Chinese Duolingo: Pros & Cons
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- Опубліковано 6 чер 2024
- Welcome to The Multilingual Mind! In this video, I talk about the pros and cons of learning Mandarin Chinese with Duolingo.
Here are some useful time stamps:
Pros: 00:41
Cons: 02:53
Tips & Conclusions: 05:16
My main complaint with the Duolingo Chinese course was how specifically worded the English translations had to be. So often I'd be given a Chinese sentence, know exactly what it meant but when I was asked to type it in English it would mark me wrong if my sentence wasn't worded exactly like they wanted even though it was correct. It got very frustrating at times. It was a good introduction to the language though, it gave me a good feel for the basics. I'd recommend it it for a beginner who's not sure if they want to commit to paying to learn it.
I wonder if they've improved on this? Every once in a while I'll hit a sentence that is particularly picky on wording, but generally I'm usually impressed that it takes a lot of other variations.
Yes same!
Its annoying but its considered 'proper translation' in the language world and I find a lot of apps like this. I'm in school learning biblical hebrew and we have to translate exactly like how duo lingo wants us to, but you're absolutely correct it can be very annoying. But when you become fluent in both languages, you will realise that being able to translate that way, actually makes you an expert in both languages. Its good that duo lingo does it right from the get go. Once you get around the learning curve, its the proper standard.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I found that Duolingo is a really fun way to help get you going over the steep curve of learning chinese just bc it Chinese is SO hard. also, I did both the free version and the Plus version, and I really feel the Plus version is necessary to get more content in on less time and has more practice modules...which are super helpful bc it was so hard to internalize the sounds.
This has been very helpful! I think you have a very unique perspective and your videos are such a blessing. Thank you :)
You're so welcome! I'm glad my videos are helping people, even if I'm a beginner and they're all terrible quality haha!
J'utilise Duolingo aussi comme l'une de mes ressources .Je trouve que ca aide vraiment à retenir les caractères chinois pour la lecture .Pour le vocabulaire c'est super aussi ca permet de bien mémoriser mais c'est vrai que ca ne suffit pas .J'utilise aussi des livres pour debutant en chinois et je regarde evidemment énormément de dramas en chinois sur des plateformes comme Rakuten Viki ou IQIYi ou encore WETV. Le chinois me plait tellement que j'ai décidé de partir 6 mois là bas apprendre le chinois en immersion chez une famille et avec des cours de chinois le matin .Comme je souhaite apprendre vite j'ai choisi une famille qui parle peu anglais et des villes comme Chengdu et Xi'An à l'instar de Shanghai ou Beijing . J'espere que tu nous feras d'autre video sur ta progression en chinois et la methode que tu utilises ❤
Coucou ! Je suis d’accord avec toi pour Duolingo. Et puis maintenant qu’il y a la partie dédiée à l’écriture des Hanzi c’est encore mieux. Fais-nous une update de ton voyage ! Bonne continuation à toi.
This was a super helpful video and I'm learning a lot from the comments. I'm looking to learn Mandarin but I'm not entirely sure what its utility will be in my life yet. Duolingo is pretty low commitment which suits me at the moment (I'm also using it to learn French and Russian.) Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
This is very useful. Thanks!
I appreciate your insight. Would love to see more videos. The septum looks good on you too! I speak English and have taught myself fluent Spanish. I can slightly read French and Italian due to my knowledge of Spanish. And can slightly understand Portuguese. Currently I'm learning Chinese on duo and this video is great. I've used duo since 2013 and it has its cons but overall I advertise duo most to people trying to learn English. Have a great day ✌️
Thanks so much! That’s cool you’re learning so many languages. Sometimes I wish I could go back and be a student haha : ) I hope to make more videos this summer. I appreciate the encouragement!
Thx for your review of Chinese in Duolingo, I am currently learning Spanish but Chinese is an option on the future. Hugs from Brazil 🇧🇷
You’re so sweet! Thanks for the nice comment : )
谢谢老师！ I actually just started using Duolingo to learn Mandarin, because after finishing my doctorate degree, I want continuous mental stimulation. I also currently already speak Spanish, and can understand Italian, Portuguese, and French and communicate conversationally. I am doing a few lessons to complete the circles each time on Duolingo, and I spend about 30 minutes a night. My goal is to finish Duolingo has on mandarin, and then transition onto something else. in your video, you indicated that there is no way to write mandarin on Duolingo, But as of presently, you actually can do some writing on Duolingo, and there is an extensive library. It shows you how to write and read characters (and you trace them and draw them on your own too), but as of yet, it does not seem like it is part of the lessons that I am on. Hope it’s been going well for you! 👏
re: the lack of composing original sentences, one thing I started doing is just listening to the prompt and then thinking of an appropriate response before i look at the word bank. it's not perfect but it's better than nothing
Best username ive seen yet
Try out the Tandem app! You can talk to people overseas for free, and I find even with my low level of Chinese, I'm still able to communicate quite well. That way you'll be composing all day long haha! It's easier than you think and people are so nice : )
Duolingo can only be a supplement in my opinion. It's also good to just quickly explore a new language. I've used it for Italian, French, German, Dutch, and Chinese. And Spanish.
