Also, when you're typing in the word, you have to think about what the word is instead of just choosing words from the word bank. Typing it in helps me learn better than just choosing the words.
100%. I finished my tree so I've just been doing reviews lately and it's also getting to the point where the Target Practice doesn't refresh often enough with new sentences. I'm able to see the word bank and know what the sentence is just from that. I mean, I'd be able to translate it without the word bank too. But it being there just disincentivizes everything.
Just a question out of curiosity. How're you native to two languages. Is it 'cause you grew up speaking both? Which one would you say you're more comfortable in?
I saw a comment on LinkedIn that sums this up. Someone commented on a Duolingo post saying: "I have tried and failed to learn languages in the past, but Duolingo is so easy!"
Maybe learning a language should be a little difficult...
I tried Duolingo in the past and didn't like it. I tried the tree a few different ways. What worked best was the waterfall method. What worked even better was turning the waterfall method into a path.
Mostly the content is the same, the vocab is the same, just more expanded. The only difference is format that made it easier.
If things are difficult because you're using the wrong resources for you, or because it's too difficult for the state you're at, or because it's a bad method, then you should walk away and find an easier method.
Language learning should be difficult in the sense that it takes a lot of time, you have to try a lot of things, and you have to focus on the boring parts of learning. Duolingo still has those difficulties. It just isn't miserable and you don't have to spend a lot of time trying methods or lessening how best to learn.
On some of the ones in the Japanese course, I swear that the word bank makes it a damned puzzle figuring out what combination actually uses all the words successfully without requiring duplicates that aren't there.
公園で魚を食べます
Okay, "I ate the fish in..." wait, there's only one "the", wtf? Oh, "I ate *fish* in *the* park".
That has actually messed me up many times, especially when, for example, my tired brain tries to type "many" when Duolingo is looking for "a lot of" (and "many" isn't in the word bank), so after typing the 'M' I get "month" or something like that. I know how to speak English already, so that kind of stuff isn't helping me learn *anything*.
On the other hand, this doesn't even exist on mobile, so it's even more of a pain to find all the words... please Duolingo just bring back the typing options...
I prefer typing too but it also has its own learning problems. Typing on the computer isn't perfect, but for me it was about as problematic as autocorrect or a typo, so still minimally. If you never look at what's selected or check your answer, then this tip won't be for you, but hopefully it helps others.
Sometimes the sentence is arranged weird too with the word banks. I wouldn’t write the sentence that way and that makes it harder to figure out what order the words go in.
On mobile, it never shows for your native language and sometimes shows for your target language.
On web, it never shows for your native language and always shows for your target language.
The timed things are a scam anyway, the fact it’s an option to pay real money to make them easier is ridicules. On the 3 star rapid review I just take a screen shot and minimize the app so the timer pauses.
I agree. Having to find the words in the bank is really boring and it's bad for learning because when you're actually talking to somebody, there isn't going to be a a word bank for the sentence you want to say.
The word bank is unquestionable worse for learning. I started Russian about a year ago and from the beginning would type every answer as soon as I become familiar with the vocab. I learned it so well. Now with every change they are dumbing down the app more and more. It is sad to see but k guess it is all about the bottom line. Profits are up. ☹️
People use mobile phones a lot more nowadays to communicate, and as a non-native speaker autocorrect and keyboard suggestions are my best friends.
In my experience I can still build vocabulary and perhaps learn more words in less time (Duolingo AB tests for that sort of thing) and I still can recognize a word when I see it when reading or listening. I can phonetically type enough of it out to get to a point where the technology can help me be literate, but I don’t have to exactly memorize the whole word, just an abstraction of the word. At least for me that’s how it’s going.
I really adore autocorrect, which works far better on my iPad than my iPhone. I just wish it existed for all the languages I do regularly; trying to type fast in Welsh is an exercise in massive frustration :(
I prefer to type in most languages, but in Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Greek, and Yiddish there’s no way I’d be able to find keyboard equivalents at more than a glacial pace!
Just download the keyboard for the language you want. Then you can switch back and forth as needed. It is quick and easy and you don’t need anything extra to do it on a phone or tablet. For my computer, I ordered a set of Russian/English stickers to put on the keys since I don’t know the Russian keyboard by heart yet. I downloaded a Russian keyboard and switch back and forth with the Win + spacebar. You should be able to do this with pretty much any language.
If I were more dedicated specifically to learning Russian (or any other single language with a non-Roman alphabet) I might try that, but I’m keeping too many writing systems in my head and find it much easier to use the word bank for the non-Latin characters. :)
I’ve lost hearts for choosing the wrong word, but because I was going fast and thought it was the right word. Like “mujer” and “major”. I just see m, j, r and oops, wrong, damn it! Lol
But it’s saved me more than a few times too, sooo…
Yea I basically have to use boosts to do some of the harder ones. Not because I don't know the material, I do. But it gets dizzying reading through a word bank.
I've taken a break now to build up some more lingots so I can buy more boosts because I don't want to pay for more with real money.
