I’ve been using Duolingo to casually learn French. I also used school method (setup classroom with one email id and enrolled using another) to avoid ads, limited hearts, and leaderboards.

However, Duolingo has started showing ads and limiting hearts since last month for me. I checked reddit and seems like they’ve been rolling out these changes since last 3 months or so.

So I’d like to know what are the alternatives available for Duolingo?

  • ElectroVagrant@lemmy.world
    15·
    3 months ago

    Could look into and give Anki a try. Different format from Duolingo, but it’s free, ad-free, and open source. There’s a lot of existing decks for language learning, as well as enabling you to create your own if you’d like.

  • This is fine🔥🐶☕🔥@lemmy.worldOP
    9·
    3 months ago

    Few more things to add:

    I had thought about paying for Duolingo. However I saw news about them using AI and laying off employees (https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/09/tech/duolingo-layoffs-due-to-ai/index.html)

    And apparently they’re showing ads for Max tier to people who’ve already paid.

    https://old.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1gi9f7o/if_super_duolingo_was_actually_ad_free_instead_of/

    https://old.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1i3gyb5/duolingo_max_is_extremely_annoying/

    So I’m looking to jump ship (While knowing that next platform might degrade in future and I’ll have to make similar post again. Isn’t that great?🫠).

  • drolex@sopuli.xyz
    7·
    3 months ago

    Harry Potter. If you’re already familiar with the books, and have some basic knowledge of the language you try to learn, it’s very easy to read with a lot of spoken language. Once you’ve mastered the words for owl and broom, it’s very easy.

    There are problems there, too, with giving money to a transphobe. I’ll leave this open to your personal ethics.

    There might be other similar choices. But HP is really a good choice due to its simplicity and its familiarity.

    • thirdBreakfast@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      3 months ago

      I’ve used this (paid for it) a bit, and it seems better - but when I get busy it falls away and I’m just working on maintaining my duolingo streak :-( I think MemRise is better as long as you appropriately motivated.

      • Alado@lemmy.world
        3·
        2 months ago

        I’m so sorry. A few years ago I used Memrise to learn a language (I was learning Portuguese at the time). And I have the fondest memories. After writing my comment, I installed the app again and was horrified: there was almost nothing left of the that Memrise. Damn AI has crawled in there too. The ‘ordinary people from the street’ who voiced the phrases disapeared. I can hardly recommend this app now. God, why can’t we ever leave alone something that just works!

  • theskyisfalling@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    5·
    3 months ago

    Busuu is worth looking into. Has some similar things to duo lingo like a streak and on the free version you will be served one as before each lesson.

    That said however it will actually teach you properly how to use the language and the little exercises at the end of lessons are peer reviewed so other native speakers will assess what you write or speak and then say if it is correct and if not how you can change it / tips.

    You can also do the same for people learning your native language and this connection to others learning I think is a great asset to the app.

    There is a paid tier but unlike Duolingo with its shitty heart system you dont feel like it is forcing you to pay. There is no artificial limit to learning. If you get 5 things wrong it doesnt shut up shop for the day, you can keep learning, which is much better than Duolingos approach.

    • small44@lemmy.world
      3·
      3 months ago

      Tou could use talkpal to practice speaking with ai. The free version allow 10 min practice per day.

  • Lit@lemmy.world
    3·
    2 months ago

    You can try a combination of different resources. don’t do too many at one time, 1-3 is enough, depending on your interest and learning style and schedule.

    I would exhaust the free and cheap resources first, like Tv5monde, CI stuff, language transfer and some basic grammar. Use ANKI or whatever other flashcard app to go through 1k high frequency words to build up vocab.

    Get yourself up to being able to read your first book and listen to your first podcast (innerfrench). After that, you can focus a lot on practice by consuming content.

    Remember the goal is to start using/practicing the language not duolingo/grammar/anki the language but USE the language which is read/write/listen/speak. :-

  • Auster@thebrainbin.org
    3·
    2 months ago

    Maybe flashcard programs could be good? For things like Anki, I presume you could find packs for a given language, specially French, rather easily.

  • small44@lemmy.world
    3·
    3 months ago

    I personally use memorion on android, it’s like amore user friendly anki. For grammer i prefer the old pen and paper method. I also have talkpal to practice speaking, it is an ai app. The free version allow 10min use per day.

  • dexuruargaya@lemmy.world
    2·
    25 days ago

    There’s an app that plans to be a free, community-based clone of Duolingo, with support for all languages as long as there are skilled contributors, but it’s still in development. The app’s name is Lingonaut, and the website is https://lingonaut.app/

  • Tasty Saganaki@lemm.eeEnglish
    2·
    2 months ago

    I use the paid versions of all of the following: Duolingo, Clozemaster, Memrise, Mondly and LingQ. All are good. If I had to get rid of one, it would probably be Mondly as the sentences are sometimes incorrect, but Mondly has many, many languages, including Greek which I study.

    I can’t vouch necessarily for the free versions of any of these, as I understand that the ads can be annoying and/or content is super limited, depending.

    Another user gave an excellent list of seemingly free or low cost resources. I’ll also add that googling “free ____ language book PDF” usually produces some sort of book PDF as well. Not to mention using a library system to access free online ebooks to study.

  • croissantdechocolate@lemmy.world
    2·
    27 days ago

    I don’t like language learning apps that much, not to learn at least. I think they’re useful as a complement.

    That being said, I’ve used Duolingo and Memrise in the past, and currently use Busuu. Here are my opinions:

    • Duolingo is by far the worst option: nonsensical sentences, no explanations, heart system and so on. They worked very hard on marketing and gamification, they did zero work on language acquisition. It’s also supposed to last forever since you’re not supposed to learn, you’re supposed to stay forever and consume ads.

    • Memrise is better, with some actual videos of people. But at least the last time I used it, not all courses had the same quality.

    • Busuu: this app is in my opinion MUCH better than the other ones. The exercises make sense, they come with little explanations when needed and the community interactions are very good. They also have only real audios, real videos with real people and they also teach you some of the culture of the languages. In the Dutch course, they even expose you to both Netherlands and Belgium accents. Besides, the free version has some ads, but that’s basically all it has. You have access to everything and there’s no bullshit heart system. And my favourite thing about it: it’s not something that lasts forever. It’s a little app that knows its limite and knows when to stop.

    TLDR: If you really want an app, ditch Duolingo and use Busuu. Duolingo is what you use to share little memes on social media.