is duolingo a good way to learn a language

It introduces the Arabic alphabet with sound exercises. Egyptian Arabic and Shami (Syrian) Arabic could be the most popular options,” Zaki said.ĭuolingo’s Arabic language course takes the learner through the teaching process in steps. “It would be a great addition at a later stage if Duolingo offers the option of learning one colloquial variety as well. “I have personally tried it to see how it feels from a teacher's perspective,” she said. She commended Duolingo for including Arabic to its menu of language offerings. So, it takes longer for a learner to make progress in learning Arabic as opposed to learning, say, French or Spanish, she said. Zaki said there are complexities in Arabic in matters of script, root and pattern system compared with most European languages. “Arabic can be easier to learn also for a Spanish speaker than an English speaker because of similarities in grammar and even some vocabulary,” she told Arab News. Likewise, May Zaki, associate professor in the department of Arabic and translation studies at the American University of Sharjah, said Arabic is not very difficult to learn for native speakers of Farsi or Urdu. But the same cannot be said about native English speakers. In theory, Wilson sounds right.īut as Muhamed Al-Khalil, director of Arabic studies and associate professor of practice of Arabic language at New York University Abu Dhabi, points out, Arabic presents a more complex system than many other languages.īut Russian, for example, shares with Arabic certain characteristics that make it relatively easy for a Russian speaker to learn Arabic, Al-Khalil told Arab News. Hope Wilson, a learning scientist at Duolingo, wrote in an essay on the official website on June 26, 2019, that just because a language is difficult to learn doesn’t make it “un-learnable,” “After all, babies can learn to speak any language on earth - and so can adults, given enough time and effort,” he said. Luis von Ahn, a Carnegie Mellon University professor, launched the app along with Severin Hacker with the aim of creating a free language-learning platform in 2012.īut with Arabic categorized as one of the “super hard” languages by the US Foreign Service Institute due to its complex grammar, varied dialects and rich lexicon, are the app’s “game-like lessons” enough - or even useful - for a learner?

DUBAI: Duolingo, an online language-learning portal with over 300 million users, recently added Arabic to its course offerings.

Is duolingo a good way to learn a language