Ciao π
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have you noticed a change in the way Duolingo awards XP? π€
apparently this has been going on since the summer, although I've only just noticed since my recent switch to the German course
XP isn't something I usually pay much attention to given how easily it can be gamed,
and ever since Duolingo introduced the new Score system, it's become even less of a priority.
but recently (and without even trying!) i've been racking up the XP like never before...
so what's changed?...
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a flawed system βοΈβπ₯
before I get into the changes, let's quickly recap on what XP is and why it's flawed...
XP stands for Experience Points β‘οΈ
Duolingo dishes them out for pretty much everything you do
this includes:
- path lessons
- personalised practices
- stories
- timed challenges
- radio
- adventures
- roleplay
- video call
- practice hub sessions
for everything you complete, you get XP
and this XP goes towards your position in the weekly leagues...
so, the more XP you earn, the higher you climb π
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now, although this kind of competition can be motivating and encourage a greater work ethic, it often has the opposite effect...
rather than becoming more productive, it often leads to taking shortcuts -- i.e. looking for the easiest ways to earn XP... which (for the longest time) were at the expense of good learning habits π
for instance:
- only completing timed challenges
- repeating stories over and over again
- coasting in the easy levels
this made it easy to farm XP -- and therefore climb higher in the leaderboards -- but it didn't do much for improving in the language...
a quiet fix π§βπ§
so what did Duolingo do to address this? π€
well, the biggest change they made was to the amount of XP awarded on the path
the path, they recognised, is where the bulk of your learning takes place
this is where you encounter new content (e.g. vocabulary, grammar), whilst also going over content recently learned in previous units
however, a lot of learners were avoiding their paths and spending most of their time on other activities, such as timed challenges, stories or practice sessions
why?
well, I think there are a few reasons for this, but one of the main ones is that this is where they could earn the most XP in the shortest amount of time
which brings us to one of the longest-standing ironies about Duolingo:
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doing well in your language often means not doing well in your league,
while doing well in your league often means not doing well in your language π³
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how ridiculous! were't the leagues supposed to incentivise learning your language? π
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well, this is precisely why Duolingo has upped the amount of XP you can earn on the path βοΈ
back in the day, lessons only used to be worth about 10 XP...
now, they're worth 25 XP
with a combo bonus, this goes up to 30 XP πͺ
annnnnd with the recent introduction of 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0 XP Boosts to Daily Quests, it's now very easy to earn 90 XP per completed lesson π²
this is something i'm experiencing every day on my German course.
the more lessons I complete, the more XP each lesson seems to earn
i'll start off earning 25 XP per lesson
and within about 10 minutes I could be earning over a 100 (depending on the level)
as a result, I've been surging in the leagues... all without changing my learning habits!
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time to care? π€
that said, it's still very easy to game the XP system
given how easy it now is for IOS learners to get 3.0 XP Boosts, combining this with one of the latter Match Madness levels will still blow path-learners out of the water π«£
anyone on Super Duolingo or Duolingo Max has a huge advantage here, as they don't have to pay for timed challenge entries.
as such, XP still isn't an accurate reflection of Time-Spent-Learning-Well (as Duolingo calls it) or proficiency in your target language π
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the new Score system, which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, is still miles better in this respect
this gives you a way more accurate sense of your proficiency, and also encourages progress along your learning path
the main downside with Score is that it's only available in a few courses at the moment (and still hasn't been rolled out to all learners on those courses) π
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as such, the changes to the XP system are definitely welcome
at long last you can make healthy progress in your target language and still do well in your league.
it's still not perfect... but it's far better than it was. π
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π€ͺ Weird Duolingo π€ͺ
Thanks to everyone that sent in a Weird Duolingo contender last week. There were some absolute crackers to choose from!
In the end, I went with this beauty from Scott:
Ah, a classic love triangle: you, me, and mayonnaise. π
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