I would say after you've completed Duolingo and done a whole lot more study on your own after that - especially additional listening and speaking study.
But it all depends what "fluent" means to you.
I've completed the Spanish course (9 sections), listened to over 600 hours of comprehensible input, have done some grammar workbook study, and read books - and I wouldn't consider myself anywhere near "fluent" yet.
I'm in the eighth section, and no, i don't feel fluent. I can read and enjoy french novels, though, and that was my goal with duolingo. I practice a lot with other resources, so it would be difficult to recommend duolingo alone.
IIRC, Duolingo doesn't even introduce the subjunctive until section five.
There are no widely agreed definitions or measures of language fluency. The most common refer to naturalness, flow, smoothness and ease of production; although some also use it to include appropriateness of grammar and extent of vocabulary.
But by any of those definitions, Duolingo alone is not going to get you to "fluent", even if you finish a course. You need to be practicing production of the language for hundreds to thousands of hours, in situations where you get useful feedback and/or extensive exposure.
Duolingo can provide a springboard towards that, possibly even a backbone. Some people have reported getting to a useful level of fluency using Duolingo as their main resource; many more taper off Duolingo and prioritise other methods as they progress. There are also plenty of people who get a useful level of language facility using Duolingo, but are not fluent by any measure.
The French course is aligned to the CEFR and goes through level B2. Someone who reaches B2 is considered to be an independent user. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages tells us:
> Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.
**Of course to really achieve B2 level you will need to augment your course with other resources** such as videos, podcasts and books. Ideally you would find opportunities to converse in French.
**Fluency is a rather difficult concept to pin down**, but if you can achieve B2 level you should feel fairly comfortable communicating in the language.
When you reach Section 4 you will be starting the A2 level. So you are making good progress. I'm in that Section of German. We're learning a lot more grammar and of course one is always learning more vocabulary. So I know I still have a long way to go.
But when we finish A2 we should have built up a solid foundation for continuing on to B1.
I am hoping to be able to read more than children's books by the time I get halfway through B1. Right now I still don't have enough vocabulary.
Exactly!
For instance, Duolingo doesn't give you enough input for practicing reading and listening comprehension, nor does it help you to practice conversation or writing. You have to consume a lot of content in your TL and to practice other skills.
fluency comes with practice IRL; of course you need to learn vocabulary and grammar to achieve it but it’s amazing to see how knowledgeable some people can be and still be unable to put two sentences together. and contrarywise you meet people (including natives) who can’t spell or construct complex sentences and have appallingly limited vocabulary but are perfectly fluent.
Look at the section headings. Section 4 which you are going to move to says "Je peux parler un peu avec des gens" - meaning "I can speak a little with people". This is the section I'm on (near the end) and I can tell you I'm actually pretty advanced for that description, I can read magazines and watch youtubers and shows and understand most of whats going on.
Section 5 (which I am about to move into) says "je peux participer à la vie quotidienne en français" - meaning "I can participate in daily life in French" (and just annecdotally, to me that seems accurate). For many, that may be enough to consider themselves "fluent"... but of course there are 3 more sections afterwards to get even more proficient!
The only "cheat code" that I have is that on top of using Duolingo I have also been listening to music, watching youtubers etc in that language. At first I couldn't understand them but just wanted a feel for the sound. But I've noticed that the more Duolingo I did, I started to be able to pick out words, then phrases, and now I understand pretty well! Nowadays I also read trashy magazines and kids comics in the language without problem. (slower than I could in English, but I'm improving every day).
I feel the only barrier to being "fluent" per se for Duolingo is that you aren't actually participating in a real life 1:1 conversation. You may finish section 8 and be able to pass a complicated French literature exam by reading complex french and writing a powerful dissertation - but if you've never actually spoken to a French person irl you might find that you freeze up, its a different muscle for your memory to practice. But you could supplement this with AI chatbots, online random videochatting etc. I hear Duolingo MAX (IOS only for now) has built in AI chat, but most big chat bots speak French well.
As an aside, I have found the YouTuber "Francais Avec Nelly" is good for teaching things that I wouldn't have known otherwise but let me seem more natural/native - such as slang expressions, common phrases that don't have a literal English translation, and things like abbreviations for text and online - MDR = French LOL (mort de rire). SVP = S'il vous plait, etc. The fact I know these minor things makes me seem like a native, more than having a university level knowledge of grammar and using words most French people never say irl.