My thoughts exactly! It is such a great tool to supplement other resources : )
For many languages it's more than a supplement and can be used as "main course". Mainly English, Spanish, maybe French and German. Those courses on their own will take you quite far, probably beyond the level you'd need to start reading texts to make more progress. Nobody ever claimed Duolingo should be the only ressource, but I'd say if it was your only access, it would still work fine for those few languages.
很棒。I hope you speak more and more Chinese in the future，by the way, your hair is really beautiful⛄️Of course, there is also the ring of the nose, which is the soul. 加油！
谢谢你 ! I'm enjoying it and will continue studying : )
The ring in the nose is really disgusting
बहुत अच्छा लगा
Amazing vídeo. I started a channel about languages and also am learning msndarin. Subscribed and looking foward for more vídeos
Thanks so much! Awesome to hear you're learning Mandarin too : )
2 years since u uploaded this and they’ve added the writing practice which is great I really enjoy it. I haven’t checked if they have the stories but that’d be awesome
Thank you
The only problem I had was with the name part, I was so confused. So I basically dropped the name part and learned it from UA-cam.
you can actually turn off the word bank and just type it yourself, though that may be on the browser version only
Hi Erin! Thanks for sharing! Please do you have any tips for learning Chinese reading and writing?
So far I’ve been using the Integrated Chinese textbook series and the Mandarin Companion graded readers. Between those and duolingo, I really have stepped up confidence and speed in reading and writing. Also, the skritter app is great and worth the money in my opinion : )
I only use Duolingo right now and my main problem with it is that there is not an option to have like and real world conversation ever, there is no AI or chat bot to use to help you in the real world. I do agree with everything that she said except I feel like the hearts aren’t as bad as she makes them out to be, I actually like how they make it feel like a game.
Now you can practice the characters
They do offer to write by yourself. You can set your keyboard to handwriting and simply Chinese.
At 5:30 you talk about "...a textbook and...other resources..." What are they? What level are you on after having finished the Chinese tree? Thanks!
Hi Max, good question! I haven't finished the whole tree yet (I'm currently about 1/3 of the way through unit 3), but I think I'm at about somewhere in HSK 2 now. However, not just from Duolingo. I use so many resources that I can't give all credit just to one. My mains are: The Integrated Chinese textbook series, Skritter (to review characters I've learned in Integrated Chinese), and Duolingo of course. There are many other resources which I use, which I'll talk about in upcoming videos : )
Thanks for the review, I just started chinese and my goal is to pass HSK level 1 in a 2 3 months time frame, something ive done to help me out in learning chinese is I found a dictionary website so every time I see a new character I can look it up and write it down, another thing I found to help me out, is I found a website that helps out with grammar questions.
In my opinion duo lingo is great for rookies, but not good enough as a stand alone tool and should be used with other tools if you really want to go from rookie to beginner.
I'm only on the first few courses on duo lingo so im unsure how good it is after you hit like a more casual level of Chinese.
What other tools do you reccmond for begginers?
Thanks for the comment! I use a ton of resources. I’ll make a video on each one so stay tuned ; ) It’s funny you mention a dictionary app because I’m working on a Pleco video right now. I just need to stop being so lazy and get it out! Definitely check out Integrated Chinese, which I’m using as my main source of content. I have a video on that as well : ) you’ll reach HSK 1 in no time. I think the first few levels are probably easy to obtain and then it gets tougher.
You can pass HSK 1 in a month easy, all you need is 150 words and a very basic understanding of grammar. 10 words a day that's only 15 days
hi, sorry ik this is like a year later but if you remember the websites could you please link them?
Hi nice to meet you I’m trying to learn mandarin what’s your advice to a English person using Duolingo what’s to learn more feels I don’t get enough out of it the hearts restrict me any advice love to chat honestly about this
If you use the laptop vs mobile app, you won't lose hearts. Easy peasy
I use duolingo chinese...but its good i have learnt coz i have taken like three weeks but i see there is change...
I just now signed up for the Duolingo course in Chinese and was very disappointed to discover that it did not ask whether I wanted to learn simplified Mandarin (4 tone) Chinese or some other variant of Chinese that uses more than 4 tones. Which kind of Chinese does Duolingo teach????
Standard Mandarin, simplified characters, although maybe they have the option for traditional? I forgot, it’s been so long since I signed up. I don’t think they offer Cantonese.
