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28 Duolingo Tips That EVERY User Should Know About

• Posted by by Matt
• Last updated: August 12, 2022
• 15 minute read

This mega list of Duolingo tips will help you get the absolute maximum out of your Duolingo experience!

I’ve been using Duolingo since 2014 and my current streak is over 5 years old. In that time I’ve learnt a lot about Duolingo and the best ways to approach it.

So I’ve racked my brain and come up with 28 pro tips to help you become a Duolingo master.

Let’s get into it!

This page may contain affiliate links. This means that we may receive a commission for any sign-ups or purchases made, but at no extra cost to you . Learn more

1. Don’t worry about your League

One of the biggest mistakes new and long-term Duolingo users have in common is making a big deal out of their league.

Instead of focussing on improving in their target language, they become more invested in getting promoted and winning their leagues.

While the league system is great for keeping you committed to Duolingo, it has a tendency to encourage bad habits, such as constantly going back over the easy lessons.

I’ve also found it’s one of the biggest culprits for turning people away from Duolingo. They get so burnt out from the constant grind that they eventually throw in the towel and give up on learning their target language altogether.

My advice is to take the league system lightly. Treat it as a secondary concern. See it as a bit of fun. Remember that your league is not a reflection of your ability in your target language.

(For a more detailed breakdown of Duolingo Leagues, be sure to check out this article ).

2. Focus on Crowns

As far as I’m concerned, one of the best measures of your ability in your target language is how many crowns you have in it.

This is because, unlike XP, unlocking crowns requires you to progress through your tree. You can earn lots of XP by simply going back over the easy lessons every day. And while this will do wonders for your league position, it won’t help you improve in your target language.

In theory, the more crowns you have, the more you know about your target language. So take this as your goal and you will be sure to make progress.

(For a more detailed explanation of why your Duolingo crowns matter, be sure to check out this article ).

Follow me on Duolingo!

Up for some friendly competition? Then be sure to follow me on Duolingo!

My username is  DCiiieee  🙂

(If the link doesn’t work then just type my username into the ‘Search for friends’ bar on the app )

3. Keep your streak

Alongside your crowns, I believe that a solid streak is a great indicator of language learning success.

Now it’s important to note that a good streak itself doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing well in your language. Again, you could just keep your streak alive by doing the easy lessons every day.

The importance of your streak is found in the habit that it creates. Learning a language is a long term commitment. You have to show up every day for a very long time in order to see results.

Your streak is the manifestation of this commitment. By making it a priority, you ensure that you login and engage with your target language every day. This is really important. Consistency won’t necessarily carry you to fluency, but fluency does require consistency. That’s something to think about!

( Be sure to check out this article for a more detailed explanation of why I think maintaining your Duolingo streak is important).

4. …but don’t cheat

It’s also important to note that you’ve got to keep your streak clean .

In addition to ensuring that you’re pressing forward in your tree, you also need to resist the temptation to use Streak Freezes or Streak Repairs.

The reason is simple: if you miss a day, but you preserve your streak with one of these tools, then it’s no longer a streak. It may say that you’ve logged in and used Duolingo every day for 365 days in a row, but the reality is that you haven’t. It’s a deception.

This might not seem like a big deal, but it’s all about those habits that you adopt. If you do it once, then you’ll almost certainly do it again… and again… and again… until eventually the whole point of keeping a streak is lost.

So keep it clean. If you miss a day, let it go. This can be hard, especially if your streak is super long. But keeping a zombie streak won’t do you any favours in the long run.

5. Set a manageable daily goal

In the interests of creating a healthy language learning habit, I think it’s a good idea to set a healthy daily goal.

Some argue that it’s best to set a really high daily XP goal, as it will force you to spend more time on Duolingo than usual. I think this approach has some merit, particularly if you have a clear and compelling reason for learning your target language.

But more often than not it’s actually counter-productive. Doing too much in too short a time frame can lead to burnout. And burnout, as I mentioned above, is one of the biggest reasons why people don’t succeed on Duolingo.

It can also be really frustrating. If you’re a non-Plus member, which most of you will be, then you’ll know how frustrating the heart system can be . Setting a high daily goal will make it more likely that you exhaust your heart reserves, and this will prevent you from completing any more lessons.

In my opinion, the best thing to do is to set a manageable daily goal. 10 XP a day isn’t much, but it will make it easier for you to log in every day and complete your lessons. Of course, you don’t have to stop there if you don’t want to. If you still have hearts available and you’re motivated to carry on then there’s nothing stopping you from diving into more lessons.

The important thing is that you keep coming back. It’s better to do 20 XP every day than to do 100 XP one day but not show up again for another week.

6. Practice to unlock hearts

While we’re on the subject of hearts, one of the easiest ways to unlock more is to do a practice session.

You simply tap on your hearts at the top of the screen and select ‘Practice’.

