I’ve been doing daily Duolingo lessons for the past 2.5 years, originally motivated by the idea of learning a new language, but more recently only motivated by the idea of keeping a streak alive, not wanting to upset the little green owl
I spent the first two years or so learning Spanish, which I really enjoyed until I reached a point where I was just completing the shortest, easiest lessons each day, just so I didn’t lose my streak. To re-motivate myself, I switched over to Japanese, which, once I’d become somewhat comfortable with the written language, I also really enjoyed. But for the past few weeks I’ve found myself stuck in the routine of going about my daily business, and completing a 30 second-long 'match the pairs' game as I get into bed, right before I put my phone down for the night.
There’s only so long that I can keep fooling myself that I’m "learning a language" by repeatedly matching the same 30 or so words, day in, day out.
I love languages, and I love learning languages - I studied German at university after all - but I think I’ve hit a point now where Duolingo just isn’t the right method for me to learn a language any more. Call me old school but I reminisce of the days when I sat in a university lecture hall learning the intricacies of the German passive tense and obscure bits of vocabulary that I’ll rarely ever get the opportunity to use
I really enjoyed learning Japanese so I am going to be on the lookout for another solution, but for now, my Duolingo streak is done (unless the Duolingo owl is reading this in which case I promise I’m studying right now please don’t hurt me)