Duolingo has nothing to do with self improvement, it's just a shiny presentation for highly addictive game.
We should reward quality of engagement, not just length of it.
We should reward quality of engagement, not just length of it.
All in all, it is actually one app that is beneficial or at least harmless.
Today on the shadow libraries, you have your pick of a number of self-teaching textbooks for free, allowing you to find an approach that fits your learning style. No need to rely on a dodgy corporate app.
> Today on the shadow libraries, you have your pick of a number of self-teaching textbooks for free
No, self teaching textbooks are not better for me.
That is more then just writing hello word. That is equivalent of "taught me basic programming, so I was able to write my first javascript game and continue learning by doing own projects". That definitely has large value for someone at 0.
It literally is maybe not by your metric but someone elses metric that can absolutely be a success. Sometimes getting up in the morning is a success for people I've been there I know what that's like. I'm kind of amused at the gatekeeping of what a 'success' is here. Guy said he has literally learned things that have stuck with him sounds like something he marks as a success to me, not like he was taking the course for college credit and had to demonstrate fluency lol
edit: yea the guy is now consuming media in a foreign language and has had small convos based on what he learned on duolingo. idk man smells like success
"anyone who's done even a modicum of research knows that holding a conversation... reading literature, consuming media...duolingo isnt going to do these things for you."
Your edit makes it sound like not only did I argue that what he did is not success, but that thinking so was dumb, while we both thought the same thing five minutes ago. In fact I argued that beginning a task does not constitute success in that task.
If OP is not exaggerating his success that is highly impressive and hard to believe, so good for him. That had nothing to do with anything else I said though.
I can watch some netflix shows with no subtitles at all - Seinfield, crime shows, documentaries, that sort of thing. I cant watch stuff with more complicated vocabulary ("you" or "the good place" are harder).
I listen to spanish radio - causual shows about world news or audiodramas like "retornados".
I had an easy small talk once. I dont have people to converse with and honestly dont care about it. Duolingo claims its courses go a little over B1 - you start B2 content but dont finish it. So, it would be unreasonable to expect full on conversation considering I did not finished it. And yes, it is normal for me to not finish long thing I started. When I could watch netflix I ended up binging on it, it was fun, so I dropped the rest. I mean, not doing 10min of duolingo meant watching 10min more.
2.) You do not know what most people want. You are making a wild guess, based on nothing. You know even less about what most people attracted to Duolingo want.
3.) Most people who need to learn foreign language for school or work reason still dislike language learning. Most people find it both boring and draining. A tool that makes it not sux is a big deal for those people too.
4.) You suggested textbooks. You will NOT pass B1 test with textbooks only. You will have serious issues with listening comprehension. Even if you are that unusual kind of person that will persist learning alone from textbook.
5.) You can pass B1 test with Duolingo only. That is not something unusual or exceptional, it actually gives you everything you need for that particular formal test. B1 is not that high.
6.) People who learn from comprehensible input only/primary are also able to pass B1 tests.
8.) A lot of passive media consumption is necessary for learning foreign language. No matter whether you use textbook or Duolingo or comprehensible input, consuming media is the core part of it all.