This is a companion to my previous post about my experience with Duolingo (actually Super Duolingo paid service).
First off, I’m just a “punter” when it comes to Duolingo. Please check out the Duoplanet Blog, which is an excellent resource and answers questions more thoroughly and objectively that I have. I’ve linked directly to their review of Super Duolingo, but just go to their homepage and check out their excellent content.
This just in
I am “tapering off” on Duo but as soon as I started the next level there were new types of exercises. I don’t think any of them are groundbreaking, or even that useful, but they are better from an engagement perspective. One is sentences with two blanks, one for a singular expression and one for a plural expression. It sucks that they give you both answers and you just chose which goes first and which goes second. It would be better to give the user the word in English (or other native language) so they can answer on their own, but at least you get to jab at buttons. The other exercise is worse. Much worse. You get a voice prompt and two possible words. They aren’t difficult but it is a basic listening exercise. So you pick the right answer… AND IT DOESN’T TELL YOU WHAT THE WORD MEANS IN ENGLISH! WTAF. There are other exercises with the same problem. You complete the challenge but Duo doesn’t provide a translation. Massive fail.
So Duo continues to disappoint. I admit that it is a quick way to complete some exercises and feel like you came away having improved. I don’t hate that about it. But it can and should be much better at teaching a language.
A Variety of Resources
One thing I can’t stress enough is how many other great language learning resources are available on the internet, and through local libraries. Even if you are a die-hard Duo user you can amplify those lessons with some videos or podcasts on basic grammar, usage, phrases, and expressions. Here are a few of my favorites:
A surprising and maybe under-known resource is this Learn Italian program from UNC. It’s more of a grammar and usage resource, but it is well written. The content is very direct and thorough as you might expect from a university resource.
I also use a ton of YouTube video content, and here are my favorite YouTubers:
Easy Italian – This YouTube Channel is where I started with video resources and I still think Katie and Matteo are the best. They have a great mix of instruction in English and in Italian, the content is fun and enjoyable, and they do a great job of presenting it. Their Super Easy Italian series is an excellent intro to the language and you will have fun doing it. Their man-in-the-street videos let you hear actual Italians speaking Italian in an informal/candid setting. They also have a subscription plan through Patreon and it is worth looking into (I have a supporting subscription). The material can be a little difficult to find as it is spread around on JoyOfLanguages.com, Youtube, and various podcast sites. Their Grammar Bank and the exercises/transcriptions for each video are very good. One glitch: Grammar Bank is full of broken Soundcloud links (they should definitely fix this) but the episodes are likely available on the podcast service of your choice.
Learn Italian with Lucrezia – Lucrezia is more direct than Katie and Matteo, but also delivers excellent lessons in an engaging manner. I often turn to her lessons on specific problems I am working on and they have been very helpful. She has many informal travel-style videos as well as her excellent language lesson episodes.
Italian in 7 Minutes – Simone is my kind of teacher. His approach of “slow learning” has been very helpful. Spending less time jumping between material and getting closer to doing one thing per day (reading, writing, listening, researching grammar and verbs…) has made a great difference in how I feel about my progress. His specific lessons are also very good. Specifically, his lessons and videos have changed my learning approach from “grammar first” to “speaking and listening first”. I am able to read basic Italian and it is great for learning usage and vocabulary, but my real goal is comprehension and speaking. It’s the part of the process I struggle with, but that is because I never made it the focus of my learning. I’m working to change that after 3 months of “spray and pray” learning.
Learn Italian with Teacher Stefano – Stefano is the Energizer Bunny of the group. His energy and focus is only matched by the ferocity with which he rrrrrrrrolsssss his rrrrrrrrrrsss. Time spent with his material pays dividends, even though it can be a lot to take in for a beginner. Watch a video a few times in one session and it makes a lot more sense.
Un sacco di lezioni
I quickly found myself adrift in a sea of learning material. I found that many of these resources expect that you either have set a goal, or you are in a scholastic setting and are learning *everything* at once and are looking for an assist on certain topics. It isn’t a matter of using fewer resources, but of using the most important ones more and the less important ones less.
In my case I am shifting from a reading/grammar focus to a speaking/listening/writing focus. I will continue to read and continue to work on grammar, of course. But I am prioritizing putting the language into use and developing my ability to think in Italian, and speak in Italian. In my case that is not my comfort zone, but I think that is self-imposed. If I worked on it more I would be more comfortable.
I’ll end with a quick story about a conversation I had with my late-great friend Luuk. I am a musician and I had the immense pleasure of performing at the Zappanale Festival in Bad Doberan, Germany. It is, as it sounds, a festival dedicated to the music of Frank Zappa. After a performance we were having a beer and talking about the bands we had seen, and he said “I don’t know how you get up on stage and do that. I would be shitting myself!”. And my reply was that I put in a massive amount of practice time so that I don’t have to worry when playing to an audience. I had already made all the mistakes! So that is my inspiration as I progress in my studies.
Ciao, amice e amici!
petebrunelli 