Yep, your daily goal (and so your daily streak) is shared.
I kinda like it, you guys. Some of it is mega-easy, especially since they read it for you and repeat stuff, but that just seems like tutorial/reinforcement. Even so, 1) I keep running into things I haven’t seen, 2) it’s sort of kind of helping me make sense of the “ga” particle, and 3) it provides a bit of that addictive game quality that keeps me coming back.
Seriously, though, how can anyone learn multiple languages at once? I’m having enough trouble with one!
When I downloaded it last week, I didn’t see Japanese on there…
Just released on Android.
oh okay. I"ll try it out later
You have to update your app, and I guess they rolled it out a few users at a time.
k. thanks.
Japanese and German; far enough apart that there’s no way I could confuse one grammar bit for another in the other language haha. Maybe it helps to learn a Roman alphabet language vs. any other.
… that means I won’t be learning Russian until I’m done with Ja— until Japanese is done with me. ;-;
I can’t wait until they release the course on Klingon!
I took the placement test, got placed near the bottom/end of the course, and then tested out of the remaining levels within a day so it’s too easy for anyone beyond N5 level LOL. I wasn’t impressed at all with what I saw, but I just reported all the grammatical (improper use of は and が) and technical errors (really, you’re going to pronounce the particle は as “ha”? lol) and hoped that they would fix it before they release it out to a wider audience…so far it’s not available on desktop lol.
I think the app is quite good in order to learn the basics. It’s not perfect yet, but I finished it anyway, because I really wanted to see the Duolingo Japanese Trophy:
congrats. that trophy is pleasing to watch
If you get bored there, I hear there’s a 2D Swinger’s Club at TEVS53…
Basically don’t know much Japanese (but know how to read hiragana and katakana, and by the time I started it, a good portion of the kanji thanks to wanikani). Am liking it so far! Yeah I’ve had to report some English translation errors but honestly can’t say that makes me dislike the app.
I personally can’t wait until Hindi :3 (and when they decide to expand the Japanese course)
I was able to get Japanese on my phone’s app ( android). But not on my Kindle Fire app or browser. I tested into level 6. I like it so far. But I have noticed some mistakes.
Haha, sorry for the confusion!
I got rid of the “rating” since it was pretty arbitrary in the first place and it didn’t feel right slapping a rating on something that’s technically still in beta anyway.
In essence, I love the idea Duolingo is trying to push for as a whole, which is that anyone should be able to learn a language for free. Of course, the fact is, there is no single holy grail of resources that will teach you a language. Those who have been waiting for Duolingo to come along and solve all of their problems when it comes to learning Japanese are likely the kinds of learners who are not looking to dive too deep into the language itself. In other words, those looking to dabble rather than commit to serious study plans or textbooks.
For those people, Duolingo is a pretty successful app, because they probably won’t be investing a lot of thought into the meta aspect of their learning and instead will be taking everything at face value: “I spent 15 minutes on Duolingo today and earned 3 Lingots, so it must have been a successful study session.”
Just to be clear, I think this is okay for beginners. Indeed, we need more beginner-friendly, free Japanese resources, considering how high the hurdle for learning Japanese can be. The language can be intimidating for new learners, and anything that helps people get their feet wet while making them feel like they’re achieving something has potential to be a powerful resource. This is why I said Duolingo is generally “ok.”
However, I wanted to point out some of the glaring flaws because I want to help the course creators deliver the best experience possible.
Some of the bugs are just that, and they’ll be hopefully worked out by the full release. But I also wanted to include some personal commentary on how I think aspects of the course could be improved, as well as to invite learners to start thinking about and being critical of the resources they use. One of the hardest things about being a self-taught learner is knowing how to adapt resources to meet your personal needs, and knowing how to make up for shortcomings found in certain resources.
I suppose the original article was a bit confusing for some, considering that I had to type out this explanation. I’ve done away with the rating system for now and will work harder in the future to be more lucid in my writing. Thanks for reading! ![]()
I got an email from Duolingo today saying that Japanese is now available - but the desktop version still doesn’t work. ![]()
I also found another serious bug - namely that if you study Japanese only and forget your password you cannot use the password reset journey because it uses the mobile/desktop view to complete this. So use a password manager!
@kumasensei I really enjoyed your review for what it’s worth.
I got the email too, was excited to check it out on my computer only to find out the desktop version is still not available -_- mobile it is then.
I just used it as extra practice/time killer while on the bus. If I’m on the bus and not bike, that is ![]()
Wow I checked Duolingo for Japanese a long time ago and they didn’t have it yet/ I’ll have to check it out.
