Duolingo is a language learning app that I use on my iPhone.
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About the same time Steve Martin did this stand-up, I was taking French in high school.
This bit pretty much describes my two year struggle with Monsieur LeGuilloux. My fish-out-of-water French teacher, who wrapped tape around the bridge of his glasses when they broke, did his best to engage us in his ancestral tongue. For me, my brain stayed true to my ancestral English roots, forbidding me to learn much.
The vocabulary I retained from my 360 days of class includes the opening dialogue in our first year textbook and chien (the word for dog).
While in France
A few years ago, my daughter and I visited Ax-les-Thermes, in the south of France.
We were on a Ax-les-Thermes is known for its healing hot springs. We soaked our feet in a public pool in town.
I’m assuming it was okay for us to soak our feet, as the signs were in French and no one yelled at us.
When it came to ordering lunch, I stumbled along with pointing and speaking louder than expected American English. My daughter was absolutely no help and communicated largely with eye rolls.
Still, not all was lost that day. I complimented a local dog for being a “good chien”.
Meanwhile Back in Texas
On January 1, 2023, I began using my Duolingo app to try again to learn French.
My hope? To improve my lagging memory by stimulating a dusty part of my noodle.
And to prepare for that faraway day I return victorious to France.
Duolingo, a Day at a Time
The Duolingo app asked after my French proficiency. I answered that I had taken a little in school. They offered me a placement test. I saw no harm in taking it.
After they tried to place me on Unit 7, I panicked.
Told Duo (the app’s owl mascot) I was in no way comfortable with skipping ahead. I even apologized for taking the test. App didn’t care. After some ado, I restarted at Lesson 1, Unit 1.
I’m still making time each day to work on my French.
The app makes a big deal about keeping up with your streak. Today it tells me I’ve completed 633 days worth of lessons.
I started Unit 11 yesterday.
And in the last few weeks, I’m finally feeling like I’m making progress.
The app, on the other hand, started a new thing and told me my French score is 25.
If, like me, you don’t know what that means, “in real life this means you can chat a little, if someone is patient and ready to help.”
That’s funny, considering the reputation France has earned for being so patient with English speakers.
My Takeaway on All This
Besides that I suck at learning a new language is, I’m benefiting from the change in how languages are taught.
When I studied (a word I’m using very loosely) French in high school, the approach is what this article calls object learning. And they explain it like this… ”In history class, you start chronologically and you use dates in order of how things happened. That’s just not how language-learning works,” Katie Nielson of Voxy says. “You can’t memorize a bunch of words and rules and expect to speak the language. Then what you have is knowledge of ‘language as object’. You can describe the language, but you can’t use it.”
Using the Duolingo app takes a skill learning approach, where it’s something you do, not something you know.
Sure, I’m reading, writing and speaking like I did with M. LeGuilloux. But with the app, whole dictionaries of words aren’t dumped on you at once. The app sprinkles numbers, days of the week and such over the course. Additionally, the animated characters are *chef’s kiss*
Helpful Tips from the Afore Mentioned Article
👩🏻🎨 Voice why you’re bothering to learn the new language. For me, I’ve already stated, I will return victorious to France.
👩🏻🎤 Another point the article makes is to enjoy the process! Find ways to make it more playful. I’m creating a Spotify playlist of French-speaking artists and almost watched a Netflix film without subtitles.
🦸🏻♀️ “Relish the ridiculous moments.” I love that. You will misspeak, because, let’s face it, you don’t make sense all the time in your native language. Put yourself out there. My experience is you will be rewarded if you try.
Cheers, y’all!