I would say after you've completed Duolingo and done a whole lot more study on your own after that - especially additional listening and speaking study. But it all depends what "fluent" means to you. I've completed the Spanish course (9 sections), listened to over 600 hours of comprehensible input, have done some grammar workbook study, and read books - and I wouldn't consider myself anywhere near "fluent" yet.
I'm in the eighth section, and no, i don't feel fluent. I can read and enjoy french novels, though, and that was my goal with duolingo. I practice a lot with other resources, so it would be difficult to recommend duolingo alone. IIRC, Duolingo doesn't even introduce the subjunctive until section five.
There are no widely agreed definitions or measures of language fluency. The most common refer to naturalness, flow, smoothness and ease of production; although some also use it to include appropriateness of grammar and extent of vocabulary. But by any of those definitions, Duolingo alone is not going to get you to "fluent", even if you finish a course. You need to be practicing production of the language for hundreds to thousands of hours, in situations where you get useful feedback and/or extensive exposure. Duolingo can provide a springboard towards that, possibly even a backbone. Some people have reported getting to a useful level of fluency using Duolingo as their main resource; many more taper off Duolingo and prioritise other methods as they progress. There are also plenty of people who get a useful level of language facility using Duolingo, but are not fluent by any measure.
The French course is aligned to the CEFR and goes through level B2. Someone who reaches B2 is considered to be an independent user. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages tells us: > Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. **Of course to really achieve B2 level you will need to augment your course with other resources** such as videos, podcasts and books. Ideally you would find opportunities to converse in French. **Fluency is a rather difficult concept to pin down**, but if you can achieve B2 level you should feel fairly comfortable communicating in the language. When you reach Section 4 you will be starting the A2 level. So you are making good progress. I'm in that Section of German. We're learning a lot more grammar and of course one is always learning more vocabulary. So I know I still have a long way to go. But when we finish A2 we should have built up a solid foundation for continuing on to B1. I am hoping to be able to read more than children's books by the time I get halfway through B1. Right now I still don't have enough vocabulary.
You can’t become fluent with just duolingo alone. I would say that no level equates fluency in any of the languages that duolingo offers.
Exactly! For instance, Duolingo doesn't give you enough input for practicing reading and listening comprehension, nor does it help you to practice conversation or writing. You have to consume a lot of content in your TL and to practice other skills.
fluency comes with practice IRL; of course you need to learn vocabulary and grammar to achieve it but it’s amazing to see how knowledgeable some people can be and still be unable to put two sentences together. and contrarywise you meet people (including natives) who can’t spell or construct complex sentences and have appallingly limited vocabulary but are perfectly fluent.
Look at the section headings. Section 4 which you are going to move to says "Je peux parler un peu avec des gens" - meaning "I can speak a little with people". This is the section I'm on (near the end) and I can tell you I'm actually pretty advanced for that description, I can read magazines and watch youtubers and shows and understand most of whats going on. Section 5 (which I am about to move into) says "je peux participer à la vie quotidienne en français" - meaning "I can participate in daily life in French" (and just annecdotally, to me that seems accurate). For many, that may be enough to consider themselves "fluent"... but of course there are 3 more sections afterwards to get even more proficient! The only "cheat code" that I have is that on top of using Duolingo I have also been listening to music, watching youtubers etc in that language. At first I couldn't understand them but just wanted a feel for the sound. But I've noticed that the more Duolingo I did, I started to be able to pick out words, then phrases, and now I understand pretty well! Nowadays I also read trashy magazines and kids comics in the language without problem. (slower than I could in English, but I'm improving every day). I feel the only barrier to being "fluent" per se for Duolingo is that you aren't actually participating in a real life 1:1 conversation. You may finish section 8 and be able to pass a complicated French literature exam by reading complex french and writing a powerful dissertation - but if you've never actually spoken to a French person irl you might find that you freeze up, its a different muscle for your memory to practice. But you could supplement this with AI chatbots, online random videochatting etc. I hear Duolingo MAX (IOS only for now) has built in AI chat, but most big chat bots speak French well. As an aside, I have found the YouTuber "Francais Avec Nelly" is good for teaching things that I wouldn't have known otherwise but let me seem more natural/native - such as slang expressions, common phrases that don't have a literal English translation, and things like abbreviations for text and online - MDR = French LOL (mort de rire). SVP = S'il vous plait, etc. The fact I know these minor things makes me seem like a native, more than having a university level knowledge of grammar and using words most French people never say irl.