Pros & Cons
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- Free
- No limit on how many languages you can learn
- Clear structure with great exercises
- Can test out of lessons that are too easy
- Highly motivating design
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- Quantity of material varies by language
- Grammar lessons could be more prominent
Duolingo Specs
| Android App | |
| Average Duration of Lesson (Mins) | 4 |
| iPhone App | |
| No. of Languages Offered (Not Incl. English) | 37 |
| Number of Languages | 37 |
| Price Includes | All Languages, All Levels |
| Style of Program | Self-Paced Drills |
| Web App |
The free Duolingo language learning app easily rivals expensive alternatives. It offers plenty of self-paced exercises to help you build a basic understanding of dozens of languages or review those you already know. The app is also extremely good at motivating you to continue with lessons on a daily basis and has an inviting user interface. Extra content, such as podcasts and stories, for select languages goes a long way to enhance the experience, too. You shouldn't expect to become fluent with Duolingo (you need to practice extensively with an instructor or native speakers for that), but it's still an ideal app for getting started with a new language or practicing one that you're studying elsewhere. It earns our Editors' Choice award for free language learning services and a rare five-star rating.
Pricing: Still Free
Duolingo started as a free app and, true to its original promise, it's still free. Once you sign up for an account, you can study as many languages as you want at no cost. Just keep in mind that you must deal with ads at this tier. Busuu is one of the only other free language learning apps we recommend; it takes a more traditional teaching approach.
You can choose to pay for a Super Duolingo subscription, which removes ads and gives you unlimited hearts (in effect, you don't have to stop a lesson if you get too many questions wrong). Free users can have up to five hearts at a time, and you can earn more when you run low (I discuss this in more detail later). The premium plan also unlocks customized practice sessions and unlimited special Legendary levels, among a few other minor perks.
The Super Duolingo tier has noticeably increased in price recently. It now costs $12.99 per month for one person, or $95.99 per year (twice as much as two years ago). A Family Plan, which supports up to six people, goes for $119.99 per year with no monthly option. Verified students can pay a discounted rate of $47.99 per year.
A Duolingo Max subscription is also available for some languages. This plan includes everything from the Super level, along with the option to practice speaking via a recorded video call and receive personalized feedback. It costs $167.99 per year for one person or $239.99 per year for a group of up to six people.
Duolingo's premium plans go for about the same as other top language apps. Programs with more in-depth courses, like Fluenz (it has videos of a teacher talking you through lessons, in addition to interactive exercises) cost more. It charges anywhere between $187 and $408, depending on the package. Rosetta Stone is also more expensive; you pay $239.40 per year or a one-time fee of $399 for access to all of its languages. Steep discounts are often available, however.
Should You Pay for Super Duolingo?
Duolingo often offers a trial of Super Duolingo to free users. You should take advantage when it's available. Just cancel the membership immediately so you can avoid any accidental charges. (You retain access to Super Duolingo until the trial expires.)
A little more about hearts: Free users start with five hearts, as mentioned. You lose one every time you get an exercise wrong. When you're out of hearts, you can no longer do exercises until you earn some back. The way you refill hearts is different on the mobile app and website. On both platforms, you can wait for your hearts to refill one by one every few hours. On the app, you can tap the heart icon to see the option to buy hearts using gems (which you earn as you complete challenges and exercises) or by watching an ad. There's no limit to how many ads you can watch in a row, so you can refill all five hearts this way. There's no option to watch ads on the website. Instead, you can refill one heart at a time by completing a series of practice exercises.
Not having to wait through ads or worry about hearts is certainly a worthwhile benefit. However, Super Duolingo is also quite addictive. Any time you think you're ready to put your phone down, it offers you double or triple points for the next 10 minutes. The moment you feel you're done learning for the day, the app shows that you are a mere 15 points away from being in "the promotion zone" for your league and can pull ahead if you just complete this next set of exercises for 25 points. Duolingo's developers are masters at knowing when to flash you a little bonus to keep you engaged. On the one hand, this isn't an issue if you believe you're truly learning the whole time. On the other hand, Super Duolingo can be a villain if you already worry that you use your phone too much.
Which Languages Does Duolingo Teach?
For English speakers (meaning the instruction is in English), Duolingo has courses in 37 languages, excluding languages from works of fiction (such as High Valyrian and Klingon). Many others that use a different language of instruction are also available: Catalan for Spanish speakers and French for Arabic speakers are just two examples.
The 37 languages for English speakers are Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Navajo, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, Yiddish, Zulu.
If you know someone looking to learn English, Duolingo has ESL programs for speakers of many languages. It also has an intermediate English course, with instruction in English.
Although 37 languages might sound like a lot, the list isn't comprehensive. If you need a language that Duolingo doesn't have, try Pimsleur first and, if not, Transparent Languages Online. You might try Mango Languages as a last resort, but that app is quite bad. If you want to learn American Sign Language, which very few apps offer, SignIt ASL is your best bet.
Learning Experience: Set Your Expectations
Duolingo is among the best apps for developing a foundation in many languages, but it alone won't make you conversational or fluent since there are limitations on what it teaches and how much it challenges you. As such, I see Duolingo as an excellent resource for getting started with a new language or practicing one you're learning more formally elsewhere. It's worth noting that Duolingo has backtracked on its plans to embrace AI.
