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Comment by skizm | Hacker News Reader

I’ve got a trip to Spain in 4 months. I know a few spanish words now, but nothing beyond that. Will Duolingo get me to some level of being able to muddle my way through conversations (assuming the other person knows I’m a tourist and is using small words) in that timeframe?

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If you're able to dedicate time and focus to it, Duolingo will at least get you familiar with words and phrases, so that you can read and recognize more common words (street signs, menus, etc.)

Depending on your fluency and your current ability with other languages, it may get you to the point where you can understand someone who is speaking clear and deliberately enunciated Spanish to you. It may also get you to the point where they can understand your clear and deliberately enunciated Spanish as well.

There's no guarantees, but jumping into it right now is free and you can gain a certain level of confidence regarding how much it might help you pretty quickly. There's literally no reason not to try.

No. When the reception asks if you want to check in or the shopkeeper asks if you need a bag.. you won't get that from Duolingo. You'll learn the word for an apple though and if your memory is good you'll be able to recall it when needed.

The Japanese course did in fact teach me what "apple" is, but for some reason it taught me to apologize (appleogize?) for being one.

or my personal favorite, getting tripped up by a followup question from a server like "do you want mustard with that?" etc.

And then when they see you slightly confused they inevitably just say it in English.. rendering your months of using Duolingo pointless

One of the first places I ate at in a majority Spanish speaking country was called Mostaza. It means mustard in Spanish and is a burger place.

Duolingo is good to gain familiarity with common words when you legit don't know a lick of the other language in question, but once you gain a passing familiarity, I would recommend finding someone who speaks Spanish and practicing with them!

I would highly recommend the Memrise app instead and maybe some actual study when you start getting into grammar you don’t understand if time permits.

Depending on how much time you're willing to put in, it can help a lot. 15-30 minutes twice a day would be a good start.

No. Duolingo is gamified junk.

How much time per day do you have to study?

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