In last week's post, I traced the arc of my lifelong goal to acquire the Spanish and Portuguese languages. Unfortunately, that arc is now at its nadir because I haven't been using those languages. The dreaded condition of language attrition is starting to take its toll on my hard-earned foreign language fluency. I need a new approach!
Fitness experts say that a person needs to vary an exercise routine to achieve maximum results, don't they? I wish I could confirm that recommendation, but right now it's my mind rather than my body that I feel is in need of attention. I've studied languages through various approaches - grammar-translation, audio-lingual, and communicative, but I want a fresh approach that will keep me on task.
I decided to investigate a web based program called Duolingo (http://www.duolingo.com). I don't remember how or when I first heard about it, but somehow yesterday I found myself staring at my laptop computer screen and reading the motto "Free language education for the world." Hmm, generous and ambitious, I thought. I googled Duolingo to learn more about the program before I went through the sign-up procedure.
Here's what I know about Duolingo so far. The five languages offered in complete form are Latin American Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Brazilian Portuguese. That suits me fine, because at the moment I want to maintain Spanish and Portuguese (maybe French for later on if all goes well).
There is no cost to the program. That raised a red flag in my jaded mind. I was suspicious of the claim until I read about the Duolingo business model. Because it is a crowd sourced text translation platform, income is generated by charging organizations that want their web site or other documents translated. Crowd sourcing! Doesn't that sound hip and modern?
Duolingo has other modern features that may provide a partial solution to my nagging fear that the world of technology is leaving me behind. Duolingo is available on the web and also on both Apple and Android devices as a free app. I have dreams of putting it on my iPad and iPhone so that I can play around with a foreign language in my free time and anywhere I choose.
After the simple sign up procedure on Duolingo, I tested my Portuguese language abilties. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I just followed the simple instructions. I was asked questions using various language skills, translating from Portuguese to English, translating from English to Portuguese, multiple choice grammar questions, audio bites to write in Portuguese (with a slow down feature, fortunately), and even remarks like "watch your accent marks"when I failed to do so. It was absorbing and fun. I was given a chance to further practice my skills , which I did.
It will take some time to fully understand the program, I know. The practice structure is described as "gamified", which will be a real challenge for me, because I have never played a video game in my life. And this morning I received an email from Duolingo, gentle chiding me for not practicing yesterday and reminding me that learning a language requires constant practice. Everyone needs a little nagging now and then.
My main impression of Duolingo at this early stage is that it is new and challenging. And best of all, I am looking forward with great anticipation to continuing it. Language study has now moved from my "have to" list onto my "fun to do" list.
I'll keep you posted!
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