Intermediate and advanced language students might find Duolingo helpful for refreshing words and concepts. But to continue making progress, they should pair Duolingo with a class, real-world experiences, or a tutor. My favorite service for affordable, small online classes and one-on-one tutoring is Lingoda.
I've been using Duolingo since it first launched in 2012 and have been reviewing language learning software just as long. Whenever I test a language app, I look at one language I don't know and one that I do. Because I've used Duolingo so many times over the years, I've tried it for Spanish and Romanian (two languages I know) as well as German, Japanese, and Korean, not to mention a handful of others I've dabbled in.
When I test language learning services, I note how the experience compares with other language learning I've done, not only with other apps, but also at the School of Language Studies at the Foreign Service Institute, in community college and university classes, in online classes, and with private tutors. I primarily base my opinions on an app's effectiveness at teaching a language correctly, but I also consider its interface and value.
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Getting Started With Duolingo
To set up a Duolingo account, all you need is an email address and a password. Depending on the language you want to learn, you might have an option to take a placement test, which skips you ahead to an appropriate level in the course. Or you can start from the beginning. You can study as many languages as you want at a time, as well as switch between courses at will.
For languages with a non-Romanized script, Duolingo teaches the writing system. Most recently, I learned a little Japanese and enjoyed how Duolingo taught hiragana and katakana; I didn't get as far as kanji, though it too is available. The app handles Korean writing equally well.
Lesson Structure: Always Clear
Learners often take structure for granted. When it's there, you don't notice it. But when it's missing, learning can seem aimless and painful. What exercises should I do next? Am I ready to learn new words? Should I review what I learned yesterday?
Duolingo is highly organized and structured. You always know what to do, and the exercises are always appropriate for your level if you've done all the lessons before them. At the top level are sections, which contain units. Units contain lessons, and lessons include a series of exercises. It takes me between three and four minutes to complete each lesson. The earliest lessons in a language go even faster. Some languages have more units and sections than others.
Every unit has a topic, whether it's grammatical (such as the imperfect tense or reflexives) or thematic (such as the arts or sports). Duolingo's home screen shows where you are within your section and lays out units like a path. It uses color to indicate completed units, while the units you have yet to complete appear in gray.
You mostly work in chronological order. Duolingo locks lessons until you complete the ones before it. At any time, you can redo a lesson you already finished. As you progress, words and concepts you learned earlier reappear. The app highlights new words. Once you finish a fair amount of introductory material, you can review what you've learned by taking a practice test (tap the dumbbell icon).
If you want to skip ahead, you can scroll to the next unit and look for the 'Jump Here?' option which launches a short test you must pass.
Lesson Content: Listening, Reading, Translating, Writing
Duolingo primarily has you translate words and sentences. You can choose between typing out the words via your keyboard or choosing them from a bank to cobble together a sentence. Sometimes, an exercise has you pick the correct translation from a list of options.
In other exercises, you listen to a word or sentence but don't see it. Then, you have to either select the right answer from a list or type what you hear. If you're ever in a situation in which you can't listen, you can tap to skip all listening activities for 15 minutes.
Throughout these exercises, you learn vocabulary, see verbs in different forms, and generally get used to the structure of sentences in the new language. Translating helps you practice agreement and other grammatical skills.
Sometimes the translations aren't very challenging. Duolingo could improve this aspect by getting you to focus on some concepts more deliberately. For example, you can usually rule out several unrelated words when translating a sentence using a word bank. If the sentence seems to be about a grandmother's cooking, for example, you can rule out 'architecture' and 'swimming.' A better challenge would be to fill the word bank with similar words or even variations on the same word, such as hear, hears, and heard. I see this type of challenge from time to time, but not regularly.
Podcasts and Stories: Excellent Extras
For some languages, Duolingo offers podcasts and stories. Both are phenomenal resources for furthering your learning when you're transitioning from a beginner to intermediate level. The downside is how few languages have them. They're in the courses for Spanish and French for English speakers, and English for Spanish and Portuguese speakers.
The podcast episodes are phenomenal. You can play them on Duolingo's website or download them to any podcast app. The benefit of listening via Duolingo's site is that the full transcripts are available there. In each 20- to 25-minute episode, native speakers tell true stories, with a host breaking in regularly to provide context or a summary in English.
Stories (look under the Practice tab for them) also work your comprehension and listening skills a bit more than the core exercises. You listen to and read a short story, and then answer questions about what you heard and read. The questions look similar to any other exercise, but to answer them, you must have paid attention to the content of the story and any new words; they require active listening and comprehension. It's also refreshing to work on more than one sentence at a time, which is all you ever get in the core coursework. As you advance through the stories, they get increasingly difficult, with a mix of verb tenses, more complex sentence structures, and new vocabulary.
Where Does Duolingo Fall Short?
Depending on your experience, Duolingo's exercises might not be challenging enough. If you get 90% of the questions right all the time, your learning will plateau. If you aren't failing, you aren't learning.
One other small quibble: Although Duolingo has grammar lessons that explain things about a language rather than just teaching it through exposure, they are hard to find and don't fit in well with the rest of the app. Tap or select a section heading to find them.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: Duolingo)
Duolingo
Thanks to its clear structure, engaging exercises, and unique features, Duolingo is simply the best free app for learning a new language or sharpening your skills.