I want to learn Polish: Is Duolingo worth it?

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JoeSmallHands
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I want to learn Polish: Is Duolingo worth it?

Postby JoeSmallHands » Thu Sep 03, 2020 10:32 am

Hi everyone, Joe here. So I'm new here but I've joined because my family is of Polish extraction and I wanted to learn the language to feel somewhat closer to relatives over there in Poland as they are impressively multilingual. So I was wondering if anyone here had downloaded that Duolingo app and if they new if it actually helped in any way? I'm pretty sure it's free but I don't want to waste my time.
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Re: I want to learn Polish: Is Duolingo worth it?

Postby lavengro » Thu Sep 03, 2020 2:15 pm

Duolingo is free (in the same way accessing Youtube is free - ie. there is advertising but no charge for use). There is a division of opinion regarding Duolingo in general on this forum. I don't recall any comments here about the Duolingo Polish course, and have not done it myself, but I really like Duolingo for many (but not all) of its other courses.

If you are looking for free Polish learning materials, here is a link to a Clozemaster blog post about the "best resources" for learning Polish, many of which appear to be free and some of which may be of interest to you.

https://www.clozemaster.com/blog/best-resources-for-learning-polish/

That blog post describes Duolingo Polish in the following manner:

"Duolingo provides a very smooth learning experience, which makes it a great introduction to the language. It’s really good at teaching vocabulary and solid at teaching grammar—but don’t expect it to teach you all the necessary competencies on its own."

If you are giving Duolingo a try, I would suggest trying the web-based version rather than the app, make sure you read the grammar points ("Tips") before plunging into the exercises, and more importantly, read the user comments under each sentence (under the "Discuss" button) - in my opinion, that is one of Duolingo's best features.
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Re: I want to learn Polish: Is Duolingo worth it?

Postby tangleweeds » Thu Sep 03, 2020 3:28 pm

Duolingo is fine to get you started, particularly if you didn't have much attention span for studying languages at school and/or you enjoy game apps, as it breaks things into short lessons and uses gamification for motivation. It is free with ads but it will try to convince you to pay, you just tell it, No thanks!

Another option might be to see if your local library offers access to a program like Mango Languages, as many do (i.e. your library card will let you get free membership instead of paying--you don't need to go there to use it!).

If you do a forum search, you will find lots of discussions on the merits of Duo, but keep in mind, the happy Duolingo users are rarely interested in arguing with the detractors. But most will agree that it is most useful for beginners or "false beginners", as such apps won't make you fluent, even the most effective ones.

I'd suggest trying it for a month or two so you can tell us what you like or don't like, what works for you or doesn't.

Further forum searches will point you toward a number of useful study techniques, as well as more intensive Polish study resources for later. Look at the wiki linked in the header for more language study ideas.
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Re: I want to learn Polish: Is Duolingo worth it?

Postby devilyoudont » Thu Sep 03, 2020 4:44 pm

The first thing to know about duolingo: The goal of duolingo is to get you to advanced-beginner, not to get you to fluency. In other words, duolingo wants to give you a strong foundation for your language studies. No matter how good or bad that foundation is, you will need to pursue other studies at some time in order to actually finish building a house. Some people get very mad that Duolingo did not take them to fluency. The reality is that no single course can do this, almost everyone will end up using a mix of resources/language exchange/reading and TV watching before they get to fluent.

The second thing to know about duolingo: duolingo courses are created by teams of mostly volunteers, and every single course varies in quality. You might even see substantial differences in the Polish to English course vs the English to Polish course. Some courses are so bad that they should not be used at all. Some courses are really wonderful and can be used as your sole resource during the beginner stage. I'm not learning Polish, so I can't tell you where the English to Polish course falls on this spectrum.

What I can tell you is that there are several potential uses for all but the worst tier of courses on Duolingo. I'm just going to outline what these uses are, as I see them, and maybe some of these uses will appeal to you and you will decide to use Duolingo, or maybe they won't and you will pick a different resource.

- Trying out if you really want to learn a language/learn this language. Textbooks and tutors are expensive, finding language exchange partners is time consuming. If you are not sure if you are 100% committed to this, Duolingo offers a risk free way for you to take language learning on a test drive.

- Building a study habit. Actually creating a new habit in your life is a difficult thing to do. For best results, you should study some every day, but it can be tough to maintain the motivation to do that. Due to its gamification, it can be easier to develop a habit with Duolingo than with a textbook. Once you have a habit of studying (around 100 days), you can choose to switch to a higher quality resource that has less gamification elements.

-Using duolingo as a workbook. Another possible use of even mediocre duolingo courses is as a workbook. You could follow along some other course or website for a deeper understanding of Polish grammar, and then keep up with duolingo more or less just to continue drilling yourself and reviewing material.

Hope this helps.
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Re: I want to learn Polish: Is Duolingo worth it?

Postby rdearman » Thu Sep 03, 2020 7:50 pm

Here is an entire page of links to resources to learn Polish.

https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 19&t=7272/
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Re: I want to learn Polish: Is Duolingo worth it?

Postby chove » Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:10 pm

I've done some of Polish Duolingo, my main memory is it seemed really hard. I can't see how it'd even be possible on mobile without the "tips" section. Polish grammar is quite intimidating for an English beginner, and the Duolingo course doesn't wait to confront you with it. If you want "touristy" language like how to buy things in shops or ask for the time I'd recommend a textbook like Colloquial Polish or Teach Yourself Polish.
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Re: I want to learn Polish: Is Duolingo worth it?

Postby Cainntear » Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:10 pm

My personal experience of Duolingo is that it's not great for a language with a complicated system of inflections, and having studied a small amount of Polish with other resources, I'd be very wary about attempting it with Duolingo. I'd definitely look out some other resources -- even if I was using Duolingo, I'd be studying with something else as well.
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Re: I want to learn Polish: Is Duolingo worth it?

Postby JoeSmallHands » Fri Sep 04, 2020 8:35 am

Hey I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for your great advice and some very helpful additional links. Also just for being so kind to me as a newcomer here, you've really made me feel like a part of the community already so thanks :)
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Re: I want to learn Polish: Is Duolingo worth it?

Postby drp9341 » Thu Nov 05, 2020 5:17 pm

I’d go with Babble Polish (The beginner Units) those are really good. I’ve been learning polish for years, send me a message or check out my log. Duolingo might be fun but there’s no way you’ll be able to hold a conversation with someone who’s not babying you. Duolingo is good for individual words. If I taught an American or an Italian all the words in the Polish language, it would still be a struggle speaking to Poles. I remember my Anki deck was FULL of sentences I understood every word of, but could not grasp the meaning for the first few months. I’d be lying if I said it never happens even after all this time learning it and living here.

PM if you want advice or resources! Good luck!
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Re: I want to learn Polish: Is Duolingo worth it?

Postby StringerBell » Fri Nov 06, 2020 10:36 pm

I, personally, have never liked nor found Duolinguo to be useful but others have. Since it's free, why not give it a try to see what you think.

If Duolingo isn't your thing, I have a master list (which is quite extensive) of all the resources I used to learn Polish here: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... ringerbell (scroll down to the second post for Polish).

My original log details how I started learning Polish from the beginning. You can read about it here: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... ringerbell
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