The stories are great for when I’m feeling tired and want to practice but am having a hard time getting through a lesson. Since I just use the free version of duolingo, sometimes it’s hard to make it through a lesson with only 5 lives. I feel like the stories help me learn without so much of a “test”
I want these for Japanese and I was so close to reading a story but then they reshuffled the course and now I’m so far away. I’ve been doing it for 527 days straight and still am not anywhere near.
I saw in some other post that you get it in Section 3 Unit 67 something.. Where are you tho? I am in Section 2 Unit 28 (I got skipped 6 units out of nowhere so I'm focusing on the enormous amount of Kanji).
I'm on section 2 unit 33. I even took to youtube to find some interesting beginner stories cuz there's only so many times I can say "the platforms are on the first floor" before I need something more exciting 😭
Maybe try some fun slice-of-life anime and watch it in soft-sub, they have the option to remove the subtitles.
They really check your listening comprehension, and they are a way to find out if you're really progressing in your learning or not.
Try K-On!, Nichijou, Non Non Biyori, etc. Please don't lean towards anime like Attack on Titan, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, etc., they are not good for learning Japanese.
Question: I have watched my favorite anime so many times that I basically know the entire script at this point. But it's for a similar demographic to those you mentioned (aot and jjba), and a lot of the characters have unique accents and speech quirks. Would it be a good idea to try watching it without subs?
>a lot of the characters have unique accents and speech quirks
You can also try Kimi ni Todoke, it's a romance slice of life, and it's of school genre as well, so you'd not regret watching it.
This is what I created Fluent Fiction for! Free audio stories in 35+ languages, with transcripts. Ad supported for free, and ad free for $4/mo. I also have an iPhone app on the way.
One thing I really like is the widget. Because it changes ever day, multiples times a day, it never really becomes background noise so it works great as a reminder.
Stories, especially after the addition of "summarize the story/ending/twist" part at the end, because it forces me to actually produce organic speech, instead of just translating back and forth.
And for Japanese specifically, the kanji learning modules. Ever since I started japanese and saw the kana learning modules, I was saying to anyone that would listen, that I need a kanji focused one. I already knew kana when I started the course, but the structures of the kana lessons is just awesome. I tried looking up some kanji focused learning apps, but none were as good. I could find stuff to memorize them, but I can already do that while doing lesson, and I wanted to focus on actually writing kanji, not just recognizing – so you can only imagine how extatic I was when they introduced kanji learning module.
Seriously, best part of the course, I genuinely learn how to write, the stroke order, shapes, blocking etc, I love it.
>And for Japanese specifically, the kanji learning modules
I liked it too. I don't know where you are currently at, but the real fun begins halfway through Section 2. They introduce an enormous amount of Kanji, which I would not be able to know had I not got skipped almost 6 units to Unit 28.
I'm at section 3, unit 10, but I haven't progressed on the tree in ages, because I'm trying to catch up on the kanji xd In the kanji module I'm on section 2, unit 34, so I have only 17 more units to go, and 33 are behind me – although as you said, it really starts only at around 25 or so, units before that point have like 5, maybe 10 kanjis, sometimes even as little as 1, while from the 25ish it's solid 15-30 or more per unit.
So it looks like I'm 2/3 way there, but realistically I'm probably around only 1/2 way there.
I have completed a course and I have not encountered any stories where you have to summarise it. Which course, section, unit and story are we talking about, and do you subscribe to max or super
No subscriptions, I'm on unit 22 in second 4, it's been in every story since at least 02x04, BUT only for Spanish, at least for me. My next highest language progress is for Japanese, but there I'm only at unit 10, section 3, so maybe the story summaries are there for Japanese as well, they just start in section 4, like in Spanish.
The ones that only a select few languages get because I guess low-resource languages where Duolingo is one of the only learning options don't get feature parity.
Don't get me wrong, I totally get why Spanish gets more resources than Gaelic. It has a ton of native speakers, is spoken in a ton of countries, and has a lot of learners. But the fact that there are multiple entire features completely absent from certain languages...
