Ciao π
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if you're a free Duolingo user, then you may have noticed a change to the way you can complete your daily lessons
it rolled out to a lot of users some time ago, and recently it's hit even more devices
the change affects how much time you can realistically spend on Duolingo each day
it's upset a lot of users π
but Duolingo has a very clear reason for doing it...
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so what's happened? π€
it all centres around one of Duolingo's most controversial features:
the heart system β€οΈ
for free users, a heart is essentially a life
you can have a maximum of 5 at any one time
if you make a mistake in your lessons, you lose one π
and if you lose all of your hearts... then you can't complete any more lessons πͺ¦
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to get your hearts back, you can do one of the following:
- buy with gems π
- add friends π―
- watch ads πΊ
- wait for them to regenerate (6 hours per heart) β³
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but for sure the most popular way to earn back hearts was to complete a practice session π
a practice session was a risk-free environment for you to practice your target language without the threat of losing hearts
not only could you crack on with your language without the fear of making mistakes, but you would also unlock hearts for each completed session
naturally, this is where a lot of users ended up spending their time
they could then jump back into their paths and tackle their lessons as normal.
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that was... until Duolingo removed the practice option β οΈ
why Duolingo did this
the answer is simple:
Duolingo want more users to start paying π°
those who subscribe to Super Duolingo and Duolingo Max get the Unlimited Hearts option, which means they can make as many mistakes as they want without having their license to learn taken away from them π
the monetisation push was confirmed by Duolingo's VP of Engineering, Sean Colombo, in a recent AMA on the Duolingo Subreddit:
the key point he makes is this:
How we're currently thinking about monetization is that we want to make it so that people who use Duolingo a lot, and get value from it, and can afford to pay, will pay for our premium features just like they would with Netflix, Spotify, etc., without others having to pay.
he acknowledges it's a tricky balance -- asking those in more affluent countries to pay so that those in developing parts of the world can continue to use Duolingo for free.
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but is this really the right approach? π€...
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why users are upset
it doesn't take a genius to understand why a lot of Duolingo users are up in arms about the change
many having been learning on Duolingo for free for many, many years
however, with each passing year, it seems as though more pressure is applied to start paying
the free experience gets worse to make the paid experience look better
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naturally, a lot of users resent this kind of pressure, and will resist at every opportunity π€
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but it's not just the pressure to pay that leaves a sour taste...
Duolingo's lifelong mission has been to make language learning free
just take a look at Duolingo's About page back in 2012:
scroll down a little further and you'll see this interesting explanation:
we see similar language on the Duolingo homepage back in 2016:
and even today they have this to say on their 'Mission' page:
I think it's fair to say the ship has sailed on "...no premium content, just free." π¬
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for some users, this feels like a betrayal of the original mission, perhaps inevitable after Duolingo's IPO back in 2021
now, Duolingo is a fully-fledged public company with shareholders to satisfy
profit and growth is the name of the game π
and while Duolingo is technically still free to use, its current state is a far-cry from what it was originally setup to be
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this now begs the question...
to pay or not to pay? π³
is Duolingo worth paying for? π€
it's entirely up to you
it all depends on your situation and how staunchly you believe Duolingo should be free π€·
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on this, I can only talk from my perspective
which is: I don't mind paying for something I get value from.
as Colombo fairly pointed out: I pay for things like Netflix and Spotify,
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and the same goes for other language learning platforms like LingQ -- something I pay for without hesitation...
should Duolingo really be any different? π€
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after all, Iβm thoroughly enjoying the German course π©πͺ
itβs hitting all the right notes at all the right times
and with Duolingo Max, Iβm getting access to a bunch of different features that keep it fresh and engaging
sure, Max is pretty steep compared to Super (and even steeper when compared to free!)
but itβs a service I use every day, and have done for over 8-and-a-half years
Iβm cool with giving something back
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but again, thatβs just my view.
I get why so many are frustrated with the latest push to pay, especially when you consider Duolingoβs original mission.
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but what do you think?...
| Do you think Duolingo should charge for its features? π€ |
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π€ͺ Weird Duolingo π€ͺ
Following on from last week's potato-ey oddness...
Linda's dug out this corker from the Japanese course:
Nothing like a little potato-based character assassination to keep your lessons spicy. Thanks, Duo. π
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Caught a strange Duolingo sentence? Let me know, and it might appear in a future email!