hola ๐
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have you noticed Duolingo's latest level? ๐ง
it's started popping up on a number of courses over the last few weeks
it takes a fresh spin on one of Duolingo's classic exercises, and aims to pitch it in a more practical, effective manner
but does it really make that much of a difference?...
what's the new level? ๐ค
Duolingo's new level is called Speak
you'd be forgiven for missing it as it takes on a similar look and feel to the Speaking practice available in the Practice Hub
it suddenly popped up for me in my German course on iOS the other day, and it's backfilled through the parts of my course I've already completed
so far I've seen it pop up in the following courses:
- Spanish ๐ช๐ธ
- French ๐ซ๐ท
- German ๐ฉ๐ช
- Italian ๐ฎ๐น
- Japanese ๐ฏ๐ต
- Korean ๐ฐ๐ท
- Chinese ๐จ๐ณ
if you've got it, you'll see it on your path, represented by a little microphone:
how it works ๐ฃ๏ธ
Speak is a one-lesson level that aims to prepare you for common interactions in your target language
it tends to focus on a handful of question and answer pairings, getting you used to both hearing and saying them ๐ช
it does this by, firstly, introducing you to the question part of the pairing:
just as you do in the ordinary speaking exercises, you simply hit the 'tap to speak' button and repeat what's on screen
as you go through, you'll notice that Duolingo drops some of the words...
this encourages you to rely on your instinct, recalling what you've learned earlier in the level
so in the example above, you would say: Arbeitest du jeden Tag?
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once you've gone through the question part of the pairing, you then do the same with the answer part, repeating a response over and over again, with parts of the sentence getting hidden each time:
so here you would say: Ja, ich arbeite jeden Tag (Yes, I work every day)
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and if you forget what to say, you can just tap the speaker button next to the sentence for a reminder ๐
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all this prepares you for the final part of the level, which brings the two parts of the interaction together. you simply respond to the question using the answer you learned earlier:
so again, here you would respond: Ja, ich arbeite jeden Tag
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and that's all there is to it!
how effective is the new Speak mode? ๐
the new Speak mode aims to prepare you for real-life interactions (something Duolingo's always struggled with)
but how effective is it? ๐ค
well, at this stage, it's difficult to say
it's only been available for a little while so I'll need to spend some more time with it to get a proper feel
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but the thinking behind it is really good ๐
repeating the same sentences over and over again can seem a bit boring, but it's the best way of committing the sound and feel of common questions and responses to memory
it trains you to ask and reply instinctively, rather than having to translate on the fly, which always stifles conversations
the format of the sentences you encounter can then be used to form other sentences
e.g. Arbeitest du jeden Tag? can easily become: Schwimmst du jede Woche?
and: Ja, ich arbeite jeden Tag can then become: Ja, ich schwimme jede Woche
it gives you the building blocks to naturally and instinctively build your own sentences moving forward, which is one of the best ways to improve your conversations ๐
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I can already see it complementing Duolingo's other conversation modes quite nicely...
for instance, one of Video Call's biggest weaknesses at the moment is that it doesn't do a great job of preparing you for the conversations you have
Lily will ask you questions, and even if you understand what she's asking, it can be hard to know how to reply (especially in the beginning) ๐ตโ๐ซ
sometimes you end up getting in your head and, before you know it, she's interrupting you
now, this isn't too dissimilar to real-life conversations to be fair, and a lot of getting beyond this is to just keep practicing (as I found out when I was learning Italian ๐ฎโ๐จ)
but to have some basic preparation would also be very helpful
and I think this is something the new Speak mode could provide ๐
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so let's see how it goes
compared to some of Duolingo's other new features, it's not really that *new*
it just takes a longstanding exercise and remixes it into a different format
however, when combined with other modes and exercises, it could go a long way
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it's great to see Duolingo finally making a big push on conversation practice ๐ช
๐คช Weird Duolingo ๐คช
We're swapping potatoes for parsnips in this week's Weird Duolingo...
Thanks to Sue for pulling up this beauty:
Because nothing says "wild night out" like stocking up on root vegetables ๐บ
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Seen a weird-ass sentence? Let me know... and it could feature in a future newsletter!