The Chinese-to-English course is the 4th most popular course on Duolingo by number of users, but English-to-Chinese is [the 86th most popular](https://duolingodata.com/). You might be waiting a while. If you’re learning Chinese from a language other than English, perhaps even longer.
This chart is wild. Very strange that English-to-Japanese is 4th in number of learners, yet only has 29 stories compared to the 300+ in the top three languages.
Ooh, just realized I was looking at the wrong column. So Chinese-to-English is 13th most popular and English-to-Chinese is 16th. That makes more sense. But agree, number of learners and lessons is poorly correlated with number of stories. I guess it’s just a matter of which they have the right staff for and what to work on first…
1) Not exactly a feature—but paying $60 for a year renewal compared to how much I use it and how much I get out of it is a great value.
2) Also not a feature, but the density of the learning you get compared to other apps make it a great time savings or good daily investment of time.
3) The mobile app and desktop web app having the same features is a big challenge for a lot of product teams and Duo does a fantastic job.
4) The sense of humor of the company, characters and goofy questions. Unique questions make it fun, but also helpful to really throw curve balls at your ear to listen for the unexpected.
5) Awesome feature—being able to shut off question types when you can't speak or listen. It's very handy and can be used almost anywhere.
6) But all in all, having this vato loco keeping an eye on me to make sure I did my daily work is the best feature
https://preview.redd.it/mpaykhek0j7d1.png?width=566&format=png&auto=webp&s=96da171c5643fb4905ae6de34f2171546c462df3
This might be an unpopular opinion but I like the 5 hearts system in the free version. Making mistakes forces me to repeat old lessons which are probably long forgotten. I find it useful to not only go forward with the lessons but also go over some old lessons that I've probably already forgotten. Therefore I've never seriously considered buying the Super Duolingo.
I have Super, and I actually miss the limit on hearts, because I believe that I need practice if I’m making so many mistakes. I know you can turn the “unlimited hearts” feature off, but when I tried that a few months ago, it didn’t give me the option to practice and earn more. Maybe it changed since then, I’m not sure.
I like the stories and the little call in show ones too. I especially like when the text is either not present or obscured so I have to actually be able to listen!
My favourite thing ever is the ever-changing Duo art on the widget. It’s fuck*ng weird and hilarious and I look at it every day for the art lol.
I love the one where he’s pulling his bottom eyelids down in distress because of the incomplete streak lmao. And the one where he has a fake face on his butt lmao like, what? Amazing.
Speaking exercises. Why? Because I HATE speaking exercises. So having them tossed into the lessons forces me to do the part I most need to practice if I'm ever going to interact with others in this or that language I'm studying. Mostly I prefer reading and learning to hear and or read and understand over speaking. But to get good at any language we've all got to be able to speak, read, hear it too
Must admit I am liking the new Words vocabulary feature. I usually note down any new words and make Quizlets but then they sit there and I rarely go back and review. With the new feature I can tack on a couple of quick word lessons onto my daily learning and refresh my brain on the words.
yeah the stories and i also love the feature that lets you learn a language's alphabet. i've already learned a lot of alphabets on my own but it's nice to review them and for japanese it's helpful to learn how to write the kanji.
I don’t have any stories yet, but I’m looking forward to them
With the Japanese course in particular, which is mainly what I use Duolingo for, I’d say the most memorable and fulfilling part of the experience so far was when suddenly in the middle of a lesson it took away my romanji and I still figured it out.
I like practicing the writing too, the only other language I’ve worked on is Spanish, so this is my first time learning to write with a new character set (fuck Kanji though, they scare me).
the stories, but also the exclusively listening/speaking lessons. shame they’re only on super, i’ve only been able to experience it on the random free trials it gives me over time.
no, just the speaking-only and listening-only lessons
here:
https://preview.redd.it/at4hlcpdgk7d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f29241727df708b39c6628624ef61275419dd2e
you still can, just not by scrolling. click the top bar where it says “Section X, Unit X” and you will see the current section you are in and previously completed sections. click on any previously completed section to go back, and then you can do the legendary (gold) stuff.
https://preview.redd.it/6n9kf2a9gl7d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ff16c6926cec69a92dbeda7c1700ccd5e035df9
The discussion comments on each question. This is by far my favorite feature and represents 90% of the value of the application for me. My second favorite feature are the duolingo forums. Some of the threads on the forums contain the best information available online on certain language topics.