The cool thing about these sessions is that you can work on your target language without the fear of losing any of your hearts, and also know that at the end of the session you will unlock another. This will allow you to dive back into your tree and pick up where you left off.

I go into more detail on how to beat the heart system in this article , so be sure to check it out if you’re getting frustrated!

7. Consider Duolingo Plus

This is something that many, including myself, have been too quick to dismiss over the years.

For a long time I vowed that I would never subscribe to Duolingo Plus (Duolingo’s premium membership). It seemed too pricey and didn’t seem to add much to the free experience, which is already one of the best deals in language learning.

But in recent times Duolingo have really stepped up their premium offering. It now packs a ton of cool features, including Pronunciation Review, Mistake Practice, Mastery Quiz, and, perhaps best of all, unlimited hearts. It also removes adverts and allows you to download your courses for offline use.

It’s still pretty pricey at $83.88 for the year. But if you use Duolingo regularly and know you will continue to do so then it’s definitely worth considering. I’ve been using it for over a year now and recently resubscribed for another.

(For a detailed review of Duolingo Plus and whether it’s worth the price, be sure to check out this article ).

8. Don’t skip the tips

Not all of Duolingo’s language courses include the Tips sections, but for the ones that do they’re definitely worth looking at.

When I started learning French I found myself ignoring them and just diving straight in to the lessons. I had enough knowledge from Italian to help me through those early lessons, so I just didn’t see the point.

But as I progressed through the tree, I started to consult the tips pages a bit more. And to my surprise they’re actually really well written, presented and explained.

So be sure to give them a glance.

9. Read the Stories

To be honest, I don’t think this is something that I really need to encourage.

Stories are one of the coolest features on Duolingo at the moment. They pretty much sell themselves given how well written and utterly hillarious most of them are. I regularly find myself binging the French ones as they’re so brilliant.

And the best bit is that they actually have a positive effect on your language learning. They’re all about testing and improving your reading and listening comprehension. They take everything you’ve learned in the standard tree and present it in an authentic environment.

The result is that you start using the language as opposed to simply learning it. This is a big deal.

If you’re learning French or Spanish then you’re in luck, as there are absolutely loads of stories available and their libraries are constantly growing. There’s plenty to choose from in German, Portuguese and Italian as well, albeit they’re not as well catered to.

Anyone currently learning Japanese can get excited as this is the next language to be getting Stories.

( Be sure to check out my complete guide to Duolingo Stories here ).

10. Use the forums

The Duolingo forums are brilliant to use alongside your Duolingo studies.

This is where the Duolingo community congregates to discuss all things Duolingo and language learning.

Here you will find conversation about all aspects, including course-specific discussions, general language learning chatter, as well as the future of Duolingo and possible updates.

It’s a great place to ask questions if you’re getting stuck, and to mingle with like-minded users. You never know, you might find yourself a language learning buddy with whom you can practice your conversation skills with!

11. …and for confusing questions

Another great use of the forums is through the questions you answer in your language tree.

Whenever you answer a question, you get the option to discuss it on the forums. Each question has its own forum page, so you can hop in and ask for clarification if ever you get confused.

This is really useful if the question is a particularly confusing one, as you can guarantee that others have had the same difficulties.

12. Don’t forget to report

The above is also useful for when a question just doesn’t make sense — and isn’t supposed to because there’s an error.

The guys at Duolingo are only human, after all, so sometimes mistakes are made. It could be that your answer was correct and should have been accepted, but was marked wrong. This can be really frustrating, especially if you only have a couple of hearts left.

Not only is the forum a useful place to find out if others are having the same issue, but you can also report the problem to Duolingo by tapping the flag icon. This will let the guys at Duolingo know that there’s an issue with one of their questions. If enough people do this, then the issue will get resolved.

13. Tune in to the podcasts

This is another feature that is unfortunately limited to only a couple of languages. But if you’re studying French or Spanish, then the Duolingo podcasts are definitely something you should consider checking out.

I’ve listened to a few of the French ones and they’re actually really good. They’re usually about 20 to 30 minutes long and combine English and French to great effect. They’re easy to follow and the topics are usually pretty interesting.

And even better news for those learning Spanish: Duolingo have created a 6-part mini-series which they describe as “ the world’s first-ever true crime series designed specifically for language learners “. I haven’t listened to it myself, but from the previews, I’d say it sounds pretty cool!

You can access the Duolingo podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify, and they’re 100% free.

14. Try not to skip the speaking exercises

The speaking exercises have long been one of the most frustrating exercises on Duolingo.

The AI can be really strict about some of the pronunciations to the point that nothing you say will be accepted. On the flip side, sometimes you can pronounce something completely wrong and it will accept your answer.

As a result it can be really tempting to tap ‘Can’t Speak Now’ and avoid speaking altogether.

