Duolingo
This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z Challenge 2023.
I have chosen to write about my story of
association with the Duolingo App for the letter ‘D’. As many of you might
already know about or use Duolingo App, I would say it has become an addiction,
a productive addiction. Currently, I’m on a 615-day strike for German and
Finnish languages. In this post, I am going to reveal my motivation behind
choosing and learning these languages.
When I was doing my Masters, somewhere I
read that the strongest passport in the world is that of Germany and by
acquiring it one can travel the maximum number of countries. I have always had
the desire to travel the world, meet people, and get to know their cultures and
stories. When I researched the eligibility of acquiring the passport, one must
know German well. That planted a seed of desire in me to learn German. Apart
from that, I never planned or intended to travel to Germany.
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| Screenshot of my Profile in Duolingo App |
I started learning German at the Prince
Margaret Hospital of Hong Kong in April 2021 where I was admitted as a patient
of COVID. It was very very easy in the beginning and I felt like giving up due
to the monotonicity or repetitiveness of the exercises but the concept of day
strike made me hooked to it. Later I realized that the repetitiveness of
exercises ensured the retention of words for a longer period and it is an
essential part of learning any language. Duolingo App provided a variety of
exercises designed for reading, writing, and listening, making the learning
process wholesome. There is also a provision to revisit the exercises which you
chose incorrectly. There’s a lightning round to increase your points as XP
rapidly and I am so fond of matching exercises. There are friend Quests where
you along with someone randomly chosen from your contacts will have to complete
given tasks within a deadline. There are monthly challenges in terms of
attaining some XP which decide one’s position in the leaderboard and eventually
the league.
My story of learning Finnish on the Duolingo App is simple. When I learned about our moving to Finland from
my husband, I started learning Finnish. I found German easier than Finnish contrary
to many learners. It may be because I
had already spent more than a year learning German when I started learning
Finnish, so I felt comfortable in German. Whenever I saw any English word, its
German equivalent came to my mind effortlessly. So, I have taken a break in
Finnish.
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| Screenshot of my Duolingo progress of German |
This year I took a paid subscription for a
year to Duolingo App to learn faster by avoiding advertisements coming up after
each exercise. There are also many benefits of opting for a paid subscription
like freezing the day strike in case you miss it, unlimited hearts to practice
for a long time,
I haven’t found any app so addictive as
Duolingo and it keeps praising the users to have spent the time productively
and effectively rather than scrolling aimlessly in social media. As I believe
in forming habits rather than chasing goals, spending time on Duolingo is a
perfect example of learning a language in a consistent way without feeling
pressurized. When the learning becomes fun, the progress comes out to be
cumulative and grand.
All Rights Reserved
Swati Sarangi
04.04.2023
