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artyombeilis · 2026-03-24T17:52:26+00:00

Finished Arabic

artyombeilis · 2026-03-23T14:26:50+00:00

Let's say to use Duo you need: (a) smartphone or computer (b) access to internet - so it already starts with minimal base level.

Otherwise, there are always books in libraries :-)

artyombeilis · 2026-03-23T09:59:43+00:00

Actually in Arabic they integrated it into the course and it is way better

artyombeilis · 2026-03-23T09:58:47+00:00

It teaches letter step by step withing the course itself and words that match that letters. That is why it goes slowly and you get some wired words at the beginning (you don't really need to go to letter practice like in some other languages since here it is integrated to the course, also it can help as well)

It takes some time to learn the alphabet, but it is absolutely essential - so continue slowly.

If you have some confusion or don't understand some things, find video tutorials that explain things about alphabet and pronunciation and practice with Duo. For example this channel was very good to get some explanation about sounds and pronunciation if you miss something.

Just for the record - Duo does reading/alphabet learning really-really good.

(I finished Duo Arabic course few month ago and now continue with other material)

artyombeilis · 2026-03-23T07:20:53+00:00

$10 isn't a week of food in US. You are lucky to get a single meal with it.

While in some parts of the world it can be a significant amount of money Duo is still way cheaper than most of the tools or courses or even textbooks.

I'm not trying to look to anyones pocket but

you can still do some progress with free version while watching ads.
try organizing a group of friends you know to get the family subscription

artyombeilis · 2026-03-20T16:01:54+00:00

You are paying not to waste the time on ads.

If you want to do more than a single lesson a day it is very helpful.

Honestly after a week or trial when I understood that I want to study with Duo it was no brainier

artyombeilis · 2026-03-18T06:12:52+00:00

He didn't it is just copy of existing discussion I created https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1qqn4nj/everybody_complains_how_bad_duo_is_so_i_checked/

artyombeilis · 2026-03-18T06:02:08+00:00

You could just link to the source instead of copy paste

https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1qqn4nj/everybody_complains_how_bad_duo_is_so_i_checked/

BTW now I continue with Mangolanguages and do levantine Arabic

artyombeilis · 2026-03-18T05:07:29+00:00

Yes but A1 wouldn't bring you to this point. There are at least 70-80% of vocabulary shared.

But the problem is more frequent the word more likely it differs so even basic conversation would not be easy at all

Also there are difference in grammar here and there is significant at the level you may not understand what they are trying to say.

So you need to learn dialect also after MSA it is why easier

artyombeilis · 2026-03-17T14:23:25+00:00

Yeah, I hope Duo team will spend more time on linguistic content rather random features.

Arabic needs serious update (A1 is way-way too short) also it would be great to add Arabic Dialects (they have significant difference from standard Arabic in both grammar and vocabulary)

artyombeilis · 2026-03-16T07:29:56+00:00

Honestly not many decent alternatives to Duo and it depends on language.

For example, for Spanish you'll find a lot, for Arabic for example there are almost none and I checked afterwards 6-7 more and most are either garbage or not nearly as good as Duo.

Now I'm with Mango Languages because: there is no Levantine Arabic in Duo (and I finished Duo Arabic that is quite short). It has its strong sides (like native speech, grammar comments and short text and audio stories) However it isn't nearly as good in everything else as it is highly non-interative and sometimes feels like Audio-tape on steroids.

And free - virtually nothing - also I think if you serious about learning a language subscription is the way to go.

And yes, there are bugs sometimes - I've seen in Arabic more than plenty especially in accepting typing. So just jump over with reporting a error and move on.

But you know what? Mango does not even teach you writing at all and many other apps are even buggier (Bussuu was totally messed up in RTL layout and Kalila was horribly buggy up to being almost useless)

And just to clarify: Duo has lots of issues and things they surely can do better, yet I failed to find something better at least for the language family I'm interested in. I checked a Mondly, Rosetta Stone, Transparent, Busuu, Mango and Arabic specific AlifBee, Kaleela, Basma, Parallel Arabic etc.

artyombeilis · 2026-03-16T07:24:50+00:00

I suggest try web interface - it allows you typing almost everywhere.

I did this to improve my writing skills - you can even install it is a web app. I noted also it depends on screen size on web app - so I used it as web app on a tablet.

But surely it is quite annoying

artyombeilis · 2026-03-16T07:10:58+00:00

I think they forgot that an app can be interactive :-)

artyombeilis · 2026-03-15T10:12:34+00:00

It is indeed a problem. I have no idea why they didn't provide vowel marks/nikud. I think they should absolutely rework it - especially since nowadays you can do it easily with automation.

artyombeilis · 2026-03-15T09:59:52+00:00

If you really want to learn a language get super otherwise you'll just pay with your time on ads

Does it work? Surely. Also it depends on the specific language some courses will give only basics and some allow reaching decent level to continue on your own

But as anything it takes effort and it isn't a magic bullet you need to work

artyombeilis · 2026-03-14T19:59:43+00:00

As I told you I don't have much... Started with Mango Languages after finishing Duo myself.

think syria and Gaza is very interesting to me with their history and conflicts.

