Duolingo is a Free, Crowdsourced Language Learning App (Video)

This is an interview with Duolingo engineer Franklin Ditzler. He's not a smooth marketing guy getting all rah-rah about the company and what it does, just a coder who enjoys his job and seems to like where he works and what he's doing. Note that Duolingo is a free language teaching tool, and they seem determined to keep it free for language students by selling crowdsourced translation services to companies like CNN and BuzzFeed.

Duolingo founder and CEO Luis von Ahn is an associate professor in the Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science Department, and was one of the original developers behind reCAPTCHA. Google acquired ReCAPTCHA in 2009 for "an undisclosed sum," a bit of history that led TechCrunch to speculate back in 2011 that Google would buy Duolingo within six months -- which didn't happen. But don't despair. It's still possible that Google (or another big company) might absorb Duolingo. We'll just have to wait and see -- and possibly improve our foreign language skills while we wait. (Alternate Video Link)

Comments

why would we despair?

[rogoshen1]

Google not buying them is awesome -- they'd probably shut down the service after two years, or remove support for less than popular languages.

Wife

[robstout]

My wife loves this app. I have no idea if she's actually learned anything using it, but for a while she was putting in a couple of hours every day with the language lessons.

Re:Wife

[CanHasDIY]

Playing with it now (phrasing, BOOM)...

First impressions: it's cutesy fun, and the site is obviously based on the same system that Codeacademy uses.

Two problems I've noticed thus far: 1, certain parts want you to use a microphone. I HATE websites that want to use my mic, and I'm pretty sure I'm far from alone in feeling that way.

The other, larger issue I have is that, when you answer incorrectly, the system doesn't necessarily specify why you were wrong, which tends to lead to frustration and ultimately, giving up, since not knowing why you were wrong makes it a lot harder to know how to be right.

Still, leaning towards the "this is pretty cool" end of the spectrum, and hopefully it gets better with time.

Re:Wife

[u38cg]

The theory is that you are being taught as a child learns - we don't go round telling toddlers, no, Johhny, that's the dative case, not the genitive case, you silly little sausage. We just correct them by example.

Re:I wanted to like it....

[wonkey_monkey]

But after a few weeks using trying to pick up some German, I become increasingly frustrated

Been there. Sounds like you to need to try picking up a different German.

Example

[CanHasDIY]

Just came across an example of one of my complaints:

During the German lesson, I was asked to translate "Ein Mann trinkt Wasser." I accidentally wrote "The man" as opposed to "A man" or "One man."

Now, since I already have a basic knowledge of the language, I knew why I was wrong immediately; but would a person who's not already familiar really learn anything from the following "tip?"

You used the definite "The" here, instead of the indefinite "One".

Huh? That's just confusing, especially considering that we're talking about the very first lesson in the German group; someone who is not familiar with words having different modes (i.e., most uni-lingual Americans) would find that extremely difficult to understand.

 

Re:Example

[xaxa]

I learnt German and French at school, so I know how to learn a language, particularly European ones. I don't recall being frustrated with not knowing why I was wrong. Screenshot of the app showing the same mistake: http://imgur.com/8YzOYof

I found the mobile app really useful for learning some Spanish before going on holiday to South America earlier this year. One press turns off the microphone exercises, either permanently or for the next hour.

Re:Example

[petes_PoV]

someone who is not familiar with words having different modes

The problem is, that if you don't know these basic constructs in your native language then you're not really fluent in it. You might think you can speak it fluently - but you're not well enough educated if you lack the basic rules.

Sadly this is very common: just look at all the internet content that confuses they're, their and there. Or mistakes "have" for "of" in written form.

Perhaps Duolingo should have a qualification test to screen out people who weren't paying attention at school (as all these topics are taught, in every english-speaking school) and it could sign them up for a remedial english class, instead.

How I'm learning German

[ciaran_o_riordan]

FWIW, I'm also learning German. It's the fifth language I'm learning as an adult and it's definitely the toughest. I've never found any good software or edu-websites, I just use the old methods. I watch a lot of German telly:

* http://mediathek.daserste.de/s...
* http://www.zdf.de/Sendungen-vo...

Series are the easiest because you can get to know the characters and then they're kinda predictable so you can't get completely lost. The News is easy enough because there's lots of pictures and you'll know the context of most stories, but it doesn't teach you conversational German. Comedy can be the toughest. On Das Erste, there's a crime drama most Friday and Sunday nights called Tatort which is good because there's also a version for blind people ("hÃrfassung" - o-umlaut between h and r, if that doesn't display right), which has everything of the normal version plus one extra voice describing the visuals, so you hear a lot more words.

I also read German translations of books I've already read. And when I'm cooking I leave on WDR5 talk radio in the background, all to help develop a feel for how the language sounds when used correctly:

* http://www.listenlive.eu/germa...

And I do tandems with a native German:

* http://conversationexchange.co...

Oh, and of course I'm working my way through a book with grammar and exercises.

Yeh, German's a tough nut to crack alright. Unlike Spanish, you have to do a lot of grammar before you can really start building sentences (the declensions are what frustrate me most) but I think it's a language where your effort won't show at first, but then there's the breakthrough later.

Re:How I'm learning German

[Berkyjay]

Interesting, I'll look more into your links thanks!

Re:Free as in Google Search is Free?

[BasilBrush]

Yes. But in this case the data the user supplies is impersonal content (translations of given texts), not personal and private information. So unlike with Google it's not a problem here.

Really nice, but...

[ianezz]

I'm trying it these days (to refresh and improve my German), and I have to say I've become sort of addicted. I can't really vouch on the quality of their courses, since the only one available for speakers of my mother tongue (English for Italian speakers) isn't that good yet (fine for most lessions, but the more advanced ones have definitively weird italian translations that could throw you off a bit). Hopefully, the courses for English speaking people are better. The web interface for the courses seems to be well-thought (lots of easy keyboard shortcuts) and works surprisingly well, didn't try the mobile applications yet.

On the other side, for what I could see, the translations you are kindly asked to do "to repay" them are usually poorly-written descriptions of commercial articles/ads, nothing really interesting, and the related web interface has some rough spots (just some quirks, but they get distracting).

That being said, I believe it's still the best online resource I've seen yet to get your feet wet with a foreign language (provided you know English)

I use android app

[gabrieltss]

I like Duolingo. I have been using it to learn Spanish (since the U.S. Government REFUSES to stop the influx of illegals!) and I LOVE how it helps you learn to learn to read, write and speak the language. I think it's a fantastic app.

Nice and all

[pieisgood]

I'd like if they supported more popular languages. Personally I'd like to learn Mandarin, but they only server European languages. I'm unsure why they don't support it. My mother speaks mandarin but I've never had the time to go out and take a college course on it, duolingo would be a great resource. Plus, Slashvertisment and what not.

Maybe I'll try it when Eastern languages are supported.

I have used it to learn Spanish

[realkiwi]

Working nights in a hotel (read "lots of spare time") I decided to learn Spanish. I live 11km from Spain so it is kind of usefull... Last night a Spanish guy said I spoke real good Spanish for someone who learnt from an internet site on his own.

I guess that is an endorsement of the quality of Duolongo lessons.