I’ll hold my hands up and say that I’m just as guilty as anyone of doing this. They’re just too inconsistent. And besides, it can be pretty embarrassing repeating the same thing over and over again when other people are in the room with you. Sometimes I’d rather just avoid it altogether.

As frustrating as it is, though, it still isn’t in our best interests to do this. Even if the exercises aren’t accurate, it’s still good practice to speak every once in a while. If you skip the speaking exercises too often, then, trust me, your pronunciation will suffer.

Anyone with Duolingo Plus will know that Duolingo have gone some way to helping with this recently. Pronunciation Review gives you the opportunity to listen back to your recordings. So even if the AI continues to reject your answer, you can at least know yourself whether or not you’re getting it right.

15. Keep moving forward

I’ve referred to this a couple of times already but it’s worth repeating because it’s so important.

You must resist the temptation to coast along in the easy lessons. While this may be the best way to avoid losing hearts and to storm up the league standings, it won’t do your language learning prospects any favours.

You should always be looking to step out of your comfort zone. On Duolingo, this means moving on to the next skills as soon as possible.

Personally, I like to take two steps forward and one step back: I’ll throw myself into a new skill as soon as I unlock it and try to unlock the first crown; I’ll then go back to a previous skill and level it up. This way I can ensure I’m making progress while at the same time keeping everything else I’ve learned fresh.

You might want to read this article from the Duolingo Blog about the Hover technique as it’s pretty much what I do!

16. Dabble with desktop

I don’t do this as much as I used to, but something you might like to consider is to mix up your Duolingo usage between the app and the desktop version.

While the app is definitely more convenient and, in my opinion, more versatile, the desktop version also has a few tricks up its sleeve.

If you’re a free member, then you can use the desktop version to avoid the heart system. So if you’ve lost all your hearts but you’d like to keep your language learning session going, hop on over to the desktop site and pick up where you left off.

Another cool thing about the desktop version is that you get access to a list of all your encountered words. You can see all the words Duolingo thinks you’ve learned in your target language, as well as a strength bar and when you last practised it.

Again, this isn’t something I use as much as I used to. As a Plus member I don’t have to worry about hearts, and the word strength stuff I get over at LingQ while I’m reading through news articles and song lyrics . But for free members this is definitely something worth playing around with.

Duome.eu is a cool little website that you can use to really dig into your Duolingo stats and flesh out your experience.

It’s a fan-made website that collates loads of data from Duolingo and presents it in a bunch of different leaderboards.

It’s got a hall of fame for longest streak, most crowns, golden owls and more. You can find your stats by typing duome.eu/*yourusername* into your browser’s address bar.

Better still, you can also access the vocabulary lists for every course. This is great if you want to create flashcards or you simply want to go over everything you’ve encountered.

18. XP Ramp Up Challenge

This has been one of my favourite features on Duolingo for a few months now.

XP Ramp Up is a timed challenge available via the league tab on IOS devices. It tests your comprehension speed (as well as your nerves) by throwing a bunch of questions at you, which you have to answer before the time runs out.

If you answer them all before the time runs out, you will earn a cool 40 XP. If you don’t manage it, then you’ll usually earn 5 to 10 XP for your efforts.

( You can learn more about XP Ramp Up in this article , in which I share several tips to help you succeed more often).

Personally I’m not that bothered about the XP side of things. What I’m most interested in is the timed aspect. Answering questions with a timer looming over you forces you to think instinctively, and this is great for improving your comprehension.

Better still, XP Ramp Up doesn’t use up your hearts, so this is a great option for non-Plus members.

19. Get acquainted with your settings

This one might sound a little stupid, but hear me out.

How familiar are you with the settings menu?

Here you’ll find a bunch of cool settings that you can use to propel you to language learning success. You can tweak your daily goal, manage your courses, and dive into the help center if ever you’re having any issues.

The most important settings you’ll want to adjust though can be found under the Notifications heading. Here, as you might expect, is where you control the notifications that the owl sends you. For maximum commitment, I recommend setting up device and email reminders for your daily lessons and picking a convenient time to receive them.

This bit is really important. Don’t leave it set for 09:00 am if you know that’s when you start work, otherwise you’ll be more inclined to ignore it and annoy the owl in the process!

Instead, set it for a time that will work for you more often than not. It could be first thing in the morning when you’re having your breakfast, in the middle of the day when you’re having your lunch, or at the end of the day when you’re winding down.

20. Look for the capitals

A cool little hack if ever you’re stuck in a lesson is to keep an eye out for the capital letters.

If you have a word bank exercise, in which you have a selection of cards and you have to pick the right ones to match the sentence, have a look and see if you can spot one with a capital letter.

There won’t always be a capitalised word, but if ever there is this will usually be the first word of the sentence.

I’ve noticed this isn’t as common as it used to be (maybe Duolingo have realised and started to snuff it out). Certainly in the French course the French cards rarely seem to have any capitals. But when you’re translating from French to English, the English cards still usually have a capitalised word.

