Has anyone got to the end of the Duolingo course?

I got to the end of the Duolingo Russian course (about two years ago) but unfortunately don't feel at all confident in my ability to listen, speak, read or write that language.

I genuinely don't know if this is down to me or the course. I learnt two foreign languages to a very high level some thirty years ago, so expected a lot of myself, but no longer seem to have the ability to retain what I am learning like I did back then.

Yes I got to the end of Dutch and French, working on Portuguese and Italian, gave up in Welsh.
It’s a fun way to learn, but I like practising with Memrise, which is better IMO for conversation. The knowledge that I can say “That man has been bankrupt for years” or “It is her dream to wear a knit cap” in Dutch is sure to come in useful some day.

My OH started doing Spanish with Duolingo about 3 years ago but I don't think he's learned anything! He finds the 20 min or so he spends each day enjoyable but from listening to bits of the lessons, the vocabulary and phrases wouldn't be much use in everyday situations. Also, there seemed to be too much emphasis on grammar- I think it's aimed more at school or college students than adults who just want to get by on holiday.
We went to the Canaries last spring and OH didn't seem any better than me at talking to waiters etc

I was going to restart my duo lingo in New Year[one of two New Year Resolutions}.
I have retained some words[never got anywhere near the end]. But not as many as I would like. I am learning a language that is not one of the more usual ones. But I shouldnt imagine it is one that is especially difficult.

I agree about some naff phrases. Also it is a bit repetitive in certain places. From memory, it has a slow pace and a quick one? I need medium.
I got affronted when it said I needed more practice on my accent!

I need to learn more really. One of my younger Grandkids is multi lingual. I need to know what he is saying! Though he will switch between the languages. But he is not that clear speaking yet, so sometimes I dont know which language he is using.

I may take a look at Memrise.

I started learning Polish with Duolingo but gave up when they changed the format a year or so ago. They were saying "it's about progress, not perfection" and took away the ability to go back and repeat lessons from earlier in the course. Like Oldnproud I am used to learning languages very intensively and to a high standard and can't give up until I understand the grammar completely, so a superficial knowledge of the language was not what I was aiming for. Also, as I round the last corner on my way to 70, it gets harder to retain things so I needed to keep going back.

I hadn't even realised that you could finish a course, but I suppose at some time there are no more lessons.

With Duolingo it also depends how popular the language is. The more common ones like Spanish have (or at least had ) all sorts of features, like stories and audio feedback, which weren't available in the Polish. Perhaps they are only for paying members, not sure about that.

When they disabled the discussion section, which was one feature the Polish did have when I started, that was the beginning of the end. People were asking serious questions and there were a few moderators and native Polish speakers who helped and explained things really well.

I didn't find the content as unrelated to real conversation as it seems to be nowadays, but that may be because I am used to transferring constructions for other uses when learning a language.

By that I mean: "My hovercraft is full of eels" doesn't make sense, but you can replace the words with others and use the construction "full of" to express something else, such as "The world is full of wonders". "Full of" does not come naturally to speakers of some other languages.

I am on Day 1436 of Spanish. I find I can read Spanish at a low level but can’t understand spoken Spanish as it is so fast.

They have lately been introducing daft sentences such as ‘the fish had dinner with the horse’ totally mad.

I wish they would flag up when they are introducing a new grammar section. For example they suddenly introduced the past tense with no introduction, so I couldn’t understand why the verbs suddenly had new endings. So I went online and found what the past tense endings were for ar/ir/er verbs and made myself a crib sheet which is helpful. It also took me some time to realise the verb Ser as well as meaning To Be also was the verb To Go. Maybe it is my age but I can’t be a mind reader.

It irritates me when they give a list of my 5 ‘weak’ words to practise, when in fact I know all of the 5 words. I think they just choose them at random.

I still enjoy my 15 minutes a day Spanish.

I joined duolingo to continue to learn German, lived there and family in Germany, haven't finished the course, long way to go. I find though I can speak some, enough to get by, can read it better. As for understanding when native speakers are chattering, so fast,can only pick out some words and phrases.
I do believe that to master a language you have to use it, or lose it. So when I visit I'm made to use it, with some success.

I finished French and Dutch a while ago, but then they changed everything and added a lot more, so I'm back to not having finished! Still doing it though.

If it is use it or lose it, and I expect you are right, why is it that, when if we learn to ride a bike, or learn to swim, we dont lose that.

I did Spanish on Duolinga for some time but eventually ran out of hearts. However, a friend did the same thing and managed to keep going without paying anything. Not sure how that works.

NotTooOld

I did Spanish on Duolinga for some time but eventually ran out of hearts. However, a friend did the same thing and managed to keep going without paying anything. Not sure how that works.

Your hearts should automatically start to renew after a certain number of hours, or (on the mobile app at least) you can earn hearts by doing additional practice sessions or watching ads.

I have just seen the Duo Cards app. Anyone else use this system? I did quite well today on my Spanish but what tomorrow brings could be a different story 😁

Your hearts should automatically start to renew after a certain number of hours, or (on the mobile app at least) you can earn hearts by doing additional practice sessions or watching ads.

Thanks, MissInterpreted. I've decided to have another go!