🦉 Is Duolingo Really Worth It?

My Honest Review After Using Duolingo for 2 Years

Duolingo Owl

If you want a quick answer: No, it’s not worth it.
But why? Well, before I explain, let me take you through my journey of learning English.

📑 Table of Contents

  1. 🚀 How It Started
  2. 🔄 My On-and-Off Relationship with Duolingo
  3. ✨ The Good Parts
  4. ❌ Why I Think It’s Not Worth It (Free Plan)
  5. 💬 My Real Learning Methods
  6. 💡 Final Advice

🚀 How It Started

It all started in August 2022, when I thought:

I should learn English — it’s an important language around the world.

So I went to the Play Store, searched for a language learning app, and voilà — I found Duolingo.

🔄 My On-and-Off Relationship with Duolingo

At first, I just dove in. I did speaking, reading, writing, and listening every day. But after a few weeks...

😬 I got too shy to do the speaking exercises (people were around me),
so I deleted the app.

A few months later, I reinstalled it again. This time, I found a feature I loved:
📘 Duolingo Stories — they helped a lot with reading and listening.
But yep… I eventually got bored again and uninstalled it.

✨ The Good Parts

Later, my teacher told me how important English is for programmers —
especially for reading documentation.

He gave simple advice:

“Set your phone to English — it helps!”

(I had already done that 😁)

So, I reinstalled Duolingo again. But now, I didn’t pressure myself to grind lessons.
I just kept a daily streak and stayed consistent — even if I only did one small practice per day.

❌ Why I Think It’s Not Worth It (Free Plan)

After using Duolingo for 2 years, here’s my honest take (especially on the free plan):

  • 🧠 It only teaches basic grammar and sentences
  • 🗣️ Speaking exercises are locked behind premium
  • 📉 You get repetitive content — which can get boring
  • 🧩 Sometimes you learn new words, but… I forget them often 😅

So, is it completely useless?
No. It helps you build a habit. But it’s not enough on its own.

💬 My Real Learning Methods

Here’s what really improved my English:

  • 🎥 Watching English YouTube videos
  • 🎧 Listening to native speakers
  • 📖 Free English courses on YouTube
  • 🧠 Talking to myself in my head in English
  • ✍️ Writing blogs — like this one! 😄

Duolingo is one tool. But if you rely only on it — you won’t improve much.
You need other ways to practice, and you have to find what works best for you.

💡 Final Advice

If you want to learn a language:

  • Don’t stress yourself trying to be perfect
  • Be consistent — that’s more important than doing it hard
  • Mix tools like Duolingo with real-world input and output

👉 My English is still bad, but I’m improving every day — and that’s what matters.
🌍 I also enjoy the idea of learning other languages like Japanese or Spanish,
but honestly... I don’t even know where to start — hehe 😅

Thanks for reading! 🙏
Whether you’re just starting or already deep in your language journey, remember:

Stay curious, stay consistent, and make it fun!