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Sunday, March 23rd
Duolingo is an American educational technology company that provides language certification through learning apps. It was developed by Carnegie Mellon University professor, Luis von Ahn, in 2009. He was motivated by his upbringing in Guatemala where he saw how expensive it was for people in the community to learn English. Now, Duolingo's courses are not limited to just languages (of which there are over 40), but also include math and music. There are courses for kids (Duolingo ABC) as well as adults, making this an easy way for the whole family to brush up on their language skills. In recent years, Duolingo has ranked as the most popular language learning app in the world based on nearly 13.4 million monthly downloads.
A gamified system
Duolingo aims to put the fun into learning. Their content is geared towards teaching reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills by combining AI and language science. It uses a gamified approach with lessons that incorporate interactive exercises, translating, stories, and quizzes to keep you on your toes and make things more fun. In a world where gaming is a big part of life for kids and adults, it makes sense why Duolingo has gained so much popularity and held the attention of learners.
Get started within minutes
It's free to sign up for Duolingo and only takes a couple minutes to get started. You'll be guided through signup by Duolingo's little green owl mascot and asked how you heard about the platform, why you're looking to learn Hindi, how much of the language you know already, what your daily learning goal is (5, 10, 15, or 20 minutes/day), and whether you want to start from scratch or answer some questions to skip the basics. Then you'll be able to start learning. You'll be asked multiple-choice questions and if you get them wrong, you'll lose a heart (retry). Duolingo will give you correct answers so you can get them right the next time. The more answers you get right, the faster you'll get through the lessons.
Competitive learning
For the competitive types, Duolingo offers "leagues” where people can compete against their friends or see how they compare to others in the world in randomly selected groups. This would be especially useful for friends in second-language programs at school who want to encourage each other outside of the classroom and get extra study help. Users can earn badges by working their way up in leagues and Duolingo has even provided features that allow teachers to track their students' progress.
The streak phenomenon
You may have heard people talk or post about their "streak” on Duolingo. This is the number of days in a row they've completed a lesson. It is a surprisingly motivating thing for people and keeps them returning over and over again. Reaching certain milestones like a 100 day streak will unlock perks like 3 free days of Super Duolingo. This has become so important to people that you can even purchase "streak freezes” through the app that will protect your streak if you miss a day of practice. You reach VIP status through Duolingo once you get a 365 day streak. This gives you almost no benefits besides getting to join the streak society and having a little streak counter underneath your name in the leaderboards. It's amazing how this company has used social comparison as such a strong motivator to encourage someone to learn a new language.
Mostly free
Most of the learning features on Duolingo are free. However, you'll notice some periodic advertising on the web and mobile version. If you want to remove these ads, you can pay a subscription fee for the premium version. The upgraded Duolingo version is called "Super Duolingo” and includes unlimited hearts, no ads, level skipping, and progress quizzes. The cost varies, but we recently spotted it for $12.99/month or $155.88 per year. You can try this free for 2 weeks if you want to see if it's really worth it or not.
Technical issues
Despite all the fun we have had with learning Hindi at Duolingo, not only do they have a very bad rating from the Better Business Bureau (an "F”) but there are thousands of major complaints from users online as well. There seem to be glaring technical issues that have really tanked people's experiences with the system. Duolingo makes it extremely hard to contact them since they don't have a "contact us” section, so it's hard to report the issues that people are having. Some people have been unable to cancel their subscriptions too, which is always a huge concern.
Good for low level, light-hearted learners
People who use Duolingo's free version as a fun way to up their streak and learn basic new vocab are generally happy with the platform. If you're paying for it and serious about learning a language in hopes of being fluent, you may be less enthused. You really have nothing to lose by using this system since you can access basically everything they offer for free. However, if you are wanting to put in the time to thoroughly learn Hindi, Duolingo won't get you there very quickly. We recommend a one-on-one tutor or one of our other higher-rated Hindi learning sites for this.
If you ever took a French, Spanish, or other second-language class in high school, you know how difficult it can be to learn in a fast-paced group environment where it's easy to fall behind. Many people walk away from these classes without the knowledge sticking long-term and feeling discouraged about how hard it is.
This is where new, robust online platforms come into the picture. Taking a Hindi class online lets you progress at your own pace, utilize multiple forms of methods that fit your learning style (one-on-one tutoring, flashcards, practice quizzes, conjugation charts, practice dialogues, and more), refer back to previous lessons and notes, and practice your skills right away.
If you already have a basic understanding of Hindi, you can shape your online learning experience to build on this and take you to the next level. If the only thing you know about Hindi is that it's the most common language spoken in India, you can start from scratch and work your way up to fluency. There are amazing programs out there that are built for everyone and they couldn't be easier or more convenient to use.
There are over 336 million people across the world who speak Hindi, making it the third most commonly spoken language. In a time of global connection and communication, it's an exciting time to take your learning skills to the next level and start incorporating second (or third or fourth) languages into your toolkit. If you're looking to travel, build a business, become a more valuable employee, or connect better with your colleagues, neighbors, and friends, learning Hindi would be an incredible skill.
The biggest perk of learning a language online is that you can do it your own way. Some platforms let you choose a topic you want to learn about to make it more interesting and get you started that way. For example, if you're connecting with colleagues in India and need to be able to converse about business topics, you could start there.
If you're traveling and need to be able to ask for a bathroom location or restaurant recommendation, you could focus your study there. Or, if you want the basic building blocks of language learning laid out for you and to have the program lead you through progressive lessons that broadly cover all topics, there are options for that too. When you find a program to fit your learning style, it will make learning Hindi so much easier and more thrilling.
There are major opportunities for those who know this important language, so now is the time to start. When deciding where to take Hindi lessons online, take the following things into consideration:
Are you ready to take your Hindi language skills to the next level? Top Consumer Reviews has reviewed and ranked the best places for you to take Hindi lessons online from the comfort and convenience of your home. We hope this information gives you the tools you need to become confident in the Hindi language. Aasha hai aapko kamyaabi mile!
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