On Duolingo and Why I Might Be a Linguaphile
Now that Twitter is less avian, there’s a new bird app in town! If you follow me on social media, you have probably seen me posting about my Duolingo streak. By the time this posts, I will have a streak of over 1,000 days on the “bird app.” My friends got me a Duolingo hat and t-shirt for my birthday last year. I might be a little obsessed. I’ve actually been doing Duolingo on and off since 2016. But, that is not my beginning as a linguaphile.
What is A Linguaphile?
A linguaphile is someone who loves learning languages. I really enjoy the language learning process. Something about it just makes my brain happy! I also love being able to communicate with all different kinds of people.
Humble Beginnings in Middle School French Class
When I was in middle school, if you had good enough grades in other classes, you had the option of taking French or Spanish classes. (If you had bad grades, you had to take remedial English.) There were several sections of Spanish to choose from, because it was the most popular choice. There was only one French class. Being the little counter-culture cutie I am, of course, I chose French.
As I started the language learning process, I noticed that it seemed to come a bit easier to me than to my fellow students. And, I really liked it! By the time I was a senior in high school, I was one of the only people in my French class to take the AP French exam (which I aced.)
In college, I chose to minor in French, but I also studied Italian and Spanish. Once you know one Romance language, the others are decently easy to follow. I was in the French Honors Society and stayed in Paris for a summer doing an internship. I also stayed in Quebec City for one summer doing a language immersion program, much to the horror of my extremely Parisian French program director in college. I’m really glad I did so because now I can understand the twangy Quebecois accent decently well.
French May Have Faded a Tad, But My Enthusiasm for Language Learning Hasn’t
After college, I was pretty fluent in French. I would dream in French from time to time, which is one measure of fluency, in my opinion. I used it sporadically in retail jobs and while traveling.
French is a great lingua franca. According to some sources, it is the 5th or 6th most spoken language in the world. It is an official language in Canada and one of the procedural languages of the EU. After a while, I had a part-time job where I had to speak French, and I also volunteered for a short time with refugees coming to the US from certain African countries, with whom I used French as a lingua franca.
As the years pass and I haven’t used my French regularly, it has faded a little bit, but I am still close to fluency, and still an enthusiastic francophile. I do use Duolingo to practice my French once in a while, although I’ve tested out of the whole course.
Duolingo Steals the Show
Around 2016, I wanted to learn Hebrew. I am Jewish, and I wanted to connect more with the language so I could understand more of what is being said in services. So, I hopped on Duolingo! I had the advantage of already knowing the alphabet, having been taught it as a kid. Between 2016 and 2022, I completed the entire Hebrew course on Duolingo, though I didn’t maintain a streak for the whole time. That course is not as extensive as some of the other ones. While I have a greater understanding of the language, though I’m not as conversational as I am in some of the other languages I’ve dabbled in.
Then, in 2022 or 2023, I started to want to learn Spanish more. I already knew some Spanish from taking a few classes in college and just from living in California. So many people here speak Spanish, and I am a bit of a language sponge – if I hear something enough times, I start to soak it up! So I went on Duolingo again. I tested out of some of the more basic lessons and have been learning it ever since.
Spanish is also a great lingua franca. It has an obvious utility in Central and South America. According to some sources, it is the 4th or 5th most spoken language in the world. And, it is the 2nd most spoken language in the US. I felt much more comfortable on my trip to Peru last year with some Spanish under my belt.
On Duolingo I’ve also dabbled in Yiddish, Latin, and Esperanto, but those haven’t caught my attention in the same way as Hebrew, Spanish, or French.
Duo Can Boss Me Around, But He’s Not the Be-All End-All
Many people criticize Duolingo because it gamifies learning, and because it’s not a complete language learning tool. Well, yes. There’s not ONE tool that will completely help you learn a language. But, it is one tool in the toolbox, and it’s a really good one.
To supplement my Duolingo courses, I have also taken a few in-person classes, because you don’t really get to speak that much with Duolingo.
I also read books in the language. Another great way to practice a language is to watch TV shows and movies in the language. More recently, I watched this oddball French movie I adored called Smoking Causes Coughing. I recommend it to anyone who loves surreal humor.
Podcasts are also a great way to practice. I don’t think I’m quite there yet with Hebrew or Spanish, but for French, I sometimes enjoy listening to the Quebecois podcast Sexe Oral.
Connais-Tu Des Mots Cochons???
Most of my language education has been a bit formal and not kinky in the least bit. I do know some slang, and I certainly know how to tailler une pipe, I always relish the opportunity to speak French with my sweeties who are also fluent or close to fluent, especially if they can teach me some dirty words. Don’t be shy to bring it up!