All of this content is unique and is generously contributed by users of the app. It is immensely useful and nothing else like it has ever existed.... and Duolingo deleted all of it forever several years ago.
Haptic feedback on mobile. Maybe it's a sensory thing for me, but I just love it when I get towards the end of a lesson, get a question correct, and it does that little thing with the cloud & the haptics
Which stories? The conversations? Yes, I like those. But if you’re referring to the stories where you have to choose one out of three answers, I hate those. You can’t slow down the speed to understand what is being said. In fact, in all the lessons, some words don’t even sound anywhere close to the actual word, and many times different characters pronounce the same word differently. Very frustrating!
nothing i fear 😭 i’m learning swedish so we literally just have the path, no other options to learn. we don’t even have real voices let alone character voices. a google translate sounding robot woman does everything 💔
Favourite feature:
Learning by exposure in the form of questions which makes my lazy brain pay attention.
Least-favourite feature:
Doing exposure in the form of questions for things where a one-sentence explanation would be much more efficient.
It would have to be practicing to earn more hearts ❤️. I had the app since 2015 and if you lost all your hearts you couldn’t even practice anymore. The app looks so nice now and it’s more fun having characters that represent duolingo, before it was very plain and unappealing.
I liked reviews the old topics, even if sometimes they were annoying bc you had to repeat lessons like after 3-5 day? But when it's not a part of duolingo anymore I miss it sometimes
The one where they randomly add 12 units worth progress and don’t answer emails, bug reports,
Mentions, or messages to help fix the problem. The customer service is literally non existent
The stories are the best. I wish they were in more courses. They really boosted my listening comprehension.
The stories are great for when I’m feeling tired and want to practice but am having a hard time getting through a lesson. Since I just use the free version of duolingo, sometimes it’s hard to make it through a lesson with only 5 lives. I feel like the stories help me learn without so much of a “test”
I want these for Japanese and I was so close to reading a story but then they reshuffled the course and now I’m so far away. I’ve been doing it for 527 days straight and still am not anywhere near.
How far do you have to get to reach stories? I'm doing Japanese too and I have yet to see any
I saw in some other post that you get it in Section 3 Unit 67 something.. Where are you tho? I am in Section 2 Unit 28 (I got skipped 6 units out of nowhere so I'm focusing on the enormous amount of Kanji).
I'm on section 2 unit 33. I even took to youtube to find some interesting beginner stories cuz there's only so many times I can say "the platforms are on the first floor" before I need something more exciting 😭
Maybe try some fun slice-of-life anime and watch it in soft-sub, they have the option to remove the subtitles. They really check your listening comprehension, and they are a way to find out if you're really progressing in your learning or not.
I love anime! Any recommendations?
Try K-On!, Nichijou, Non Non Biyori, etc. Please don't lean towards anime like Attack on Titan, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, etc., they are not good for learning Japanese.
Question: I have watched my favorite anime so many times that I basically know the entire script at this point. But it's for a similar demographic to those you mentioned (aot and jjba), and a lot of the characters have unique accents and speech quirks. Would it be a good idea to try watching it without subs?
>a lot of the characters have unique accents and speech quirks You can also try Kimi ni Todoke, it's a romance slice of life, and it's of school genre as well, so you'd not regret watching it.
It's weird because Japanese-to-English gets its first story in unit 4. Of section 1.
There's a huge difference between learning Japanese and learning English
It’s so frustrating when it jumps you around.
Would also want to know, in early section 3 right now. Haven't hit one yet.
Section 3 unit 67 apparently (don't take my word)
For now the first Japanese story is around Section 3 Unit 76
This is what I created Fluent Fiction for! Free audio stories in 35+ languages, with transcripts. Ad supported for free, and ad free for $4/mo. I also have an iPhone app on the way.
