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Comment by Benjamin_Dobell | Hacker News Reader

I've been running through the Japanese course daily for the last 2 months. I'm learning to read somewhat, but I doubt that if I was to speak I would be understood.

I understand there are limitations to this format. However, what drives me nuts is the fact I can't just enable the Japanese keyboard (which I've installed) to type out answers. Instead I just select the correct predefined answer from a list. This allows me to pick the "most likely answer" with a very high success rate, but that's not going to help me in the wild.

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I find Duolingo to work best when I go against its desired way and do it my own.

If it asks me to translate a sentence with the multiple choice options, I translate it first before looking at the options. I listen before reading.

Most importantly, ignore streaks, ladders, and most of the gamification. My learning was hindered just doing a quick lesson to keep a streak, or by doing lighting rounds to gain xp.

I wouldn't learn the lessons if I was just trying to further the gamification. But taking my time, doing them when I'm in a good space to learn has been my best result

Is that something unique to Japanese, or maybe if you're on Android?

I'm learning Spanish on the iOS app. I installed the Spanish keyboard, and whenever a text field appears my keyboard is automatically set to Spanish

May well be Japanese course specific. I am on Android and checked on web also — same experience. I have an iPhone too though, so will check it out and report back.

In my experience with the Japanese course, there are no text prompts at all. Well, not in the main course. You do receive prompts when learning the Japanese alphabets, but these text prompts are specifically asking for the Romanised pronunciation.

Same on iPhone. I assume they only allow typing on languages that use the same character set?

I just started Japanese and on the web client for me I can type answers with my keyboard in Japanese mode just fine. Including submitting answers with kanji even though it hasn’t covered any yet

Interesting. Are you on mobile web, or desktop? I tried on mobile web on a tablet and phone, but haven't tried desktop.

Desktop

Android allows an app to define the language which you want the keyboard to use: `setImeHintLocales`, but I've only seen Gboard respond to this

You might want to give Bunpro a shot, it makes you type the answers in Japanese and I find it forces me to nail down exactly how to use a grammar point correctly (it's also usually fairly good about accounting for situations where there are multiple correct answers, and will give you a hint and let you make another attempt if you're only slightly wrong).

Even worse, they only give one coherent response to multiple choice questions. No similar words that learers frequently mix up. Usually words that are never mentioned in the unit.

It works for Chinese input for me.

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