EDIT: “Why I Decided To Delete My Duolingo Profile” was written before Duolingo announced that it was an “AI first” company and would lay off their human staff members. Hearing that confirmed that I had made the right decision. I could tell this was the direction it was going to take to be honest and wasn’t a fan of the AI integration as it was since it made the app much less user friendly. Read more about Duolingo’s AI first decision here.
I didn’t have too much else to talk about today so I thought I would talk about why I decided to delete my Duolingo profile some time ago. Some of my blogging friends followed me on there so I thought I would talk about it here although generally I am not one to announce every small change I make (I absolutely am, actually lol).
For those of you that don’t know, I’ve been learning German for years now on Duolingo. I’ve talked about it on past posts and at the time loved learning on Duolingo. But for a while now, I’ve noticed changes to the app that have made me less and less excited about my lessons. And recently, I decided to delete my Duolingo profile for good because it just wasn’t working for me anymore.
These are the main reasons why I decided to delete my Duolingo profile:
Too Competitive
When I first started Duolingo (years ago), it was very much focused on the learning aspect but as time went by it became all about the tournaments and doing a minimum amount of XP and challenges etc. It became so competitive which really took away from just focusing on learning the language. It also bugged me that you had hearts as though it’s a video game or something. It’s not and you shouldn’t be punished for getting something wrong. That’s not the way I want to learn a new language or anything new really.
The Ads
It started out with almost no ads, then a few ads and more recently it’s like I spent more times staring at ads I couldn’t care less about than I was learning. It got to the point where the ads were so long and kept trying to push users to buy the paid plans. Like, I’m sorry but not everyone wants that and if someone is interested one or two ads are enough. An ad after every freaking lesson is so exhausting. I get that the app is technically free and ads help keep it that way but at the same time the ads were too excessive. They ruined the experience.
Not Actually Learning Much
In my experience and apparently according to many former Duolingo users, you’re not actually learning much of the language. It felt like we were learning random words and phrases but there’s more to languages than that. If you get to a country and only know words/phrases instead of the actual language you’re going to not be a happy traveller.
Especially towards the end, I really felt like I was learning nothing for a number of reasons. Firstly, like I said I was learning random stuff without a proper lesson on the how’s, why’s, what’s etc. Secondly, because of the hearts system you basically lose a heart every time you get something wrong. Which makes it more like a game than a lesson. I don’t mind getting things incorrect and don’t think users should be penalised for that. It was also obvious they only did this to sell their plans which had infinite hearts. This made learning much less fun and the flow kept getting ruined for me. Lastly, the ads were so much of a distraction that I would cringe after every lesson and again they just ruined my flow/vibe.
Different Language Goals
I already speak four languages, I know how difficult it is to actually learn a language. It’s not just about learning the words, it’s about learning the norms, the slang, the reason certain words are used the way they are and so much more.
Duolingo was a great starting point but it doesn’t offer what I’m looking for when it comes to learning a new language. I actually want to learn everything about it including the history, how it’s changed over time etc. That’s not something Duolingo offers right now so it just didn’t work for my goals.
Final Thoughts
So, that is why I decided to delete my Duolingo profile and move on with my life. I don’t know if I’ll go back to learning German or any other language. Perhaps if I find the right app someday. But for now, I’m focusing on the languages I already know lol.
How many languages are you fluent in? Do you use Duolingo or have you used it in the past? If so, what is/was your experience like? Let me know in the comments below because I would love to hear from you. Or simply stop by and say hi!
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