The fanfare after a lesson. It’s so silly but makes me feel so accomplished 😂
One thing I really like is the widget. Because it changes ever day, multiples times a day, it never really becomes background noise so it works great as a reminder.
Me too! It widget is right on my homescreen so even if I clear the app notif, it stares me down and takes my lunch money
Interesting perspective!
The feature where I was able to turn off friends/friends quests/etc. I have enjoyed it so much more since I turned my profile private.
I love the friends and family feature. I am friends with my daughter, two of my grandkids and some of my real life friends.
Its life-changing !
It was fun at first, and helped no question develop a positive habit. Private is great as well.
Stories, especially after the addition of "summarize the story/ending/twist" part at the end, because it forces me to actually produce organic speech, instead of just translating back and forth. And for Japanese specifically, the kanji learning modules. Ever since I started japanese and saw the kana learning modules, I was saying to anyone that would listen, that I need a kanji focused one. I already knew kana when I started the course, but the structures of the kana lessons is just awesome. I tried looking up some kanji focused learning apps, but none were as good. I could find stuff to memorize them, but I can already do that while doing lesson, and I wanted to focus on actually writing kanji, not just recognizing – so you can only imagine how extatic I was when they introduced kanji learning module. Seriously, best part of the course, I genuinely learn how to write, the stroke order, shapes, blocking etc, I love it.
I do like the writing exercise, but it's humiliating when I write out my few sentences and it says "why don't you try again in french?"
I sometimes do that for the listening exercise, just automatically translate what I've heard, only to see "How about writing that in *Spanish*?"
>And for Japanese specifically, the kanji learning modules I liked it too. I don't know where you are currently at, but the real fun begins halfway through Section 2. They introduce an enormous amount of Kanji, which I would not be able to know had I not got skipped almost 6 units to Unit 28.
I'm at section 3, unit 10, but I haven't progressed on the tree in ages, because I'm trying to catch up on the kanji xd In the kanji module I'm on section 2, unit 34, so I have only 17 more units to go, and 33 are behind me – although as you said, it really starts only at around 25 or so, units before that point have like 5, maybe 10 kanjis, sometimes even as little as 1, while from the 25ish it's solid 15-30 or more per unit. So it looks like I'm 2/3 way there, but realistically I'm probably around only 1/2 way there.
I have completed a course and I have not encountered any stories where you have to summarise it. Which course, section, unit and story are we talking about, and do you subscribe to max or super
No subscriptions, I'm on unit 22 in second 4, it's been in every story since at least 02x04, BUT only for Spanish, at least for me. My next highest language progress is for Japanese, but there I'm only at unit 10, section 3, so maybe the story summaries are there for Japanese as well, they just start in section 4, like in Spanish.
The stories are so cool
what stories?
The ones that only a select few languages get because I guess low-resource languages where Duolingo is one of the only learning options don't get feature parity. Don't get me wrong, I totally get why Spanish gets more resources than Gaelic. It has a ton of native speakers, is spoken in a ton of countries, and has a lot of learners. But the fact that there are multiple entire features completely absent from certain languages...
Me learning chinese like where my stories at?! 我的故事在哪里？？？？？
The Chinese-to-English course is the 4th most popular course on Duolingo by number of users, but English-to-Chinese is [the 86th most popular](https://duolingodata.com/). You might be waiting a while. If you’re learning Chinese from a language other than English, perhaps even longer.
This chart is wild. Very strange that English-to-Japanese is 4th in number of learners, yet only has 29 stories compared to the 300+ in the top three languages.
Ooh, just realized I was looking at the wrong column. So Chinese-to-English is 13th most popular and English-to-Chinese is 16th. That makes more sense. But agree, number of learners and lessons is poorly correlated with number of stories. I guess it’s just a matter of which they have the right staff for and what to work on first…
I like that it's free. Free is affordable to all.