This will probably vary from course to course, so keep your eyes peeled.

21. XP Boosts

Again, this is another feature that, for some reason, doesn’t grace every course. I don’t even know why as it wouldn’t be hard to incorporate.

But on the French course, whenever you complete a level, you will usually unlock an XP Boost. This is a timed boost that doubles your XP for about 15 minutes. You’ll know when it’s on as there will be a little XP Boost icon showing on your lesson tree.

If you’re really intent on doing well in your league, then you can use these boosts strategically to your advantage. The best course of action is to hold off on completing a level until the start of your language learning session. This way you can ensure that every lesson you complete earns you double XP.

If you unlock an XP Boost at the end of your session then it will go to waste, as the time starts as soon as you unlock it.

So if you’re determined to get as much XP as possible, be sure to take this into consideration.

22. Combo bonuses

Further to the above, if you’re hell-bent on maximising your XP totals, then be sure to keep an eye on your combo bonus.

This is awarded based on how many correct answers you get in a row, with 5 XP being the maximum award (10 if you have an XP Boost active).

This is dished out at the end of the lesson along with the rest of your lesson XP. So if you complete a lesson without making any mistakes, you’ll bag yourself 15 XP as opposed to 10.

23. Tap the pairs

I can’t believe it took me as long as it did to notice this.

It’s not much of a tip as it doesn’t really help that much. But it might save you a bit of time if, until now, you’ve been looking in the wrong places.

The Tap The Pairs exercises always have the root language down the left-hand side of the screen, and the target language down the right. So if you’re learning French from English, the English words will be down the left and the French words will be down the right.

Again, this probably won’t be of much use, and you might have already spotted it. But if some of the words on both sides are similar, it could prevent you from making a mistake.

24. Skip levels if they’re too easy

If you’re coasting along in a skill then this is definitely something you should consider.

Tap on the skill in your lesson tree and you should find a little Key button. If you tap it you’ll be given the opportunity to sit a test, which will assess whether or not you can skip forward to the next level.

The tests are harder than the standard lessons in that you don’t get any hints. Make three or more mistakes and you get a big fat fail.

This is something I recommend doing if you’re flying through a level and you don’t feel as though you’re learning much.

In fact, if your performance is strong enough, Duolingo will ask if you want to skip to the next level without even needing to sit the usual test. This happens when you complete two lessons in a row without getting any of the questions wrong.

25. Tap flags to see XP and Crowns

If you’re anything like me then you’ll have dabbled with a few different languages on Duolingo.

If you’d like to see your stats for these languages, specifically how much XP you’ve acquired in each, then doing so is really simple.

All you need to do is navigate to your profile page and then simply tap on the list of flags beneath your details. Here you will find a breakdown of all of your languages and how much XP you’ve acquired.

To see how many crowns you’ve unlocked in each language, just tap on the flag in the top left corner of your language tree and select your desired language. Your crowns for that language will be recorded just to the right of the flag.

26. Tap friends/users to compare stats

Want to see how you stack up compared to your pals? Well Duolingo have made it easier than ever.

Just head over to your friend list on your profile page and tap on the account of a user you’d like to compare your stats with.

You’ll find a neat little graph which tracks your XP for the week vs your friend’s, as well as some other statistics including streak length, XP total, crown total, and current league. You can also view all the achievements they’ve earned.

This isn’t something you need to take that seriously. It’s just a bit of fun that adds to the overall learning experience!

27. Check the Incubator

The Incubator is where you’ll find everything you need to know about upcoming courses and updates.

It’s currently split into three sections. Incubation Phase 1 contains details of courses not yet released; Phase 2 contains details of courses currently released in beta; Phase 3 contains all the courses that have graduated from beta and that are now live.

And if you want, you can also contribute to up and coming courses. Know both Swedish and Russian? Then why not contribute to the Swedish course for Russian speakers!

28. Reverse tree

I’ve left this one until last as it’s not something I’ve actually done, but I know it’s something that a lot of Duolingo users recommend.

The reverse tree involves flipping (or reversing) your target language with your root language. So if you’ve been learning French from English, you would instead ‘learn’ English from French.

It’s recommended that you do this after you’ve completed the tree to mix things up.

Although this isn’t something I’ve done myself, I can see a lot of merit in it. It looks like a great way of keeping things fresh and allows you to come at your target language from a different angle.

Alternatively, if you’re that confident in your target language, you could even learn a new language from your newly acquired one. For instance if you’ve recently completed the Spanish tree and now you’d like to learn Russian, then you could do so with Spanish as your native language.

It’s definitely something you can get creative with, so be sure to give it a whirl if you’re feeling confident!

Have your say!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this article and that you will find some of the tips I’ve shared useful!

But is there anything I’ve missed out?

Perhaps you disagree with some of the ones I’ve included?

Do you have any top tips that you’d like to share?

