Level 23 Achieved!
Last week I made myself a goal to reach level 23 by this week. I felt I needed to make a goal so that I would stay motivated and continue practicing my French. I felt I was struggling this week with moving, other assignments and time. The french is inevitably getting harder, and I find it is essential to seclude myself and solely focus on French to understand it. I find when I am just squeezing in the French, I am not as successful because I am rushed and not as focused.
The part that I struggled with this week was the fact that the App would randomly throw me out. This occurred about three times. At first, I forgot my username; then I forgot my password and then neither would work. It felt like it was never-ending. But after I figured that all out, I was set to practice again. The joys of online learning! The next struggle I am facing is only having “5 lives”, and in order to earn lives back you either wait 5 hours for one life, practice randomized questions or pay with your gems. I know any practice is good, but I feel like when practicing to get back some lives is repetitive and does not motivate me because it does not show my progress through levels or stages.
A neat feature that I found this week was French podcasts which was an advertisement that Duolingo offered. This allows you to listen to different current events in French. I appreciated this feature because I am an auditory learner and I find when I can hear people speaking the language, it is easier for me to catch on. This is a valuable feature and I recommend it for individuals of all ages trying to learn a language. Also, by listening to current events around the world, it was easier for me to stay engaged and focused because I am always interested with what is going on around the world.
To add on to that, I had always thought I was an auditory learner. Through this video, it became clear to me that this is not precisely true. Auditory learning is a preference, not necessarily more effective. I became super interested in this video and felt it is important to share because it is important to hear different perspectives and be open to new ideas.
I have two classmates: Kohuch and Knudson who are exploring into Duolingo this semester, just focusing on Spanish as oppose to French. Check it out if you are interested in all the tools and features of the App!
Next week, I plan to change the way I will blog. Instead of writing the entire post, I will talk about some of it in a video. I am still learning/struggling with French, so please bear with me. Talk to you all next week!
Challenge of the semester: Do you think it is possible to complete this App by the end of the semester??
