Duolingo - Learn Foreign Languages ​​Fun and Free

Duolingo - Learn Foreign Languages ​​Fun and Free

Seeing smartphone users using earphones in public places, may be a normal sight. But have you ever seen a smartphone user who uses earphones, and he occasionally speaks foreign languages ​​to his smartphone screen? If you see someone like that, especially if you see him repeatedly opening the application that has the logo of a green owl, it is certain that the smartphone user is learning a foreign language on his smartphone with the Duolingo application.



Starting from a web application, Duolingo began to migrate following the development of other applications, all of which were made in the mobile version. On November 13, 2012, Duolingo launched their application for the iOS (Apple) platform. This was followed by the launch of the Android version of Duolingo on May 29, 2013. The following year, it was the turn of the Windows Mobile platform to welcome the presence of the Duolingo mobile application. And since then, Duolingo has also become a foreign language learning platform that can be accessed anytime, anywhere, and free of charge, aka no fees.

Is that Duolingo?
Duolingo is a foreign language learning platform initiated by Luis Von Ahn, a professor from Carnegie Mellon University, located in Pittsburgh, United States. The project for making Duolingo was inspired by Ahn's concern for the people of developing countries who often had difficulty communicating with the people of developed countries, which eventually made them increasingly left behind. Therefore, in 2011, he began the Duolingo project with a student named Severin Hacker.

Duo of Duolingo founder: Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker
Duo of Duolingo founder: Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker

According to Luis von Ahn, the Duolingo learning concept is made to resemble a tree, where each student must start from the root part, alias must learn basic structure and vocabulary first. For users who feel they already have foreign language skills, they can take part in the 'Placement Test' first, to adjust the language skills of users with learning levels at Duolingo.

Then the user will be given assignment packages for each package which includes grammar ability (language structure), vocabulary (speaking), speaking (speaking), writing (writing), as well as listening (listening). Especially for users who use the mobile application to access Duolingo, there is a HEART system, where you have to repeat the task package with different questions, if you answer the task 3 times incorrectly. Every time a user successfully completes a task package, there will be additional XP points (experience), as we usually encounter when playing games. XP can be collected and determine the user's level.

Luis Von Ahn realized that to learn a foreign language, a user had to do it regularly and continuously. Therefore, in Duolingo there is a STREAK system, which calculates how many days a user continues to access Duolingo. A day a user does not complete the assignment package in Duolingo, then the STREAK will expire and return to 0 (zero).

In addition, Ahn has thought about human memory which tends to decrease over time. In order to overcome this problem, Ahn also added a STRENGTH variable for each task that was carried out. "Strength" will decrease after all the time, and the user must return to work on the task to maximize "Strength". Duolingo also provides a Daily Test, which contains a summary of tasks with 'Strength' that is not maximal.

The Duolingo learning system is intentionally made dynamic, following the answers given by users on each task. When a user makes a mistake while doing a task, it is likely that Duolingo will return to provide a similar task so that users can learn from previous mistakes.

Home

In addition to the 'Home' page that lists workable tasks, Duolingo also provides a 'Words' page that contains a summary of the vocabulary the user has learned, 'Activity' which contains a summary of day-to-day user activity, 'Discussion' where users can discuss with other users, as well as 'Immersion' which contains foreign language articles that users can try to translate.

What Languages ​​Can We Learn on Duolingo?
At present, only one foreign language can be learned by Indonesian-language users in Duolingo, namely English. But if you have mastered English, just visit the special page for English-language users, where you can learn 10 other Foreign Languages, namely Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Irish, Danish, Swedi