Let me know in the comments!

Hey! I'm Matt, the Duolingo-nut behind duoplanet. I started using Duolingo back in 2014, and my current streak stretches all the way back to May 2016. Using Duolingo I've reached a comfortable level in Italian and acquired a basic understanding of Russian. I've also gone deep into the Spanish, German and French courses, and intend to explore more languages in the years to come. Needless to say, I'm obsessed with language learning!

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10 comments.

Great tips, Matt! I’ve been a Duo user for a little over 4 years and I am addicted. (French) I also just discovered the audio lessons with “Paul & Estelle”. As you probably know, Paul is Ngofeen who hosts the podcasts! Fantastique! Deb

Hey Matt! Thanks a bunch for the tips. I really hope to implement them as soon as possible into my Duo learning.

No problem. Hope they help!

too bad some of these tips are gone now 🙁

Hey Matt? Great article and tips. I read them all! Perhaps you can help as Duolingo Support has been totally unresponsive. I cannot get my progress/achievements to populate in Friend Updates. I can see and comment on all of my friends progress but mine don’t materialize. I’ve checked and rechecked my profile settings and it’s set to “Public.” Any insights would be helpful and appreciated. Thanks!

Looks like a lot of good tips. Too bad Duolingo got rid of the discussion forums, they were one of the best parts of the app!

one of the things i do, i’m taking german on duolingo and i do french at school, so i take french from german. it really helps!

I have a question On my desktop, I can’t tell which sessions I have already completed. They all show up, and I find myself repeating ones I have successfully completed. I do the ‘level up’ exercise, and it still shows up the next time I log on.

Would appreciate your help!

I’m having trouble answering some of the questions on my Duolingo phone app because some of the answers are covered up by the “Check” button.

The duolingo incubator is gone now. And the tree is different–no crowns. Plus I don’t have access to the Forum, anyone know why?

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I'm just curious; to anyone that's actually finished an entire course on Duolingo, how fluent would you say you are?

I know Duolingo won't get you to full fluency just because you've finished an entire language course but I'm honestly just curious (I've only finished unit 1 in one language and kind of lost interest in said language so I've moved to Danish, much more fun and easier to learn in my opinion)

Unconventional language hacking tips from Benny the Irish polyglot; travelling the world to learn languages to fluency and beyond!

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Home » Reviews » Duolingo Review: Can You Become Fluent with the Popular Language Learning App?

Full disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. ?

written by Agnieszka Murdoch

Reading time: 13 minutes

Published: Dec 5, 2020

Updated: May 5, 2023

Duolingo Review: Can You Become Fluent with the Popular Language Learning App?

What is duolingo.

Duolingo is a language learning app that uses game-like methods to encourage users to keep coming back to learn every day.

• Gamified learning keeps users motivated and on track
• Simple sentences used in target language from the start
• Visual revision reminders
• Beautiful interface
• Visual learning (with images and visual prompts)
• Duolingo Stories (in target language) and the Duolingo Podcast
• The gamified system is potentially stressful to some users
• No control over the vocabulary topics, the order they come in, and the ability to skip them
• Pronunciation practice but no human interaction 
• Some sentences would not normally be used in natural speech
• A lot of ads on the free version of the app

Can you really learn a language with Duolingo? How does Duolingo work, and how can you use the app effectively?

Here’s your quick answer: Yes, you can learn a language with Duolingo. But can you become fluent with Duolingo? Not quite.

And here’s what I’ll be sharing about in this review:

Table of contents

How does duolingo work, duolingo lessons, duolingo: what are the lessons like, duolingo helps you target your weakest words, duolingo tracks your daily progress, help with motivation, start using simple sentences from day 1, visual revision reminders, visual learning, additional learning features: duolingo stories and the duolingo podcast, the hearts system can be discouraging for some, some sentences are unnatural, not enough control over vocabulary topics, no human interaction, there are a lot of ads if you don’t go with duolingo plus, so why is duolingo “bad” and is duolingo as good as rosetta stone, conclusion: duolingo is a great tool for language learners.

The language learning app Duolingo offers 37 language courses for English speakers.

The Duolingo app also includes language courses for speakers of other languages. These include French for Portuguese speakers, English for Czech speakers, Chinese for Japanese speakers, and so on. And they’re always adding more.

I've used Duolingo to learn Spanish, German and Swedish. Let's take a look at how this cool little app works and how it can support you in your language learning adventure!

By the way, if you want the tl;dr version, scroll to the bottom for my pros and cons list summarizing everything.

Duolingo is a great example of a straightforward language app . It's simple to use.

You set up a profile, choose your target language, set your weekly goals (only if you're brave enough), and off you go!

I've made a video in which I explain what Duolingo is, and talk about its pros and cons. You can watch it below. Otherwise, continue reading!

