Duolingo - Language Learning

In searching for a way for my daughter to begin learning French we discovered this awesome language learning tool. Duolingo is free language learning curriculum offered over the web. Both my husband and my daughter have been using it for a few months. They have used Rosetta Stone in the past and this free tool is very comparable. My daughter says she likes it because you earn points.

My husband likes it for several reasons. First of all the program accepts multiple correct answers. It may say in German - Translate this phrase into English. Die Frau trinkt Wasser. The woman drinks water and the lady drinks water would both be accepted as correct answers. Secondly, Duolingo explains some of the reasoning behind the grammar. He's learning German and there are many articles. It's often difficult to know when to use die, der or das. This program gives some background information on grammar. Third, if the directions say listen and type in German and you type in English instead, the program recognizes that and says oops..... try again.

It's amazing that a tool this good is totally free without adds, hidden fees, or some goal to sell you something. It's free because a team of linguists and scientists are trying to develop a better language translation tool. Homonyms and synonyms can be a challenge for native speakers, but they seem to baffle translation tools. The program stores translations by users and uses that information to put translations into context.

Living in Germany and being a native English speaker, I am quite familiar with translation tools. Although they work well enough for me to get the gist of whatever I'm reading, the word order and grammar could be significantly improved.

Duolingo offers Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese. Check it out!

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