Ciao π
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how much time should you spend on Duolingo per day? π€
it's something that isn't always clear
5 minutes?
30 minutes?
an hour?
what's the sweet spot?
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now that I've switched to learning German, it's something I've been pondering a lot.
my goal is to get as close to B1 as possible by mid-January. and given my German is pretty hopeless at the minute, I know I'm gonna have to spend A LOT of time learning! π
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does that mean I should spend more time on Duolingo? or should I pump more of my time into other approaches and platforms? π€
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here's my thinking...
time is everything β³
everyone's got their 2 cents on what it takes to learn a language
we've all got our preferences
but I think one thing everyone agrees on is that, to learn a language, you've gotta devote a lot of time to it
that's how the American Foreign Service Institute (FSI) categorises languages.
they talk about how many "class hours" it takes to achieve "proficiency" (which seems to correlate with B2 on the CEFR - which is Upper Intermediate)
for languages like German, they recommend 900 class hours:
that's a lot of time! π«£
where Duolingo fits π¦
so does this mean that if I spend 900 hours on Duolingo I'm going to be proficient in German?
haha, no, not exactly
Class hours, as the FSI refers to it, essentially relates to active study with the language
i.e. sitting down and consciously studying it
Duolingo certainly fits into this category... but spending all of your time on Duolingo and nothing else isn't what they've got in mind!
now, as a structured, linear course, Duolingo is pretty useful for getting to grips with your target language
this is especially true if you're learning one of the popular courses like Spanish, French, or German
that's because these courses have the most content and features
they all go to at least B1 on the CEFR, meaning Duolingo covers content that you'll need in order to get to Intermediate
however, Duolingo alone lacks the authenticity and immersion that you need in order to truly reach that level
it's so important to use the language away from Duolingo as well
the sweet spot π
so what is the sweet spot? π€
how much time should you really spend on Duolingo?
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well, it depends on a few factors:
- the quality of your course (the German course is lightyears ahead of the Polish course)
- your current proficiency with the language (beginners should spend more time on Duolingo than intermediate learners)
- how much time you have to commit to your language
- your goals and priorities (e.g. learn your language vs winning your league)
- how you use Duolingo
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for me, with my current goal, I think roughly 30 minutes/day of path-based learning makes sense π
this means I devote the majority (if not all) of my time to progressing through my path
this ensures I'm encountering fresh content and increasing my Duolingo Score π
having this structured approach is pretty useful,
and with Duolingo Max, I get exposure to the language across the board:
reading, listening, typing and speaking
with 30 minutes a day, I can usually get pretty close to completing a unit, so this makes it a nice chunk of time
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I can then spend the rest of my time (roughly 1-2 hours) engaging with authentic content over on LingQ. YouTube videos, podcasts, audiobooks, mini-stories etc
there I can focus on growing my vocabulary database, adding to my Known Words total, and getting healthy exposure to the language.
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every now and then, I might dip in and out of a grammar book to brush up on some of the drabber (but essential) areas of German, or even just hop into ChatGPT if there's a question I have about a specific area of German grammar.
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so yeah, this is the balance that is working for me at the moment
not too much, not too little - and focussing on the right things. π
π€ͺ Weird Duolingo π€ͺ
so I thought I'd end with something a little bit different this week...
introducing a brand new segment for the newsletter:
π€ͺ Weird Duolingo π€ͺ
it's really simple: each week, I'm gonna share something weird and whacky from the world of Duolingo
it could be a sentence,
an excerpt from a story,
a technical glitch,
a meme,
whatever.
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if it's weird, it qualifies
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and to kick things off: this absolute corker that popped up in one of my German lessons the other day...
this is why I love Duolingo.
stupid sentences that I will absolutely never need π
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and now... I want to hear from you! π«΅
whether itβs a sentence that made you laugh out loud or something totally out of left field -- I want to see it!
simply reply with a screenshot of your Duolingo madness and it may feature in next week's newsletter π
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can't wait to hear from you!