Duolingo Review

Duolingo is the first free language learning application that rivals expensive paid programs. It offers tons of self-paced exercises to help you build a basic understanding of dozens of languages or review a language you already know. It is undoubtedly the best free language app you can find and our Editor’s Choice winner. Even when compared to paid language learning programs, Duolingo’s content is so good that it still ranks among the best language learning software and earns a perfect five-star rating.

What languages does Duolingo teach?
For English speakers (i.e. taught in English), Duolingo offers courses in 37 languages, excluding the languages of works of fiction (Klingon and Govarelian are offered), and one course is still under development (Xhosa). There are more courses if you add up all the courses that use different languages of instruction, for example, Spanish for Catalan and Arabic for French.

The 37 real-world languages for English speakers are Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Navajo, Norwegian, Polish, and Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian, Russian, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish, Kiswahili, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, Yiddish and Zulu.

If you know someone who would like to learn English, Duolingo offers ESL programs for speakers of many languages: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian (Bahasa), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.

Is Multi-neighborhood free? How much does Super Duolingo cost?
Duolingo started out as a free app and promised to be free forever. The company made good on that promise by supporting it through ads and offering a paid membership, now called Super Duolingo (formerly known as Duolingo Plus). You don’t have to pay Super to use Duolingo, just sign up for the app with your email address and password and you’re good to go. With a free account, you can learn any number of languages.

The Super membership costs $7.99 per month, with a discount if you prepay for a year ($47.99). There’s also a family plan for up to six people that costs $71.99 per year. The cost of these paid plans has dropped from the last time PCMag reviewed Duolingo.

What does Super Duolingo do for you? It removes ads and allows you unlimited access to the mobile app, which free users must pause if they get too many questions wrong in a certain amount of time. Paid members can also practice their mistakes as Duolingo keeps track of them, and they get unlimited special Legend levels, mastery quizzes, and unlimited tests.

Should you pay for Super Duolingo?
If you like Duolingo and want to support the people who make it, or if you primarily use the mobile app rather than the web app, you may want to consider paying for Super Duolingo.The web app and the mobile app are virtually identical, except for one big difference: the hearts.

In the Duolingo mobile app, you start with five hearts. Whenever you do an exercise wrong, you lose one. When you’re in a bad mood, you can’t workout again until you earn it back. The way to replenish your hearts is to wait (5 hours per heart) or spend 350 gems, which you can earn just by using the app. With Super Membership, you’ll never have to worry about hearts again. But you also don’t have to worry about hearts in the web app, because they don’t exist! In other words, as long as you’re logged into the Duolingo web version and not the mobile app, you can practice and learn as much as you want without paying anything. If you’re going to use Duolingo for free, I highly recommend using it on the web to avoid heartache with the red heart system.

Sure, sometimes it makes sense to use the mobile app because you’re on the go and have a few minutes to learn. But if you’re a free user, use the web app as much as possible to get the most out of Duolingo.

Getting Started with Duolingo
Since Duolingo was launched, I have used it to learn or review several languages. Some of them are new to me and some I have learned before. I use it to practice and brush up on my Spanish, which I must often speak and have learned in class. A few years ago, when I lived in Bucharest, I used Duolingo in the same way as I did for Romanian.I took classes, then added Duolingo, and finally transitioned to using Duolingo with a tutor.If you think of Duolingo as a supplemental study aid and use it in conjunction with your other learning methods, it’s the best app you’ll find! If you think of Duolingo as a supplemental study aid and use it in conjunction with other learning methods, then it is the best application you will find.

When you first start using it, depending on the language, you may be given a placement test if you already have some knowledge of the language. By taking the placement test, you may be able to skip some of the more basic lessons, such as learning simple words and verb conjugations.

You always have the option of starting from scratch if you wish. As mentioned earlier, you can learn any number of languages at once and switch courses at any time.

Duolingo is the best free language learning application
Duolingo is the best free language learning app you can find, considering what you can get out of it. It’s unlikely to take you from beginner to fluent, or even conversationally proficient, but it gives you exercises that will help you learn lots of new languages and practice them every day. Using Duolingo is a great way to supplement your other learning, whether it’s classroom or self-study learning, making it a five-star Editors’ Choice Award winner for learning languages.

Keep in mind that an app on its own is usually not enough to really drive your language learning journey. That’s why we recommend pairing Duolingo with a course or other program. If you’re a beginner, try Rosetta Stone, and if you have a little experience with the language, Lingoda has the best online courses to challenge you. If you want to learn American Sign Language (which most language learning programs don’t offer), Sign It ASL is the best choice.