Quitting Duolingo Soon
Nov. 25th, 2025 05:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebI've been learning Spanish off and on for half a century (if you count learning the word for "bus" in the first grade) and the latest chapter in this boring saga is coming to an end.
Why start Duolingo?
I've been paying for a subscription to Duolingo (at the Super level) for a few years now to avoid the ads (and get infinite tries on the right answers) and support them in providing free lessons to others and it's been good. I don't really like it for learning grammar, but I got a pretty good education in that from my four semesters of Spanish at the local community college.
(Fun story – I met someone in Elections who'd gotten a 365-day streak, which I thought was amazing. It inspired me to get regular again. Now I have friend streaks longer than that—this is where both you and a friend participate daily. Disclaimer: you can buy streak freezes to pretend that a day you missed never existed.)
I have been liking DuoLingo for learning vocabulary and practicing listening. I still cannot understand Spanish spoken in the wild. But when I'm reading an English book with Spanish phrases in it, I usually understand the Spanish. My vocabulary is definitely a bit better. I can understand longer slowly spoken Spanish sentences than I could at first. I keep hoping for a day when things click and I magically start understanding things. Hey, it happened with cha cha!
What's different?
Things have changed a lot with Duolingo. There used to be a comment section, where the best comments got voted to the top, and some of those had fabulous explanations of things! They got rid of it.
They added a few explanations of things, but often you can't access those until they've been throwing the topics at you for several lessons, as if you can magically learn like babies do. Meanwhile, I ask myself why, why, why are things sometimes one way and sometimes another? Sometimes I figure it out—when I do, I'm usually, but not always, right. Other times I'm able to internet-search my way to the answer.
They added stories which, unlike language-learning stories I've accessed in the past, really had virtually only things we'd already learned and also had a fun twist. They were really nice. Until they were taken over by AI—now they're weird. But then you get the opportunity to write a short paragraph in answer to a question, and AI edits it, showing you what has changed. I find this super helpful—sometimes AI has guessed wrong on what I meant, but mostly changing my writing to the AI equivalent of 'what sounds right' is very helpful. I make sure to try to say things I'm not sure about how to say just to see what happens.
They've also changed the organization of lessons multiple times. Now you have to do everything in a certain order and you can't go back to review (unless you stay away for too long—then you must do a review). And then they have a separate area for various kinds of practice. I try to do the speaking one and the vocabulary one every day. I use the speaking one as an easy listening practice by looking away from the written words while listening and trying to figure out what they're saying, but then I can look back for the actual speaking part.
I actually finished the entire Spanish course once, years ago. But they've since added a lot more to it. I'm now near the end of Unit 7 of 8. They've said this covers through The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) language proficiency level B2, which is upper intermediate.
Why stop?
A few months ago, Duolingo announced their new "AI first" strategy. They said they were using AI for all the boring parts to free up employees to focus more on the fun parts. And yet there were layoffs. And even I can tell that they've handed off some of the fun stuff to AI. Also, using AI is worsening the climate crisis. I really don't want to subsidize them anymore.
(Disclaimer: looking for an article to link, it turns out they are not laying off full-time workers, though contractors are still considered expendable. And they say their goal is to speed up course development (rather than, say, cut costs or maximize profits). I admit I have trouble trusting large corporations these days especially since the CEO literally said he he doesn’t intend to "lay off humans" and I'm pretty sure the contractors are all humans. I guess you don't lay off contractors, you just don't renew their contracts. Also weird: stocks have plummeted since their AI First announcement, and investors usually love anything that screws the workers and the environment, so that's weird.)
And now, after I've made my decision to leave, I've seen Evan Edinger's Duoling Isn't 'Free' Anymore – Lily Told Me Why. He's at the next higher tier, which lets you talk to an AI, which he loves. But also he's learned that the system has changed so that free users literally cannot do enough lessons in one day to make any effective progress. That is low-down. No, no more support from me.
