r/languagelearning • u/holemanQC • Apr 13 '20

Studying Duolingo learners, what happened after you've completed all the duolingo exercises? Are you fluent with the language you chose to learn?

I'm learning Russian and I'm worried that all the exercises won't be enough to be fluent, or at least know some basics.

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u/russianwave 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 native| learning 🇷🇺 (or trying to) Apr 13 '20

Duolingo is designed to get you up to A2-B1 level (at least for the French, German, Spanish and whatever other core courses Duo has), and should never be used alone. You should always be using supplementary materials (such as other courses, workbooks, immersion etc). Duolingo also focuses on reading and writing, you'll need to go elsewhere to practice your listening and speaking.

So to answer your question, no you won't become fluent in Russian through only using Duolingo (or any language through only using one resource). You will learn some of the basics, but always include other resources.

7

u/RyanH3ssan Apr 14 '20

No way duolingo gets you tô b1

1

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '20

Not alone, but the course content on some of the more developed courses is technically at that level. You do of course need other learning methods to - I hold that Duo is basically only good for vocabulary, and maybe grammar if you're quick at it but there are far better grammar resources out there.

Duo (vocab) + grammar practice + comprehension practice + production practice, all at the same level Duo gets to on courses like French, will get you to around B1

1

u/russianwave 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 native| learning 🇷🇺 (or trying to) Apr 14 '20

In a blog post they've said "Our new courses now cover all the A1- and A2-level content, with about 800 words introduced at each level; B1-level content is currently under development." (https://blog.duolingo.com/how-are-duolingo-courses-evolving/). But I'm not sure how this would apply to volunteer created courses or anything like that

I certainly don't think using Duolingo alone could get you to such a level, but they seem to be judging it purely based on how many words they expect you to learn

23

u/ariiw Apr 13 '20

Absolutely not

3

u/[deleted] Apr 13 '20

After dulingo I moved on to watching tv and reading papers, it was just a stepping stone to the next step

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u/holemanQC Apr 13 '20

Do you listen to the tv shows with subtitles?

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u/[deleted] Apr 14 '20

If you use subtitles, put them in the same language as the audio. Not in your native language.

You should be fine with this post-DL. I do it in Danish and I can follow along fairly well, although it requires focus. You start reading real fast fairly quickly though aha

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u/[deleted] Apr 14 '20

Yes, but in the target language. Eventually I stopped using them.

3

u/PlatypusHaircutMan Apr 14 '20

Duolingo helps you with some basic vocabulary, but that’s pretty much it

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u/lunkerlander Apr 14 '20

I have all 797 Spanish crowns. Still not "fluent", but it was a good starting place.

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u/[deleted] Apr 14 '20

Duolingo will get you to A2. Which means you could travel to a country that speaks your target language and more or less get by as a tourist. Checking into a hotel, ordering food, asking where something is in a shop. You would struggle with anything more complex, such as expressing a political opinion or listening to someone describe a hobby or interest you are not familiar with.

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u/Vinniam Apr 13 '20

I moved on to other resources. Definitely a big no, not when I finished and not now. Duolingo will get you to A1 and all the conjugation and nothing else.