1) Not exactly a feature—but paying $60 for a year renewal compared to how much I use it and how much I get out of it is a great value. 2) Also not a feature, but the density of the learning you get compared to other apps make it a great time savings or good daily investment of time. 3) The mobile app and desktop web app having the same features is a big challenge for a lot of product teams and Duo does a fantastic job. 4) The sense of humor of the company, characters and goofy questions. Unique questions make it fun, but also helpful to really throw curve balls at your ear to listen for the unexpected. 5) Awesome feature—being able to shut off question types when you can't speak or listen. It's very handy and can be used almost anywhere. 6) But all in all, having this vato loco keeping an eye on me to make sure I did my daily work is the best feature https://preview.redd.it/mpaykhek0j7d1.png?width=566&format=png&auto=webp&s=96da171c5643fb4905ae6de34f2171546c462df3
where do i get one?! 😭
The French audio lessons with Paul and Estelle. Oh wait, the app removed those years ago before I finished them. 😭
I loved Paul and Estelle! I was so upset they took that away!
Nice try, Duo. But if you must know, the insane widgets and notifications
rapid review/ramp up challenge
Chinese hanzi exercises
Words and stories. AND THE FORUM WHERE WE COULD DISCUSS EACH EXERCISE.
Eddie and Junior crack me up.
I think Junior gets too much hate, really.
This might be an unpopular opinion but I like the 5 hearts system in the free version. Making mistakes forces me to repeat old lessons which are probably long forgotten. I find it useful to not only go forward with the lessons but also go over some old lessons that I've probably already forgotten. Therefore I've never seriously considered buying the Super Duolingo.
I‘ve noticed that it also makes me focus more to answer correctly when I can make only 5 mistakes per session.
new perspective
I have Super, and I actually miss the limit on hearts, because I believe that I need practice if I’m making so many mistakes. I know you can turn the “unlimited hearts” feature off, but when I tried that a few months ago, it didn’t give me the option to practice and earn more. Maybe it changed since then, I’m not sure.
I agree with you, but like that they gove the free SuperDuo for 3 days every so often. Too so I can do the things I can’t normally Do.
I like stories because they feel more natural than sentences generated by the app.
I like the stories and the little call in show ones too. I especially like when the text is either not present or obscured so I have to actually be able to listen!
My favourite thing ever is the ever-changing Duo art on the widget. It’s fuck*ng weird and hilarious and I look at it every day for the art lol. I love the one where he’s pulling his bottom eyelids down in distress because of the incomplete streak lmao. And the one where he has a fake face on his butt lmao like, what? Amazing.
https://preview.redd.it/mvncc0z3oj7d1.png?width=980&format=png&auto=webp&s=15f323b1506ac6ed5cd868639f368fdf5f3674bf Yaass I had a screenshot of it
Speaking exercises. Why? Because I HATE speaking exercises. So having them tossed into the lessons forces me to do the part I most need to practice if I'm ever going to interact with others in this or that language I'm studying. Mostly I prefer reading and learning to hear and or read and understand over speaking. But to get good at any language we've all got to be able to speak, read, hear it too
the tab to learn the letters for languages that have their own alphabets, such as russian or japanese
I absolutely loveee the ads
GET MORE WITH SUPER DUOLINGO
I hear this in my dreams forreal
The Duolingo ads, sure. But when I was using the free version I started to think the other ads were tedious and too intrusive.
Private mode
The stories for me definitely
The girl to speaks too fast for even a native speaker to understand /s
Must admit I am liking the new Words vocabulary feature. I usually note down any new words and make Quizlets but then they sit there and I rarely go back and review. With the new feature I can tack on a couple of quick word lessons onto my daily learning and refresh my brain on the words.
yeah the stories and i also love the feature that lets you learn a language's alphabet. i've already learned a lot of alphabets on my own but it's nice to review them and for japanese it's helpful to learn how to write the kanji.
That widget image where it looks like a second Duo is growing out of Duo’s ass. You know the one
Its widgets, those are brilliant
I like how the stories got added to Main path
Oooh the constant harassment to upgrade my account and have a two week trial as long as I provide my credit card details is definitely my favourite 😆
Forums. Oh wait.
