Duolingo (2024)

Duolingo, a language learning app centered on gameplay, is a versatile tool suitable for students and teachers looking to acquire new languages. While Duolingo was initially developed for individual language learners, a “Duolingo for Schools” edition allows teachers to use the app with their language learning classes. It is free to download as an app for iOS and Android or available online through the website. Coupled with a very intuitive user interface, Duolingo is accessible to an audience ranging from elementary to higher education and does not impose financial barriers. The app currently has over 300 million users, 12 million in the United States. German is Duolingo's fourth most-studied language after English, French, and Spanish (Pajak, 2022).

With regard to German-language learning, Duolingo spans the Common European Framework of Reference language levels A1–B2 or the equivalent by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages levels, Novice to Advanced Low, focusing on teaching the four modalities: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. These skills are practiced through fill-in-the-blank activities, matching and translation tasks, speaking and reading tasks, and short listening activities, such as conversations and monologues. Users can adapt the speed and listen to these activities again. While Duolingo trains skills, it does not allow for creative language production. This limits the app to a complementary feature for an otherwise classroom-based language learning experience because it cannot substitute real-life interactions.

Duolingo engages students through its stories and its gamified approach. For example, it allows learners to create personalized cartoon avatars to navigate the learning games, making it more likely to foster a sense of ownership and commitment to the learning process through the app. Furthermore, Duolingo includes game features such as streak counts, collecting points, badges, and gems, which can be earned and then used for customization. Students can track their overall mastery level, indicating the number of words they have learned. Duolingo follows an inclusive approach by intentionally portraying diverse voices, including characters from different backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, ages, and sexual orientations.

In the “Duolingo for Schools” edition, educators can add class sections, link student accounts, and monitor student progress. The platform is easy to navigate and does not require specific computer expertise, but Duolingo also provides tutorial videos and explanations for help. Through a placement test, students can easily find their level of language learning. It is also possible to add students with an existing account, so they do not lose their prior progress information. The platform generates reports that provide a comprehensive overview of each student's performance, including points earned, time spent, and progress toward goals.

Up to December 2023, teachers could set specific student tasks and topics. Unfortunately, Duolingo has removed that feature to improve other app features. However, teachers can still assign the points students need to achieve or set the time students should spend on the app. This way, students can work on different levels in their own time. By setting a deadline, it also becomes an ideal feature to use as homework.

The app gives students immediate feedback on their success and their mistakes. For example, when making a grammatical mistake, users get the corrected version and a written explanation of the rule. However, one of the shortcomings is that the explanation for user mistakes and the introduction of new grammatical features often lack depth and other examples. The app can provide additional practice and reinforcement, but it is unsuitable to introduce new grammatical features or give differentiated feedback. Moreover, Duolingo recently changed a feature in the app, making it possible for students to hover over a word in a sentence for translations. As such, they might be more encouraged to look up every word before translating the sentence. Also, in the beginning levels, users often work with cognate words, sometimes making it too easy or repetitive. Another disadvantage is that later sections often do not build on the vocabulary acquired in earlier sections but use new words, making it more likely that students forget the vocabulary from earlier levels.

In summary, Duolingo is not practical for introducing new language material but is best used as an additional motivating supplement for language learning and revision to increase practice time with the target language in and outside the classroom.