That summer I spent so much time using the app that I actually completed the DuoLingo Chinese tree.

The end goal is to unlock an entire ‘tree’ of hundreds of courses.

These include placing words in the right order to form sentences and translating Chinese sentences into English. You are also set various challenges which you must pass in order to unlock the next course. Each course exposes you to words and random short sentences related to the topic covered. The app lets you take courses which are split by topics, starting with basic introductions and progressing to more complex themes like business and travel. Out of curiosity I downloaded it and was soon hooked.įor the uninitiated, DuoLingo is an app which turns language learning into a simple and addictive game.

A friend who I had met on a trip to China and whose Chinese was more advanced than mine told me he had been using an app which helped him build vocabulary and learn sentence structures. I was a complete beginner in Chinese having spent the previous year attending a few scattered elementary classes and, like many people in my situation, was searching for a magic app that could transport me to fluency. Three summers ago I became addicted to the language learning app DuoLingo.

Duolingo spanish audio lessons