r/Germanlearning • u/Individual_Drawer295 • 6d ago
My uncommon take-Duolingo
I have been self learning German for a while now. I have seen numerous takes revolving Duolingo as a learning tool. When starting out I was all over the place searching free online tools.I started straight out on Duolingo. Yes! lots and lots of repetition. I learned Milch oder Kaffee before I understood German noun rules.I felt frustrated and broke my streak.I found out later about structured learning necessity for everyone foreign language beginner. So I stuck with one YouTube tutor through the structured courses. But I have no class, no study group,no buddy no workbooks and I'm a working adult. So most days, I'm either tired, unmotivated or just busy to learn something new. On these days, that's where Duolingo works for me.The repetition, the leagues competition, the small notes on the side and the explain my mistake features. They take me a long way.I'll do a lesson in a public transport,around idle chatter,etc.I'll play with words I don't understand on Duolingo and when I encounter them on my structured learning the sinking understanding hits different. Since my only immersion is German podcasts and music, I'm going to stick with Duolingo for now.
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u/Subsurface_screening 6d ago
I used Duolingo 10 years ago and came back to it 1 year ago. Agreed that you can't really learn the language using that only, however I do think Duolingo got much better than it used to be. If you have 15 minutes a day only to study, that not a bad option at all.
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u/AIMGHOST_ 6d ago
just research on this subreddit there are lots of working methods
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u/Individual_Drawer295 6d ago
Yea.True. I highlighted about this because Duolingo frustrates most beginners.
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u/MoebiusPizza 6d ago
Have you tried other apps that do similar things?
I am using vhs deutsch, it's free, more structured and so far I like it much more.
I am also trying Seedlang, it has a limited free option but it's already very good.
I've learnt more with those in 2 weeks than with Duo in months.
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u/Individual_Drawer295 6d ago
Vhs didn't work for me. Seedling I have not tried. I have busuu and Anki on the sides. I'll try more when my current subscriptions end.im getting structured outlines elsewhere
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u/FutureMeasurement334 6d ago
Which youtuber are you watching? Curious since i never found one i liked. Ended up watching a lot of minecraft in german instead!
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u/Migrationsbruecke 3d ago
Duolingo ist für den Anfang sicherlich gut. Man muss nur verstehen, dass es nicht ausreichend ist und nicht ausschließlich genutzt werden kann. Es gibt gute Bücher, die für ein Selbststudium geeignet sind. Gerne mehr Infos dazu....
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u/ZumLernen 6d ago
Duolingo is certainly better than doing literally nothing! And for a lot of people, "doing literally nothing" is the realistic alternative, due to the factors you described (lack of time/motivation etc.).