Here’s what Duolingo says you’ll learn during their course in Spanish:

Each course in Duolingo is made up of modules (the circles in the screenshot below) which are grouped to form skills.

Duolingo dictates the order in which you need to complete the different modules. New modules becoming active only once you've completed the previous one. This is also the case with individual lessons within each module. You need to complete lesson 1 to be able to progress to lesson 2, and so on.

That said, Duolingo allows you to “test out of” individual modules as well as groups of modules (skills).

Pressing the “key” button on a category lets you take a shortcut if you want to avoid going through the individual lessons that you're already familiar with. You need to pass the test to do that, though, because there are no shortcuts in language learning !

The option to “test out” also applies when you begin a new language. You can start with the basics or you can take an entry test and let the app determine your fluency level.

Each lesson in Duolingo is made up of a range of activities, such as translation. Here’s what Duolingo Spanish looks like for this exercise:

Or this activity where you have to speak into the mic what you see:

New vocabulary is often taught with images and grammar points are explained in little speech bubbles. Or, you can click on “tips” to see more grammar insights.

There are also listening exercises where you need to type what you hear, among others.

But if you’re not able to speak into the microphone or listen at that moment, that’s okay. The app does give you the option to deactivate your microphone or skip listening exercises for the time being.

Duolingo also uses a “hearts” system that only allows you to mess up so many times during a session. If you lose all your hearts, you have to go back and study previous material to regain hearts.

Your hearts automatically refill every day. But, if you have Duolingo Plus, you get unlimited hearts, as well as progress quizzes and some other nifty features.

Duolingo does this because their studies have shown people tend to plow through their lessons and not go back and review. So this encourages people to slow down and review to really learn.

Once you've finished the lessons in a module another screen appears. You’ll be given the option to review with either “regular practice” or “hard practice”.

You can strengthen your weakest words there and then, or go back at a later point.

Whenever you’ve kept up with your review, your module icon will turn gold. But as the days go by, it’ll start to go back to color and have a bar showing how “remembered” it is. So keep up your review!

At the end of each lesson, you get a progress report that also shows your streak – the number of days in a row that you've completed. If you've earned any “lingots” (the Duolingo currency you earn as you answer questions correctly) that's also indicated on the screen.

You can use the lingots to buy different costumes for the Duolingo owl mascot, Duo, or freeze your streak if you know you’ll miss a day.

Of course, we’ve all seen the Duolingo memes with Duo and how you’ll get tons of reminders from him to keep up your streak.

Duo will show up in your notifications (repeatedly), your email, etc. You can of course turn these features off in the settings. But many users have joked how “aggressive” Duo can be, like he’s going to stalk you and make you study.

So much so, Duolingo played on the joke with a “coming soon” meme:

So be prepared for that.

Duolingo: What's Good?

Here are a few things that Duolingo is good at which helped me in my language learning adventures.

Duolingo recognizes language learners need to be motivated to make sure they come back to the app and engage in some more language fun. Duolingo uses several different methods to keep you hooked.

The first is its goal-setting tool .

The goals you can choose from vary from “casual” to “insane”, depending on how serious you are about learning and how quickly you want to progress.

I've picked the “regular” goal for my Spanish course and the “casual” one for German. Duo reminds you every day if you're on track to reach your goal.

This works well for those learners who are motivated by the idea of streaks and maintaining stats. It works for me. If my goal is recorded in the app, it has to happen!

And it's so nice when Duo tells me I'm on track.

Duolingo’s other two main methods are earning lingots by getting correct answers, and the leaderboard. Their leaderboard ranks you against your friends in the app or other language learnings studying your language.

If you're an impatient language learner like me, you'll want to be able to create simple sentences straight away. Duolingo allows you to do that.

Let's look at the first lesson in the first module of the Spanish course. You start with learning some vocabulary, such as boy, apple, and water. After the first three or four slides, you'll will have learned how to say a sentence:

All you need to do now is go out there and start speaking to real people (rather than your smartphone screen)!

The “strength” bars showing around your modules are a great reminder of the brain's imperfections. You think you've learned something and can move on but really what you need is spaced repetition to make sure the new language sticks .

Spaced repetition in language learning is a method where you revise specific words. Gradually, the intervals increase between each revision session. The theory is that, eventually, you can have an interval of several months without forgetting what something means. Duolingo makes it easy to know when your next revision session is.

A Beautiful Interface

I love everything about the sleek interface of Duolingo. One of my favourite things is the little turtle button that allows you to listen to “slow” pronunciations of the word or phrase. This creepily slow voice is a very useful feature in the exercises that ask you to type what you hear:

A lot of the learning that goes on in Duolingo is visual. There are pictures for learning vocabulary, colours that show whether you're right or wrong. And highlighted tappable text for new words or grammar points.

If you're a visual learner like me, you'll love it.

Plus, as you continue on through the lessons, you start to learn more by context and visual cues rather than English-to-Spanish translation. This is super helpful!

