The above screenshots are taken from the app version of this program. The online version of the site is incredibly similar in terms of layout and functionality.
The App.It's a very easy to navigate app with a simple layout to the the menus and a really smooth user experience. This is a progressive learning experience so the more topic areas that you work on, the more you progress through the app, thus the more you learn. There are a variety of sections in each topic area and you progress through them by answering a variety of questions. The questions can come in the form of:
- Typing the French phrase into English (and vice versa)
- Building the English sentence from the French words (and vice versa - like the version above)
- Repeating the French phrase
- Choosing a translation from a list of multiple choice answers
There are lots of helpful tips as you go through the app and if you click on the word in the question it will give the translation of each word to help with your understanding to then complete the whole translation of the given phrase. Another thing I really enjoy about this app it that if you haven't practiced the skills for a couple of days it will knock some of points off of your level, which you then have to complete again to build that score back up. This is a great way of motivating you to continue and practice a little bit each day which can reinforce the language and help you retain key words and phrases.
The Website.
In essence the website is pretty much the same as the app, but the only major difference that I've noticed is the conversations aspect to it. After each question there is the option to discuss the phrase/question you have just completed and talk about various aspects of it. This can include the tenses used and other people can help if you're struggling with certain phrases or whether the word before needs to be masculine or feminine. This can be really handy when getting to the more complex sections or if you keep struggling with the same word and want to know why it may be phrased a certain way.
- Both versions have a microphone feature in which you repeat the phrase it gives you and you move on if that repetition of said phrase is correct. If you don't get it right you simply repeat until you do. I found this can a little bit temperamental if you speak too quickly, but if you are too quick, it will say it can't understand and ask you to repeat it again but slower.
- It will mark your answer and if you fail you will lose a life. If you lose all the lives on that level then it will end but you can restart it from the beginning again straight away.
- If you have got the translation/answer right it may sometimes correct it and point out any types for you that you may have made just to make sure that you have got the answer correct but that there were other issues in the answer that you gave.
Overall I think that this is a brilliant app that can really help either develop existing experience within a language or allow you to learn a completely new one. It's also great if you're going on holiday to a foreign country and wanted to learn a bit of the basics of the language to be able to speak it whilst out there.
Duolingo is available for both i0S devices and Android as well as there also being a chrome extension and a website. Languages include Spanish, English, French, German, Portuguese and Italian.
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