When will I leave?
Another thing that's changing is that my friend who added me to her "family" plan is going to not renew that when it ends early next January. So that sounds like a good deadline. I can see how much I can get out of the system before then. I'm near the end of 7/8 (gigantic) units. I wonder if the last one is somehow smaller.
Researching shows: They change so fast that it's hard to find current information. I can't tell if there still "only" 8 units or 9 or 10. Anyway, I probably won't finish. We'll see.
What's next?
I mean, I feel like this is a question I should think about, right? The answer is: I don't know. Perhaps nothing.
I've been plugging away at Duolingo mostly as a way to not lose what I've already learned, and I've actually cemented a lot of that and added more knowledge. But I don't look forward to doing Duolingo (or any other language-learning activity) at all. So I've been doing nothing else. And I'm privileged—if I forget all my Spanish, there will be virtually no negative consequences for me.
Okay, I have to admit, I did use my Spanish once in Mexico, which let me find the potatoes on the shopping list handed to me by my hosts. And I once helped a store employee figure out how to use his credit card machine to let me pay by credit card. Those moments were pretty great, I have to say.
I'm tired just thinking of other ways to continue my learning. I do know I'm not up for talking to Spanish speakers in Spanish in general. (Just imagining it makes me feel extremely introverted, even though in most of my life I feel only lightly introverted.)
My city used to publish a Spanish-language paper I really liked (Ahora Si), but when BigJerkfaceNewsBehemouth bought the city paper, they discontinued its Spanish cousin.
Nevertheless, I certainly have plenty of resources available to me.
* I own some Spanish textbooks. This is the resource I'm most likely to use.
* I made a lot of flashcards I can use to help me maintain my learning.
* My library branch has lots of books in Spanish. I just checked again, and I still can't understand even books for toddlers.
* I have DVDs with Spanish subtitles and/or dubbing, though I don't know how to play them on our current computer setup.
* The entire internet.
* I live in Texas, which is full of Spanish speakers.
I suspect I'll just be taking a break for a while. Or indefinitely.
Why start Duolingo?
I've been paying for a subscription to Duolingo (at the Super level) for a few years now to avoid the ads (and get infinite tries on the right answers) and support them in providing free lessons to others and it's been good. I don't really like it for learning grammar, but I got a pretty good education in that from my four semesters of Spanish at the local community college.
(Fun story – I met someone in Elections who'd gotten a 365-day streak, which I thought was amazing. It inspired me to get regular again. Now I have friend streaks longer than that—this is where both you and a friend participate daily. Disclaimer: you can buy streak freezes to pretend that a day you missed never existed.)
I have been liking DuoLingo for learning vocabulary and practicing listening. I still cannot understand Spanish spoken in the wild. But when I'm reading an English book with Spanish phrases in it, I usually understand the Spanish. My vocabulary is definitely a bit better. I can understand longer slowly spoken Spanish sentences than I could at first. I keep hoping for a day when things click and I magically start understanding things. Hey, it happened with cha cha!
What's different?
Things have changed a lot with Duolingo. There used to be a comment section, where the best comments got voted to the top, and some of those had fabulous explanations of things! They got rid of it.
They added a few explanations of things, but often you can't access those until they've been throwing the topics at you for several lessons, as if you can magically learn like babies do. Meanwhile, I ask myself why, why, why are things sometimes one way and sometimes another? Sometimes I figure it out—when I do, I'm usually, but not always, right. Other times I'm able to internet-search my way to the answer.
They added stories which, unlike language-learning stories I've accessed in the past, really had virtually only things we'd already learned and also had a fun twist. They were really nice. Until they were taken over by AI—now they're weird. But then you get the opportunity to write a short paragraph in answer to a question, and AI edits it, showing you what has changed. I find this super helpful—sometimes AI has guessed wrong on what I meant, but mostly changing my writing to the AI equivalent of 'what sounds right' is very helpful. I make sure to try to say things I'm not sure about how to say just to see what happens.