Duolingo also has the Stories feature now, where once you unlock 10 crowns (or 10 mastered topics), you get access and can start reading in your language.

This is a helpful feature to expand on your skills as you progress. It’s currently only available for Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Portuguese though.

Plus, Duolingo has a podcast for Spanish, French, and English learners. It’s essentially an audiobook to listen to stories in the language and improve on your listening comprehension. While Stories is in the app, the podcast can be listened to on Spotify, Apple, or Google.

A Few Cautionary Notes on Duolingo

Although Duolingo can be very helpful in supporting your language learning progress, there are a couple of things you should bear in mind when deciding whether the app is for you. Let me give you a brief summary of the things I noticed that could be improved.

Making mistakes is an inevitable and essential part of language learning . The journey to fluency is often about having the courage to say things even if you know it's not perfect.

But with the hearts system, you can only make 5 mistakes a day. Some people may get discouraged and feel like they can’t make mistakes — even though it’s a fantastic part of learning!

But this has been improved over the years.

In the past, Duolingo used to be even tougher on mistakes. The tiniest typo or mispronunciation would cost you a heart. Now, this feature has been refined and starts to recognize typos and the like. It’ll still point them out, but it’s less harsh.

Even still, my advice to you would be: don't take Duo's perfectionism too seriously. It’s okay to make mistakes!

This is especially true as you progress and you're learning more complex grammatical structures.

Some of the sentences that the app makes you translate would not normally be used in natural speech. Their point, though, is to illustrate certain language concepts, so it's almost forgivable.

After all, you never know when you might need to talk about milk-drinking elephants or a burger made of fish!

New lessons and modules are only activated in the app once you've completed the previous lesson. So you sometimes need to learn vocabulary which is not necessarily relevant to your learning objectives.

Words for clothes and animals are not something I expect to be using at all in German but I can't continue until I've proven to Duo that I know how to say “tie” and “mouse”.

I wish I had more control over choosing which words are the ones that matter to me.

Duolingo gives you the illusion that you're practicing your speaking skills. But what the app actually asks you to do is to repeat what you can already see on the screen in written form.

So when doing Duolingo “speaking” exercises, you're essentially repeating after the app. You're not retrieving anything from memory or asking your brain to create anything from scratch.

As such, Duolingo is an app that allows you to practice pronunciation but not to speak from day 1 .

That's why it's very important for language learners to supplement Duolingo with another resource. Especially one focused on speaking and interacting with other users of their target language, such as the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge .

There are so many ads in the app, including for Duolingo Plus, unless you buy Plus. This is a bit annoying and distracts from language focus.

Duolingo has gotten some poor reviews in the past, namely because of the things I mentioned here. Especially in the past, Duolingo used to use many unnatural sentences that became memes or jokes. This has been improved on, although it’s still there.

Even so, many people became frustrated with it. Plus, many users noticed that they would study and keep their streak up for days and days , and still not be able to speak the language or could only speak at an intermediate level.

And this comes from a lack of human interaction and real speaking practice.

So, no, you can’t become fluent with Duolingo alone. But, if you pair it with other resources, it can be an amazing tool to boost your studies as a beginner to intermediate learner.

Now as far as comparing Duolingo vs Rosetta Stone? There’s no comparison. Check out Fluent in 3 Months founder Benny Lewis’ review of Rosetta Stone for the full scoop.

You’ll learn something with both of these programs. But Rosetta Stone takes a “full immersion” approach so far it becomes a flaw. Duolingo more seamlessly helps you learn in-context and wean off of English-to-Spanish translations.

So that makes it the winner here.

Alright, to wrap this up, here’s a summary of the pros and cons of Duolingo. If you scrolled from the top for the tl;dr version, here it is.

• Duolingo tracks your progress and weakest words
• The Duolingo app has many built-in features to boost motivation
• You learn simple sentences from day 1
• Lots of visual revision reminders so you know what needs to be reviewed
• A beautiful interface and easy-to-use “gamified” learning approach
• Lots of visual learning and learning through context
• Stories and a podcast for supplemental learning
• The penalization for mistakes can be discouraging for some
• Some sentences are unnatural
• Not enough control over vocabulary topics to pick words relevant to you
• No human interaction or real speaking practice
• Lots of ads unless you go with Duolingo Pro

Duolingo is not a stand-alone language course, but it's an excellent addition to a language learner's toolbox. It's easy to use, it's fun and it works.

Don't forget to do the homework, though. If your aim is to achieve real fluency, remember to read, speak, and truly live the language that you're learning !

One more thing: if you are bored with Duolingo's repetitive tasks, try Clozemaster , which is Duolingo on steroids: it helps you to internalize real sentences with context.

Original review by Agnieszka Murdoch with updates by the Fluent in 3 Months team .

Agnieszka Murdoch

Language Coach

Agnieszka is the founder of 5-Minute Language . Her mission is to give everyone a chance to learn a foreign language .