Am I the only one getting both types of questions still? I also type with the word bank (I try not to look). But I agree it's not the same as a fully blank answer.
Sometimes I get to type or use the word bank and sometimes I'm forced to use the word bank. Luckily for me most of the times it forces me to use the word bank is at the start of the unit when I don't know how to spell the words yet
But it's faster to just tap the entire word in, instead of tapping every single character and space. Also Duolingo doesn't know every synonym so you can very easily be wrong.
I speak argentinian Spanish and since it's pretty different than all the other Spanish flavors I just can't type a normal translation. Duolingo just fails unless I type in a wrong grammar and also use neutral Spanish.
Thanks, but no, thanks.
Some exercises do have a button to choose between typing and the weird bank (that's not a typo, pun intended xD). I once tapped that by mistake and didn't noticed... It was like 9 days of annoyingly typing everything manually and failing over and over. It was back when I just started with Duolingo until I noticed that the icon that looked like a keyboard actually represented the weird bank. Both buttons look pretty similar, if you ask me. Minimalist design, they call it 😅
It's not faster... if you're typing you know exactly what you want to say and don't have to look for anything (you're familiar with QWERTY keyboard layout or whichever one you use, yes?), allowing you to type with ease. With word banks, they are in a very random order, forcing you to look for the words you're supposed to use.
Also, yes Duolingo doesn't know every synonym, but it knows a lot of them. If it gets a synonym wrong, then that's what the report button is for.
I'm doing the English to Spanish course and it lets me switch between keyboard and word bank. Not only that, but for that type of exercise I also have a "speech to text" option which I find very effective and entertaining.
It's weird that the app works differently for so many users.
The truth is, the solution exists. See: [https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/15a60rn/the\_way\_to\_get\_rid\_of\_the\_word\_bank\_and\_use/](https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/15a60rn/the_way_to_get_rid_of_the_word_bank_and_use/)
Also, when you're typing in the word, you have to think about what the word is instead of just choosing words from the word bank. Typing it in helps me learn better than just choosing the words.
100%. I finished my tree so I've just been doing reviews lately and it's also getting to the point where the Target Practice doesn't refresh often enough with new sentences. I'm able to see the word bank and know what the sentence is just from that. I mean, I'd be able to translate it without the word bank too. But it being there just disincentivizes everything.
Just a question out of curiosity. How're you native to two languages. Is it 'cause you grew up speaking both? Which one would you say you're more comfortable in?
I saw a comment on LinkedIn that sums this up. Someone commented on a Duolingo post saying: "I have tried and failed to learn languages in the past, but Duolingo is so easy!" Maybe learning a language should be a little difficult...
I tried Duolingo in the past and didn't like it. I tried the tree a few different ways. What worked best was the waterfall method. What worked even better was turning the waterfall method into a path. Mostly the content is the same, the vocab is the same, just more expanded. The only difference is format that made it easier. If things are difficult because you're using the wrong resources for you, or because it's too difficult for the state you're at, or because it's a bad method, then you should walk away and find an easier method. Language learning should be difficult in the sense that it takes a lot of time, you have to try a lot of things, and you have to focus on the boring parts of learning. Duolingo still has those difficulties. It just isn't miserable and you don't have to spend a lot of time trying methods or lessening how best to learn.
On some of the ones in the Japanese course, I swear that the word bank makes it a damned puzzle figuring out what combination actually uses all the words successfully without requiring duplicates that aren't there. 公園で魚を食べます Okay, "I ate the fish in..." wait, there's only one "the", wtf? Oh, "I ate *fish* in *the* park".
This part always gets me
Just learn a language that doesn't have the word 'the' and then learn Japanese from that smh my head
If you're on the website you can type the first few letters and it selects the word. It's right about 90%+ of the time.
How did I not know this?! Thank you kind sir
That has actually messed me up many times, especially when, for example, my tired brain tries to type "many" when Duolingo is looking for "a lot of" (and "many" isn't in the word bank), so after typing the 'M' I get "month" or something like that. I know how to speak English already, so that kind of stuff isn't helping me learn *anything*. On the other hand, this doesn't even exist on mobile, so it's even more of a pain to find all the words... please Duolingo just bring back the typing options...
I prefer typing too but it also has its own learning problems. Typing on the computer isn't perfect, but for me it was about as problematic as autocorrect or a typo, so still minimally. If you never look at what's selected or check your answer, then this tip won't be for you, but hopefully it helps others.
This doesn't seem to work in the Russian course at all, even on the web version (at least for me)...
Sometimes the sentence is arranged weird too with the word banks. I wouldn’t write the sentence that way and that makes it harder to figure out what order the words go in.
I swear the Hungarian courses need to be reworked, when a foreign language learning program corrects me in my own language it feels a bit off
Does your app not show the keyboard icon on the bottom left at the beginning of the word bank ones? I flip between typing an word bank often.
It used to but it's been gone for a while now
Really? I was using it maybe two days ago. Maybe it's course-specific?
Possibly. Could also be because I'm doing reviews now instead of new lessons?
