When I logged on to my DuoLingo program this morning, it gave me a pat on the back by telling me that I was on a 14 day streak. This means that every day for two weeks straight, I have earned a minimum of ten XPs (Experience Points) on DuoLingo.
It is still surprising to me how much I want to maintain that streak! In my free time, I could walk around the yard and check on plants, take a nap, read an article on Flipboard (my favorite iPad app), pet the cat, or watch House Hunters on HTGV. But because someone (???) cares how much I am sticking with my Portuguese maintenance program, I'll work on a DuoLingo exercise instead. I would not have guessed that I could be so easily seduced.
Another motivational feature of DuoLingo is charting how many XPs I have earned each day for the previous week.
As you can see, on Thursday and Friday, I did just the minimum amount of work to earn 10 XPs. On Monday, a holiday, I got busy and earned 200 points. I wanted that orange bar across the top to move closer to the next skill level, Level 12. And I discovered that if I can test out of certain skills, I will earn 90 XPs instead of just 10.
Testing out is not easy, as I discovered when I got right to the end of a test yesterday and made a mistake with no hearts left. (I understand that for gamers, hearts are like lives. When they are gone, you are dead!) I got a message from the DuoLingo Professor Owl saying that he was very sorry, but that I was out of hearts. I was sorry too.
I have never been a gambler. Las Vegas casinos have no appeal for me. But when I saw this offer on DuoLingo, I have to admit I was a bit tempted to participate.
Lingots are the virtual currency of DuoLingo and can be earned by various means. If I want to bet five of my Lingots that I will maintain a seven day streak, I can double that amount and end up with ten Lingots. If I don't maintain the streak, I'll lose five of my present 21 Lingots. It sounds like a pretty sure bet to me! I hope this decision doesn't lead to a life of crime!
There is one more DuoLingo message that I'm not sure I want to hear about.
When I first read this message, I thought, "How sad!" But then I realized that introverts like myself would prefer to learn alone than to actually have to interact with another human being, even virtually!
I've got to rate DuoLingo very high for motivation. And I now understand why my son and his friends, when they were teenagers, wouldn't stop playing those video games until they either got killed or reached the next level. I really want to reach DuoLingo Level 12 this week!
No comments:
Post a Comment