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Just out of interest really. I'm using it to learn French, finding it excellent as a way of improving what i understand, as frankly the language baffled the hell out of me at school. The only downside i suppose is the lack of verbal interaction which means i'm not a lot better at constructing verbal sentences. I'm certainly getting better at typed/written sentences though. I may need to invest in a tutor to get the verbal interaction i want.
Not using duolingo, but am learning French, the best starting point for me was the Michel Thomas course.
Having said that, there is no substitute for actually speaking the language with someone fluent. It's probably just me and my learning style, but I've improved a lot more with someone who is English, but speaks French fluently. When I tried a native French speaker I end up lost with them rolling words into each other when they get up a head of steam. Also having someone to question in your own language is helpful!
Estoy aprendiendo español
I use it as a back up but there it is nothing like as good as a proper course.
I'm using it to learn Spanish too. I was rubbish at languages at school but find that I'm slowly building my vocabulary fairly painlessly.
He estado aprendiendo espanol para cuattro meses, pero yo tambien hablo con mi amigas.
Courtesy of Duolingo I don't know what language I'm going to come home to. Mrs. S. is currently doing a bit of German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian!!
I used it trying to learn Italian for a while last year but I've not got the will power to do it each day.
The GF started in April (again, Italian) and has only missed three or four days. Her vocab is brilliant and she has a decent understanding of the grammar.
As said above, what is missing is the chance to practice what she's learnt. It's kinda cool when we go to an Italian place and she can have a bit of chit chat with the staff.
I've used it on and off for to try to learn Danish. I usually manage about 3 months then get frustrated that my verbal Danish is still rubbish.
I find reading it out instead of just answering the questions helps alot. Picked I some Spanish pod casts in Spotify too. Plus a group of regulars I play online with are Spanish so get to practice a little.
I'm learning Dutch with Duolingo, I quite like it. Beats my girlfriend trying to teach me. Some actual conversation does help as well though.
I've used it in the past to learn a bit of Spanish and a bit of Norwegian. Really enjoyed the process and it helped on a couple of holidays. Might pick it up again now that my baby sleeps sometimes.
I use it for Spanish, as has been said, not ideal but I take the view that when I get the chance it'll all be there in the grey matter and will allow me to learn faster.
I'm a long way from being able to talk to someone in Spanish but I'm enjoying trying to learn.
French and German here so I can at least be polite to the locals when skiing. I find it helps my reading and being and to initiate conversation well but my understanding / listening skills always improve more after a few days in resort
Yup, using it to learn Swedish. I like it, but it does make you biased towards written and read constructs, compared to spoken and listened.
I've also found that, compared to a more mainstream language like French, the lessons can be a bit limited. I am lucky to have a lot of Swedes to talk to, but it still takes 100% of my concentration to get what they are saying (mostly) in a conversation. When I read, it's easier.
I would still recommend it as a way to learn though.
We live and work in Spain so we are totally immersed. I still use Duolingo though, to see how the words I know how to say look when written down. For that I find it useful.
No substitute for real conversation though.
Additionally, talking o a native will teach you exactly where to put the accents and emphasis in a sentence.
yeah, I've been trying to brush on my patchy Russian.
I don't hammer it, but I do manage to do a bit every day, even if it's just one lesson while I'm brushing my teeth before bed!
Regarding the listening stuff, I find the best thing (which I do maybe about once a month, ha) is to look away from the screen every time a sentence comes up, see if you can understand just the spoken stuff. Then look at it written down to see if you were roughly right.