So, can Duolingo make you fluent? By itself, no. But when used in the right way, I would say it can — but this will depend entirely on your definition of fluency, the quality of your language course, and whether you actually use the language away from Duolingo.
At Duolingo, we're developing our courses to get you to a level called B2, at which you can get a job in the language you're studying. Reaching that kind of proficiency requires dedication, varied practice opportunities, and a lot of time.
The guidebook can be accessed any time, even when you complete the unit. NOTE: Guidebooks are not available for all languages. Once you complete all the levels in a unit, you'll complete a challenge to earn your unit trophy. You'll also have the option to earn the Legendary trophy for each unit.
There is no such thing as a “finished” language course. So at Duolingo, we're always working to make our courses better!
Duolingo lessons start with just a little bit of speaking until you've strengthened your receptive skills of reading and listening, and as you progress along your path, you'll get more and more speaking exercises.
Putting in ten hours of study and practice per day, this equates to two months for “easy” languages and four months for “difficult” languages. How do you get started? Web sites such as DuoLingo can teach you 27 languages for free.
Good for Practice, Not Always for Learning
Even with some of the well-developed courses, Duolingo may not be enough to completely teach a language to fluency. As mentioned earlier, Duolingo is great for getting a base in a language—but don't expect to get to advanced fluency on Duolingo alone.
An informal study estimates that course completion rates fall as low as 0.01% for Spanish learners (second most popular language on Duolingo), and peak at 0.24% for Ukrainian learners.
To optimize your learning, aim to spend between 15 and 30 minutes on the app each day. If you're struggling to commit a decent amount of time to your learning, try breaking the time up throughout your day. You could spend five minutes practicing in the morning, another five at lunchtime, and five more in the evening.
Those who want to learn the endangered Hawaiian language have been able to do so for free on the Duolingo app since October 2018. As of March 2022, it is the language of choice for 586,000 Duolingo users. Hawaiian classes are also available on Memrise.
Look for audio programs, podcasts, and YouTube channels that give you time to process everything that is being said, often with additional explanations in English (feel free to skip the beginner lessons though). They might get tedious after a while, but they should have done their job by then.
Reaching certain milestones (such as 100 day streak) can earn the user 3 days free of Super Duolingo.
If you have previous experience with a language and feel that lessons are too easy, you can scroll to the next locked unit and tap the circle that says “Jump here?”. If you pass the test, you'll unlock that unit! NOTE: This will complete all levels up to that point.
Casual is one lesson per day, Regular is two, Serious is three, and Insane is five lessons in a day. I have my daily goal set to Serious, which requires completing three lessons daily, but I'll often do more lessons if I have the time, typically around five or six.
The biggest difference between Babbel and Duolingo is the approach to language learning. Babbel is a better option if you want traditional language instructions through modules and lessons. By contrast, Duolingo works great if you need a playful, gamified experience.
They've suggested that a person can become fluent in language for social contexts in six months to two years. However, it can take 5-7 years to become fluent in academic language. So within one year, it's absolutely possible to get fluent in a language for social uses, although probably not for academic purposes.
You reach the first tier once you hit a 365-day streak. After that, it goes up every year, and this will be reflected on your weekly leaderboards and profile page. So if you keep the flame burning for 3 years, you'll have a little 3-year badge underneath your username.
According to an independent study conducted by the City University of New York and the University of South Carolina, an average of 34 hours of Duolingo are equivalent to a full university semester of language education. You can see a full report of the study here.
Here's a breakdown of how long it would take to finish a language, based on the goal settings: 5 Minutes a Day: 4,650 days // 12.7 years. 10 Minutes a Day: 2,325 days // 6.4 years. 15 Minutes a Day: 1,550 days // 4.2 years.
The 2021 Duolingo Language Report presents the latest language trends and learner behaviors based on data from over 500 million Duolingo learners around the globe. Duolingo is the world's most downloaded education app, and we offer over 100 courses teaching 40 languages—all for free.
The U.S. hosts the majority of Duolingo's users at 21.6%. The most popular languages are Spanish, French, and German. Among U.S. users, 43.95% are female and 56.05% are male, with 54% aged 18-34.
Hard Mode is a special type of lesson that randomly appears for learners after they've made some initial progress. It's designed to challenge learners by serving them higher-level content.
The next and most accurate answer is that it can take anywhere between three months to two years to learn how to speak, write, and read in a new language fluently.