Speaks: English, Polish, French, Spanish, German

Have a 15-minute conversation in your new language after 90 days

How to study English on your own

There are lots of ways to personalize your learning and study plan without signing up for expensive classes and committing to inconvenient schedules. Here's how you can learn English on your own, from home!

Develop good study habits

The biggest challenge for people learning English on their own is developing a study plan that they can stick to. It takes a long time to build proficiency in a new language, so staying motivated is really important!

Here are tips for getting into the habit of studying English on your own:

• Make a study plan that works for your schedule. Ideally, your study plan will allow you to do some lessons or practice English most days of the week, by doing a little at a time. That's much better for learning than binging for a couple of hours on Sunday!
• Set realistic expectations. Language learning is hard, and it takes a long time! Think about the proficiency level you'll need to achieve, and remember that you don't need to be "fluent" to be comfortable and conversational! For adults it can be uncomfortable and discouraging to feel "bad" at something, after we've spent so long sounding "grown up" in our first language. Go easy on yourself!
• Decide on personal goals to help you stay motivated. Setting smart goals will help you notice your progress. Consider what you want to do with English after a month, instead of looking a year ahead or to "fluency." Think about why you're studying English and what's important to you: Is it speaking with family? Studying in another country? Getting ahead in your career? Then set related goals, like: "After a month, I want to be able to recognize words on a menu" or "By the end of the summer, I want to ask my little cousins about their school."

Make Duolingo your personal tutor

You're motivated, you've set personal goals—now it's time to learn English! With Duolingo, you can study English for free with a course made especially for speakers of your language. The Duolingo English course was designed by English teachers and learning scientists, and we use AI to tailor our English content just for you. You'll get instant feedback on your responses and mistakes, and your practice sessions adapt to your strengths and weaknesses to keep you making progress.

Our English course is aligned to the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR), so you can be sure that you're learning the most important vocabulary and grammar to get you communicating. The current course includes B2 material—that's the upper intermediate level you'll need to get a job in English. You'll also find Duolingo's most sophisticated learning features, including pronunciation practice , advanced Stories , and Duolingo Podcasts for intermediate and advanced learners.

Build practice into your regular routine

You'll learn English best when you are interacting with it, so at-home learners should take advantage of their hobbies and daily routines for extra English practice. Incorporating English into your interests will make it easier to stay motivated and get practice throughout the day (instead of cramming lessons or classes just once a week)—and you'll be learning the English words and phrases most important to you!

To keep your learning fresh, engaging, and effective, mix up the ways you practice English. Doing the same things over and over again makes learning feel like a chore, so instead incorporate a variety of activities and balance the 4 skills you'll need in English: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Here are easy ways to get English practice throughout the day:

• Turn your favorite TV, movies, and music into English practice. Turn on subtitles the next time you're watching TV! You'll learn new words from context and will get a lot of practice reading fast. Naturally, TV and movies are a fun way to get listening practice, too. There are several different combinations of English audio and subtitles to test out, so you can find the right combination for your level and priorities! Advanced learners might be ready to try English audio *and* English subtitles. 👀
• Follow social media accounts that post in English. Adding English accounts to your usual scrolling helps you read (and learn!) a little English at a time. For extra practice, challenge yourself to write comments in English! You might start with a simple Great! or Cool , and as you get more comfortable, you can write more and even ask questions. Maybe you'll make posts of your own in English, too!
• Re-read books that you already know and love. Even familiar kids' books can make for good language practice, and being familiar with the characters and story makes it easier to pick up new vocabulary and grammar.
• Daydream about destinations in English-speaking countries. Even if you're not really planning a trip right now, you can have a lot of fun with English by exploring city streets on Google Maps, reading articles about top restaurants at the destination, and checking out websites (and menus!) in English.
• Build personalized English-language playlists. Music is a great way to get used to the sounds of English ! It's also helpful for early learners to get used to the rhythm of the language, even if they don't understand what they're humming along to yet. The catchiness and repetition of music also means you'll be practicing in your head long after you've closed Spotify.
• Change your phone's language for authentic practice. Intermediate and advanced learners will find that setting your phone to English makes vocabulary learning easy because you already know the apps, buttons, and menus so well!
• Take notes in English. Part of the challenge of writing is just knowing what words go together, so there are a lot of benefits to writing to yourself. For example, start writing your shopping list in English—it'll really help you remember the English words for your favorite foods! Anything you put in your Notes app can be written in English, whether it's personal reminders, to-do lists, or even your own personal reviews of restaurants. Best of all, if you're an intermediate learner who has changed your phone's language, you'll automatically get English corrections and autocompletes.

Make your home your personal classroom!

All the tools you need to study English on your own are right at your fingertips! Find the combination of study habits and fun practice activities that work best for your schedule and learning goals. Start learning English today!

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