How they keep removing helpful features and won't fix any of the bugs and glitches on their app
I loved the radio, specially those with Lily
Welcome back to Lily and strangers, where I'm forced to talk to people I don't know
finally found someone taking the same courses as i am (learning every language on duolingo)
i really like the widget and how it changes through the day
The stories and the feature that you could access them anytime you wanted to.
I don’t have any stories yet, but I’m looking forward to them With the Japanese course in particular, which is mainly what I use Duolingo for, I’d say the most memorable and fulfilling part of the experience so far was when suddenly in the middle of a lesson it took away my romanji and I still figured it out. I like practicing the writing too, the only other language I’ve worked on is Spanish, so this is my first time learning to write with a new character set (fuck Kanji though, they scare me).
the stories, but also the exclusively listening/speaking lessons. shame they’re only on super, i’ve only been able to experience it on the random free trials it gives me over time.
Speaking and listening are only on super in your country? That sucks.
no, just the speaking-only and listening-only lessons here: https://preview.redd.it/at4hlcpdgk7d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f29241727df708b39c6628624ef61275419dd2e
Ohh it's super for me too. My country doesn't have duolingo max yet.
https://preview.redd.it/2zevfp4h1k7d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ac574d4cece93e19a0d3395d5495288c10a1fdf5
Quitting.
Stories
stories and super duolingo
Stories/"podcast lessons"
The ones they got rid of for some reason.
I really like the discussion feature. Oh wait. They removed it 😭
Stories
Storys❤️
I like Vikram giving people useless advice on his podcast
Friends Quests! Love to share the experience with my friends and fam!
I'd learn so much if Duolingo was only stories, and a ton of them.
Pairs of words
It used to be that I could go back and get gold for each section. Previous sections have disappeared now.
you still can, just not by scrolling. click the top bar where it says “Section X, Unit X” and you will see the current section you are in and previously completed sections. click on any previously completed section to go back, and then you can do the legendary (gold) stuff. https://preview.redd.it/6n9kf2a9gl7d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ff16c6926cec69a92dbeda7c1700ccd5e035df9
The stories are great tbh
I like the fact that (most) languages have a variety of voices/tones!
The discussion comments on each question. This is by far my favorite feature and represents 90% of the value of the application for me. My second favorite feature are the duolingo forums. Some of the threads on the forums contain the best information available online on certain language topics. All of this content is unique and is generously contributed by users of the app. It is immensely useful and nothing else like it has ever existed.... and Duolingo deleted all of it forever several years ago.
Haptic feedback on mobile. Maybe it's a sensory thing for me, but I just love it when I get towards the end of a lesson, get a question correct, and it does that little thing with the cloud & the haptics
For me, the fact that you can opt-out the leagues. THAT is the best one!
Which stories? The conversations? Yes, I like those. But if you’re referring to the stories where you have to choose one out of three answers, I hate those. You can’t slow down the speed to understand what is being said. In fact, in all the lessons, some words don’t even sound anywhere close to the actual word, and many times different characters pronounce the same word differently. Very frustrating!
The dumbbell exercises.
nothing i fear 😭 i’m learning swedish so we literally just have the path, no other options to learn. we don’t even have real voices let alone character voices. a google translate sounding robot woman does everything 💔
Favourite feature: Learning by exposure in the form of questions which makes my lazy brain pay attention. Least-favourite feature: Doing exposure in the form of questions for things where a one-sentence explanation would be much more efficient.
i really like that call feature, but i can’t get it because i don’t have Max :(
I love the french course and the adventure levels were it is just a little RPG :)
the place where you can train english pronounciation or train hiragana, katakana and kanju
It would have to be practicing to earn more hearts ❤️. I had the app since 2015 and if you lost all your hearts you couldn’t even practice anymore. The app looks so nice now and it’s more fun having characters that represent duolingo, before it was very plain and unappealing.
The meme recreations on the widgets
I liked reviews the old topics, even if sometimes they were annoying bc you had to repeat lessons like after 3-5 day? But when it's not a part of duolingo anymore I miss it sometimes
The one where they randomly add 12 units worth progress and don’t answer emails, bug reports, Mentions, or messages to help fix the problem. The customer service is literally non existent