Is Duolingo Good To Learn Dutch? (Honest Review)

If you have read my previous blogs, you know how much I love Duolingo. Anybody, who asks me which platform to use to learn a new language, my instant reply comes with Duolingo. This was the same answer when one of my students was interested in learning Dutch. As she had never used Duolingo before, she asked me “Is Duolingo good to learn Dutch?”. Although I had never used it to learn Dutch, I was pretty confident about Duolingo. So, I did a quick research on it and helped her learn the Dutch language.

I know, you are also interested in learning Dutch but are still confused about using Duolingo. Don’t worry. Stay with me till the end to know if you should use Duolingo to learn Dutch.

Is Duolingo good to learn Dutch?

If you are using Duolingo to learn the Dutch language, you must know if it is worth the platform or not. The first thing that I will say is, that it is a free tool to use. It means you should use it if you are on a tight budget. Further, if you are a fresher you must use this platform. It will help you to develop the basic knowledge of the course.

The only thing I don’t like about this platform is that it only offers courses till the intermediate level. Although there is very little grammatical explanation on this platform, you will have to look at other alternatives as well. Further, I have discussed the benefits and drawbacks of using Duolingo to learn the Dutch language.

What are the benefits of learning Dutch with Duolingo?

When I looked at the course, there were many reasons why my student should take the Dutch course on Duolingo. Here are the benefits of learning Dutch with Duolingo –

• Being a beginner, using Duolingo to learn Dutch is the perfect choice. The lessons are created in a way that will develop your knowledge at an intermediate level. 
• To make you engage with the lessons, there are a lot of funny statements that will develop your skills in the language.
• The biggest reason why I always suggest this platform is that it is a free platform to use. In fact, it was the reason why I started using it.
• The stories and the events will help you to get more practice in your communication skills.
• Using the Duolingo platform means getting a lot of reminders from the Duolingo owl to complete the course. Therefore it is very motivating to use.

What are the disadvantages of learning Dutch with Duolingo?

Undoubtedly, there are reasons why people disagree with using it. The following are the drawbacks of learning Dutch with Duolingo –

• You will not get any special features like other courses.
• If you are a user who uses Duolingo on mobile, you only get 5 lives. It means you can only make 5 mistakes while practicing in the course.
• You can not learn above the A2 level.
• Dutch course is short when compared to other courses on the platform.
• If you are a user who uses Duolingo on a desktop version or an iOS device, you only get 5 lives. It means you can only make 5 mistakes while practicing in the course. (UPDATE)

How is the Dutch course designed on Duolingo?

Although now you know whether you should use it or not, let me tell you how you will go through the course. When I did my research, I knew in the back of my mind that it would again follow the same structure that other courses have. This platform has taught me many languages. Thus, I know exactly how you will go through the course. When you take the course, you will be asked to either take up the placement test or start from starting. If you have some knowledge of Dutch, you can take the placement test.

If you do not have it, I will show you how you will go through the course step by step. Earlier, Duolingo used the Duolingo tree for its course structure. But with the recent update, you will get a more uniform structure known as the New learning path. Here, you will see that the courses have different sections which further have other units in them. Each unit consists of a different set of lessons. These lessons further have a lot of exercises in them and are too short in duration. At the end of each unit, there is a legendary level that you can take up.

What are the different activities that are available for learning Dutch with Duolingo?

Whether taking Dutch or any other language like High Valyrian, you will get almost similar exercises for all the courses. Thus, we have mentioned some of the exercises that you will get in most of the courses-

• Complete the translation 
• Translation
• Sentence shuffle
• Mark the correct meaning 
• Select the missing word 
• Picture flashcards 
• Tap the pairs
• Tap what you hear
• Speak this sentence

Are there any special features for learning Dutch with Duolingo?

If we talk about other courses like Spanish, there are a lot of different special features that you get with the course. Some special features are – Duolingo stories, Podcasts, and Audio Lessons. All these features help in learning the language deeply. However, they are not available for Dutch courses.

But there is a one plus point over here which is you can access the Dutch stories unofficially. This was the most surprising part for me. Undoubtedly, I will teach you how to get them, but let me discuss what Duolingo stories are. Duolingo stories are the special features that you get in between your units. These stories are generally of shorter duration for 10-15 minutes.

In these stories, two different Duolingo characters talk in the native voice of the language you are learning. They are designed to develop your communication skills like listening and reading. Earlier it also helped to test your speaking skills.

How to get the Dutch stories?

As we discussed, there are no stories in the Dutch course, but you can still get them through an unofficial platform called Duostories. Wondering how? It is with the help of Duostories. Duostories is basically a community project that converts all the stories available for different courses in different languages. As I am an English speaker and want to learn the Dutch language, I got 36 Dutch stories.

Update: At present, there are 221 Dutch stories available on this platform.

As it was something new, I also checked for other stories. It has more than 850 stories converted into 42 different languages available on Duolingo. They are absolutely free.

What are the other features that you get while learning Dutch with Duolingo?

As I mentioned the course structure is the same for all the languages on this platform. Thus, I have discussed the other features that are available for learning the Dutch language with Duolingo-

1. Heart system

When you are using Duolingo, you will see the heart system. In this system, you get 5 lives or hearts that represent the number of times you can make a mistake. Without this heart, you can not take up a new lesson. Thus if you lose all five lives you will have to wait to refill them. This is one of the features, I hate the most.

It took four hours to refill a single life. If you want to refill them earlier you can take up a lot of practice or use gems for it. Further, it is also important to note that you will not get any heart system on the desktop version. Thus if you want unlimited health you can always use the desktop version.