I am learning Chinese on Duolingo for a while but don't know whether it's simplified or traditional
They are simplified : )
Did you know if you use duolingo on your computer and have a chinese keyboard installed you can choose to type in chinese using pinyin (which converts to characters as you type the pinyin). You just have to click on the keyboard icon and type in the box that comes up.
I haven't managed to get it to work on my phone though.
Thanks for commenting! I have used the Chinese pinyin keyboard on a laptop, just not with Duolingo. If you add the Mandarin Chinese pinyin keyboard to your phone it should pop up when you hit the globe and then it works basically the same as when you’re on your computer : )
It does pop up but when you type the correct answer it says it's wrong! Even though it is correct. I prefer using the key board as it helps me remeber the pinyin better.
I don't think it matters much what Duolingo does since it's just 0.1% of the learning. I used it to get started. It was okay for that.
The hearts on the app are pretty bad... they even go on and on about how making mistakes is the best way to learn, then they punish you harshly for making mistakes.
It's common to get a hard lesson, run out of hearts on it, and have to do the beginner lessons for the 20th time to continue your streak, so you don't really learn anything that day.
: ( I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience with the hearts! I just started with Korean and that marks the first time I've had issues with losing hearts (I don't know why but the alphabet is so confusing to me). If you're losing too many hearts, I recommend to find a nice balance between review and starting with new material. Don't try to race through the tree because then you probably won't remember much from before. I have a 441 day streak right now but I'm still on unit 3 because I take my time reviewing as I move forward : ) Slow and steady wins the race!
Is the chinese on duoling same as mandrain ?
Yes, it’s Mandarin. I don’t believe they have Cantonese available.
Duolingo’s goal isn’t learning how to write Hanzi. If they put that in just imagine the failure rate. Sure you can make someone spell correctly in Spanish but if you put out a mousepad so you have to use a stylus or your fingers to hand write the characters like some spelling freak you’d only have Japanese students surviving with them learning Chinese with their kanji background giving them a huge edge in learning mandarin hanzi. The goal is to get you to be be able to get around speaking simple phrases using functional vocabulary in China.
But the kanji and Hanzi are pronounced differently
Chinese course of duolingo is mandarin? In duolingo don't say if it's mandarin, cantones, wu...
What dialect does duo teach? I actually never knew what that was.
Standard mandarin, 普通话
@@themultilingualmind7296 Thank you
I use pc. And I can enter words with pinyin. But even with the correct characters it doesn’t always accept the answer
Hmm....is it the word order that it's being picky about?
The Multilingual Mind I figured out that I just needed to keep commas, periods and question marks out of it, and it started accepting answers.
Can somebody PLEASE tell me if I need to learn “Chinese” on the Duolingo app if I’m trying to learn “Taiwanese Mandarin”? I’m so confused and nobody will give me a clear answer 😭
From what I understand, Taiwan uses traditional characters and duolingo doesn’t teach traditional characters. I’m guessing the book series Integrated Chinese would be your best bet, but make sure you buy the versions that say “traditional” on them and not “simplified”.
@@themultilingualmind7296 okay thank you so much for clearing that up I was really confused !! ^-^ thank you !!!
How many characters are there in chinese language course in duolingo ??
Good question! I am not sure exactly how many characters there are in duolingo...
While I think learning Chinese on Duolingo is great, I dislike the fact there is no option to learn using traditional characters, which is what I have been learning with for the past four years. It's a little disheartening, I must admit.
Hopefully they'll offer it soon! I use Duolingo for other languages and it often makes me jealous that Chinese doesn't have things like stories, for example. For French there's an amazing podcast that's half in English, half in French. I can't wait to use it with upper-level French students! I hope they come out with a podcast for Chinese soon too!
How are you
Great, thanks!
Your tones are fine. However, you do sound a bit unnatural at times, which is totally normal for a beginner (I just started learning Español and I sound very unnatural according to my Spanish-speaking friends lol) and is not necessarily the result of learning Mandarin on Duolingo. Hopefully this comment is helpful to you. 加油！我看好你！
Thanks about the tones! I do sound very robotic but you're right, it's not because of Duolingo (I use lots of other more natural sounding resources). I think it is the result of a non-native speaker trying to speak with correct tones. I figure you've just got to put yourself out there and make mistakes. If I could hear myself speaking my beginning French or German again, I'm sure I would be laughing : ) Good luck with Spanish!
@@themultilingualmind7296 Thanks! 谢谢～
The worst thing about Duolingo is that you cannot save favorite words, phrases, or grammar points to practice specific vocabulary, grammar, and phrases that you want to focus on. If Duolingo had that feature, I would definitely consider paying for a premium subscription.
Another major complaint I have about Duolingo is the ‘woke ideology’ they promote. I’m really fed up with the LGTBI+ genders and sexuality deliberately promoted in the dialogues. I’m really sick of that. I believe that a language learning app should stay away from such ideologies.
Except you can’t learn traditional Chinese and cantonese and Macanese and...