If you looking to replace dualingo, check with your local library, they may offer free access to different language learning apps. I was able to get Rosetta Stone for free using my library. And they also have access to Muzzy and Transparent language.
this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2025
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Let's also replace the customers by AI, that way the whole system will really be "AI first" and self-sufficient.
it's a matter of time (or more likely has already happen) where an AI company ends up having only AI users, it makes money be selling adds to show to the users, which are all AI bots, and then selling those bots as user data.
then said company celebrates that it has no humans involved making a shit ton of profit.
So is there any Duolingo alternative that teaches Esperanto and Indonesian?
Esperanto you can learn on lernu.net
So they've killed themselves before adding Armenian.
Makes sense.
As an Armenian with family murdered by the Turks. What was the point of this?
Trying to help Duolingo add Armenian is something I've read about in 2018 or something like that, and it's still there. They are very firmly not interested.
Well that’s some BS. Why the fuck don’t they have Armenian? Are they Turkish run?
I was also hoping they would add Afrikaans.
i cancelled my subscription and told them why
So if they're using a ChatGPT wrapper to teach me languages, why do I need Duolingo? Copilot is free.
Copilot is free.
Free.
Free with ads.
Freemium with ads.
Free trial with tiered subscription service.
New subscription tiers with reduced ads. Premium package for boosts to service.
Please enter your credit card number and watch the ad to unlock device.
Please drink verification can to continue..
If it's free you are the product.
Apparently they've already been incorporating it and it's very inaccurate. I've decided to stop using them and have switched to LingoDeer and MemRise. Really pleased with how much better they are.
I can also recommend Pimsleur. A bit more expensive, but features more traditional style courses, while offering a lot of what Duolingo has. Plus actual topics with grammar, not just random words!
Why not Anki? Ankidroid works well and there are many great community decks for all kinds of languages (and other topics too BTW).
I'm not great with ONLY flashcards so I personally feed my brain a variety. Anki is great from what I've heard
I started out with memrise, as it was very accessible and I wanted to start learning Japanese. It was fun but it's also very limiting. A mixture of Smouldering Durtles, Human Japanese and Ankidroid really accelerated things. And then the ginormous post-covid upswing in my industry came, with less colleagues than before and my brain got fried. Still trying to recover from that with therapy and whatnot. Yeah, I lost a lot of progress that way.
Any who, that was specific to learning Japanese. Wishing you success with your endeavors! Learning other languages is a huge Eye-opener for understanding other cultures better.
I've tried AnkiDroid but couldn't really figure out how to use it. I downloaded the Spanish 5000 one which seems cool tho.
Oh no! How will I pretend to learn a language now? Woe is me.
I get the hate for Duolingo, but you can actually learn with it
Duolingo got me enough vocabulary in Spanish to put the simplest sentences together, and then follow more robust lessons. I still think it was a good starting point, but I won't use it anymore on principle.
Right? My partner has used it for years and is now able to read simple to medium books and watch some movies in the learned language.
I have found Duolingo much, much less useful for language learning than Language Transfer. The latter actually helps you learn to think in another language rather than memorize things (which is still useful, but not nearly as much).
Short if total immersion, I have found nothing better than LT.
Thanks, I will check it out:)
From the first look: is this just audio or also written practices?
Just audio. But it is presented in a way that helps you to learn, rather than just remember. If you give it a try, I promise that you will be shocked at how you can retain the knowledge.
It isn't enough on its own, however. You need to reinforce the lessons by speaking to people, reading, and/or TV and movies.
The problem I have with finding an alternative is that most just offer some five to ten largest languages. Want to learn Spanish, French, Russian, or Chinese? There are hundreds of both free and paid services available. Want to learn Hungarian, Irish, or Finnish? It’s Duolingo and a scant handful of sites specific to that language.
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Duolingo has enshittified so much over the last few years.
Even if I had the ability to become a millionaire tech founder, I don't think I'd want to because every "I want to make learning new languages free and easy for everyone" becomes a "I have to drive 3% more ad revenue this quarter by charting my users' every bowel movement".
I suspect the reality of being a rich tech bro is watching your adult self slowly consume your own childhood dreams, aspirations, and soul.
Enshittification is not driven by the founders (mostly, fuck Zuckerberg). It's driven by greedy investors who want their billion dollar unicorn payout and who who will risk a hundred company failures to get it.
A lot of tech companies that manage to resist outside investors are doing just fine.
Well it makes sense if you think about it.
You invest a million dollar in 100 companies, 95 fail, 4 makes 10 million each. If the last one hits at least 60 million you are even, anything above is pure profit. Basically just throwing shit at the wall and see what sticks.
That doesn’t “make sense” at all, it’s insane. If we end the billionaire class and distribute wealth more evenly productivity and efficiency would go waaaay up because the people managing money will actually care about it instead of setting it on fire.
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Duolingo is a tragedy. They really quickly realized that you don’t make money teaching things - you make it on retention and gamification.
Mango languages is great if your library has a subscription. I believe the US’s foreign service materials are also really good, if you want effective but boring.
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