Update: Now this heart system is on desktop version and iOS devices. So, if you want unlimited health, you should try using it on Android mobile.

2. XP Score

Do you know why I love this platform? It is because of its reward system. I have tried many platforms to learn the language but never enjoyed them. This was the first platform to take up my attention. It works like playing a video game and getting rewards for everything I do on this platform. Duolingo XP is one such reward on the platform. Everything that I do on this platform gives me an XP score. This score is extremely important if you are in a league.

3. Duolingo Leagues

I have always loved completion. Although, I have always competed with myself, sometimes competing with others helps me to know where I stand. Duolingo allows me to know it. Duolingo leagues are the weekly competition where 30 random people compete with each other. You will go through 10 different levels. These leagues generally start on Monday evening and end on Sunday evening. These leagues also help you to get gems which are useful for unlocking new status icons or unlocking new lessons.  

4. Duolingo gems

I am sure you have played many of the games where you get coins to unlock new features in that game. Duolingo gems work similarly to it. They are the official currency you can use on the platform to purchase different boosters or unlock new lessons.

5. Adding Friends

When you use Duolingo, you will find other people learning a similar language to yours. As Duolingo is a social experience, you can follow different people on it. When you follow the friends on the platform they will be in your following list under your friends tab. Further, if they follow you back they will be on your friends list. Having friends on the platform is important as they will help you complete your friends quest.

6. Duolingo Plus

There is no hidden fact that, in this world, there is nothing free. Every free thing has its own paid version. Duolingo is a free tool, but it offers a free membership known as Duolingo Plus or Super Duolingo. There are generally two types of subscription plans – individual and Family packs. With the help of it, you get unlimited hearts and get rid of ads.

7. Duolingo events

Events are a feature to get more perfect in the chosen language. They are the best way of practicing communication skills with the other people on the platform learning your language. In it, you will be in a video call with other users with whom you can communicate in your targeted language. Events are extra support that you get outside your regular lessons. On completing these events you can earn the highest number of gems i.e. 250 gems.

Update: You no longer receive these gems and also have to pay the fees to join these classes.

8. Streak score

The number of days you take up in a row to complete a single lesson per day helps in getting the streak score. So if you use 7 days in a row to complete 7 lessons (a single lesson each day), the streak score becomes 7. Once you make a streak score of 365 days, you will unlock the streak society and get VIP status.

9. Duolingo happy hour

Duolingo happy hour is the hour in which you can earn some extra XP. When you complete a lesson in the happy hour you get 5 extra XP. So generally, you are getting 10 XP for completing a lesson, and you will be earning 15 XP. Whereas, if you get 15 XP for completing the lesson without making any errors, you will earn 20 XP.

What level can you get learning Dutch with Duolingo?

Taking up the course on Duolingo means you get the language at an intermediate level. When you are on the platform you will not get advanced-level knowledge. However, as Duolingo keeps on bringing new updates, you may get the courses at an advanced level in the upcoming time.

Alternatives to learn Dutch

As you can see Duolingo alone can not make you learn the language fluently, it is important to get some of the best alternatives to learn it. Thus, here I am with resources that my student used along with Duolingo. If you do not like Duolingo, you can use one of them-

1. iTalki

The biggest problem that my student faced was that she is a person who always looks for someone who can teach her. Since Duolingo is a self-learning platform, it was difficult for her to learn the language at home. To overcome her problem, I looked at some other alternatives. I landed on iTalki where she got good tutors to teach her Dutch.

If you also want to use it, you will have to pay the fee based on the tutor, the number of classes you take, and the duration of it. However, there is a free feature on this platform i.e. language exchange partner. With the help of this feature, you can connect with other people and try talking to them.

2. Verbling

If you also want to learn from tutors, then it is another platform you can look for. You can choose the tutor according to your own preference. It provides you with flashcards and lessons of a high quality. There is its own classroom technology, so you don’t need to provide your details. However, while using it one thing I noticed and was really upset about was its hidden cost. Thus, if you are on a tight budget you may not enjoy it much. This platform not only helps you to learn the language but also to teach others. Therefore, if you are sure about a language, you can also become a tutor on this platform.

3. Loecsen

Loecsen is a platform where you can study Dutch freely on your own. I tried this platform and got several conversational phrases that are used in daily life. Just like Duolingo, there were different sections in the course. Each section focused on a specific topic. You can learn important phrases and words related to food, travel, etc. The main reason why anyone learns a new language is to have conversations with the native speakers. The audio lessons on the platform help to improve your pronunciation.

4. Valley Trail

Valley Trail is a platform that highly relies on text explanations. It may turn you off but trust me it is really a superb platform. You will get several audio and grammatical lessons to develop your knowledge. There are over 10,000 words with their English meaning. If you do not have much time to learn the language properly, you can use it as your instant online dictionary.

5. HelloTalk

If you want to practice with other native speakers, then you may enjoy HelloTalk. It is a platform where you will connect with native speakers either through text messages or voice notes. Two inbuilt features that will make your conversations easy are – translators and checking grammar. Although it is free, there are a limited number of translations per day. If you want unlimited translations, get the paid version.

Additionally, try to watch your favorite shows in your Dutch stories. I did this hack while learning the Spanish language. It not only helped me to learn the language but kept me entertained in my language-learning journey.

Conclusion

Using Duolingo means saving a lot of money on learning a language. But it will still give you a question – is Duolingo good for learning Dutch? Well, if you are on a tight budget and are a new learner, you must try it. There is no such platform where you can get such a great deal. However, if you want to get content at an advanced level, you may not enjoy this platform. This is because the courses on this platform are created at the intermediate level.

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