They've also changed the organization of lessons multiple times. Now you have to do everything in a certain order and you can't go back to review (unless you stay away for too long—then you must do a review). And then they have a separate area for various kinds of practice. I try to do the speaking one and the vocabulary one every day. I use the speaking one as an easy listening practice by looking away from the written words while listening and trying to figure out what they're saying, but then I can look back for the actual speaking part.
I actually finished the entire Spanish course once, years ago. But they've since added a lot more to it. I'm now near the end of Unit 7 of 8. They've said this covers through The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) language proficiency level B2, which is upper intermediate.
Why stop?
A few months ago, Duolingo announced their new "AI first" strategy. They said they were using AI for all the boring parts to free up employees to focus more on the fun parts. And yet there were layoffs. And even I can tell that they've handed off some of the fun stuff to AI. Also, using AI is worsening the climate crisis. I really don't want to subsidize them anymore.
(Disclaimer: looking for an article to link, it turns out they are not laying off full-time workers, though contractors are still considered expendable. And they say their goal is to speed up course development (rather than, say, cut costs or maximize profits). I admit I have trouble trusting large corporations these days especially since the CEO literally said he he doesn’t intend to "lay off humans" and I'm pretty sure the contractors are all humans. I guess you don't lay off contractors, you just don't renew their contracts. Also weird: stocks have plummeted since their AI First announcement, and investors usually love anything that screws the workers and the environment, so that's weird.)
And now, after I've made my decision to leave, I've seen Evan Edinger's Duoling Isn't 'Free' Anymore – Lily Told Me Why. He's at the next higher tier, which lets you talk to an AI, which he loves. But also he's learned that the system has changed so that free users literally cannot do enough lessons in one day to make any effective progress. That is low-down. No, no more support from me.
When will I leave?
Another thing that's changing is that my friend who added me to her "family" plan is going to not renew that when it ends early next January. So that sounds like a good deadline. I can see how much I can get out of the system before then. I'm near the end of 7/8 (gigantic) units. I wonder if the last one is somehow smaller.
Researching shows: They change so fast that it's hard to find current information. I can't tell if there still "only" 8 units or 9 or 10. Anyway, I probably won't finish. We'll see.
What's next?
I mean, I feel like this is a question I should think about, right? The answer is: I don't know. Perhaps nothing.
I've been plugging away at Duolingo mostly as a way to not lose what I've already learned, and I've actually cemented a lot of that and added more knowledge. But I don't look forward to doing Duolingo (or any other language-learning activity) at all. So I've been doing nothing else. And I'm privileged—if I forget all my Spanish, there will be virtually no negative consequences for me.
Okay, I have to admit, I did use my Spanish once in Mexico, which let me find the potatoes on the shopping list handed to me by my hosts. And I once helped a store employee figure out how to use his credit card machine to let me pay by credit card. Those moments were pretty great, I have to say.
I'm tired just thinking of other ways to continue my learning. I do know I'm not up for talking to Spanish speakers in Spanish in general. (Just imagining it makes me feel extremely introverted, even though in most of my life I feel only lightly introverted.)
My city used to publish a Spanish-language paper I really liked (Ahora Si), but when BigJerkfaceNewsBehemouth bought the city paper, they discontinued its Spanish cousin.
Nevertheless, I certainly have plenty of resources available to me.
* I own some Spanish textbooks. This is the resource I'm most likely to use.
* I made a lot of flashcards I can use to help me maintain my learning.
* My library branch has lots of books in Spanish. I just checked again, and I still can't understand even books for toddlers.
* I have DVDs with Spanish subtitles and/or dubbing, though I don't know how to play them on our current computer setup.
* The entire internet.
* I live in Texas, which is full of Spanish speakers.
I suspect I'll just be taking a break for a while. Or indefinitely.