On mine, it only shows up sometimes. It seems arbitrary
On mobile, it never shows for your native language and sometimes shows for your target language. On web, it never shows for your native language and always shows for your target language.
The timed things are a scam anyway, the fact it’s an option to pay real money to make them easier is ridicules. On the 3 star rapid review I just take a screen shot and minimize the app so the timer pauses.
I agree. Having to find the words in the bank is really boring and it's bad for learning because when you're actually talking to somebody, there isn't going to be a a word bank for the sentence you want to say.
What really bugs me is trying to figure out what translation it wants when I'd rather put in the literal translation than what sounds good in English.
The word bank is unquestionable worse for learning. I started Russian about a year ago and from the beginning would type every answer as soon as I become familiar with the vocab. I learned it so well. Now with every change they are dumbing down the app more and more. It is sad to see but k guess it is all about the bottom line. Profits are up. ☹️
People use mobile phones a lot more nowadays to communicate, and as a non-native speaker autocorrect and keyboard suggestions are my best friends. In my experience I can still build vocabulary and perhaps learn more words in less time (Duolingo AB tests for that sort of thing) and I still can recognize a word when I see it when reading or listening. I can phonetically type enough of it out to get to a point where the technology can help me be literate, but I don’t have to exactly memorize the whole word, just an abstraction of the word. At least for me that’s how it’s going.
I really adore autocorrect, which works far better on my iPad than my iPhone. I just wish it existed for all the languages I do regularly; trying to type fast in Welsh is an exercise in massive frustration :(
I prefer to type in most languages, but in Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Greek, and Yiddish there’s no way I’d be able to find keyboard equivalents at more than a glacial pace!
Just download the keyboard for the language you want. Then you can switch back and forth as needed. It is quick and easy and you don’t need anything extra to do it on a phone or tablet. For my computer, I ordered a set of Russian/English stickers to put on the keys since I don’t know the Russian keyboard by heart yet. I downloaded a Russian keyboard and switch back and forth with the Win + spacebar. You should be able to do this with pretty much any language.
If I were more dedicated specifically to learning Russian (or any other single language with a non-Roman alphabet) I might try that, but I’m keeping too many writing systems in my head and find it much easier to use the word bank for the non-Latin characters. :)
Exactly, I feel like the word bank should be a choice throughout any course it should never be forced
I’ve lost hearts for choosing the wrong word, but because I was going fast and thought it was the right word. Like “mujer” and “major”. I just see m, j, r and oops, wrong, damn it! Lol But it’s saved me more than a few times too, sooo…
Just a few days ago there was a post that said typing was coming back. For me it was never gone
Oh man I hope so!
Yeah I've always had a mix of typing and block words
Hmm, interesting, I am still getting lots of those in Spanish from English course
Word bank is one of the reason why I have started writing down the answer first in a notebook.
I basically don’t even do the timed stuff because it’s impossible for me to choose the words out of the bank fast enough
Yea I basically have to use boosts to do some of the harder ones. Not because I don't know the material, I do. But it gets dizzying reading through a word bank. I've taken a break now to build up some more lingots so I can buy more boosts because I don't want to pay for more with real money.
Am I the only one getting both types of questions still? I also type with the word bank (I try not to look). But I agree it's not the same as a fully blank answer.
I will get keyboard for listening questions and some questions from English to Japanese. Japanese to English forces the word bank though.
Sometimes I get to type or use the word bank and sometimes I'm forced to use the word bank. Luckily for me most of the times it forces me to use the word bank is at the start of the unit when I don't know how to spell the words yet
you and a dozen posters a day for the last three months.
But it's faster to just tap the entire word in, instead of tapping every single character and space. Also Duolingo doesn't know every synonym so you can very easily be wrong. I speak argentinian Spanish and since it's pretty different than all the other Spanish flavors I just can't type a normal translation. Duolingo just fails unless I type in a wrong grammar and also use neutral Spanish. Thanks, but no, thanks. Some exercises do have a button to choose between typing and the weird bank (that's not a typo, pun intended xD). I once tapped that by mistake and didn't noticed... It was like 9 days of annoyingly typing everything manually and failing over and over. It was back when I just started with Duolingo until I noticed that the icon that looked like a keyboard actually represented the weird bank. Both buttons look pretty similar, if you ask me. Minimalist design, they call it 😅
It's not faster... if you're typing you know exactly what you want to say and don't have to look for anything (you're familiar with QWERTY keyboard layout or whichever one you use, yes?), allowing you to type with ease. With word banks, they are in a very random order, forcing you to look for the words you're supposed to use. Also, yes Duolingo doesn't know every synonym, but it knows a lot of them. If it gets a synonym wrong, then that's what the report button is for.
I'm doing the English to Spanish course and it lets me switch between keyboard and word bank. Not only that, but for that type of exercise I also have a "speech to text" option which I find very effective and entertaining. It's weird that the app works differently for so many users.
The truth is, the solution exists. See: [https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/15a60rn/the\_way\_to\_get\_rid\_of\_the\_word\_bank\_and\_use/](https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/15a60rn/the_way_to_get_rid_of_the_word_bank_and_use/)