearn
    Worldtalk
    Yabla
    Youtube

    Locations of Site Visitors

    RSS Feed

      Write in any language.
      Write in any language.
    Send