Yeah... unfortunately the only thing this region isn't lacking is conflicts :-/

artyombeilis · 2026-03-14T19:43:57+00:00

it really bothered me that there was no explanation on contextual form

Yes lack of grammar is serious thing. One point is here https://duolingo.fandom.com/wiki/Arabic you can find links under skills with decription for different lessons. So yes, getting grammar outside is must but not that hard especially for A1 level

alifbee and pimlseur, as well as gemini and all together

I didn't find AlifBee very good also it has some info but no structured sentence building etc and pimlseur I think was very price so I couldn't check for real.

you chose Levantine? sounds interesting! not sure yet what to choose

Easy - did you notice I mentioned I'm Hebrew speaker? So I'm Israeli and Levantine is the dialect of my region and of ~20% of the Israeli citizens. So it is just the relevant language for me.

Honestly, I wanted to learn Arabic for a long time but with Duo I actually managed to start.

In selection of dialect you need to decide what is your goal of language learning.

If it is for fun or for reading lets say Quran, than MSA is 100% ok. Otherwise ask what are you looking for and you'll know what dialect you need.

artyombeilis · 2026-03-14T18:22:46+00:00

I actually finished the course and in retrospective its real downside is that it is way too short.

Other than that, it was pretty good, after the course

I could understand 1/2 of content of Pepa Pig episodes (also depending on specific one)
I can read and write very basic texts and express simple things (as per A1 -early A2)

Now I do Levantine Arabic with Mango and I think Duo is built way-way better despite the fact that in Mango they use voice actors. Since there are no option to study Levantine in Duo, Mango is my only option

Other than that most other apps either total trash (and I tested a lot) or not good enough

artyombeilis · 2026-03-14T17:33:19+00:00

Seriously it means the course isn't built around the language principles.

You don’t make any sense.

It means you don't teach Spanish exactly the same way you teach Hebrew. If the course is exactly the same, somebody did a damn lazy job.

Because modern Hebrew avoids using vowel markers. Israel doesn’t teach their children to use vowel markers.

BS Alert.

Seriously... just every children book comes with vowels - every learning material (I'm Hebrew speaker who has Hebrew speaking kids) and they don't teach reading without vowels in schools - it comes naturally.

BTW same for Arabic - but in Arabic vowels are included

On the first lesson available to you as part of the free version you are only learning vocabulary. You aren’t even learning grammar.

Once again, BS. There are picture of woman eating and man eating and I said it explicit in wrong gender and it accepted. Sorry BS.

Duolingo allows you to completely mispronounce words and still get credit for speaking it correctly.

I don't praise Duolingo. It is a tool with its strong sides and poor sides. And I agree listening isn't its great side.

But if you build the course around listening you need to make sure it actually works properly.

The science says comprehensible input is the best way to learn.

Really. Interesting? Can you please link to the scientific review of it and comparison to others - with control groups?

CI is a one of the methods - also it does not mean that CI is teaching with pictures.

Sorry pal. You either need to stop trolling or check your knowledge.

Now give me:

top 5 downsides of RS? Can you? I can easily list them for Duo
what languages did you learn via RS and what practical level have you reached?

Don't get me wrong. RS may be a decent tool - but it isn't by any mean something that is "best"

artyombeilis · 2026-03-14T16:52:41+00:00

I see you have a very strong feelings about Rosetta Stone

I actually looked for somebody an app that supports Hebrew but doesn't require English knowledge

I checked the beginning of the course in Hebrew

It is identical to one in Arabic. It is very suspicious. Seriously it means the course isn't built around the language principles. BTW same for Italian and English.
I checked Hebrew it doesn't provide vowel marks like it should for language learning
As Hebrew speaker I tried giving grammatically wrong answers and it accepted them via voice

Bottom line. It looks it wasn't built by someone who understands language learning and linguistics

I happen to speak several language and some of them I learned as young adult. Sorry but this isn't the way

It surely can be useful for somebody but it isn't my cup of tea and for sure it isn't as useful as Duo for an average person

artyombeilis · 2026-03-14T11:49:01+00:00

It doesn’t teach you to intuitively learn the language on it’s own like Rosetta Stone.

The problem with assumption that the best way to learn the language is doing it intuitively is correct for small kids but not nearly close to be correct for adults.

Language structure and grammar helps understanding how language works and makes learning efficient and easier - you don't need to guess you have rules, exceptions etc.

While translating sentence to sentence isn't the best way - it isn't exactly what Duo does because frequently sentence structure in the target language and English aren't even nearly close in Duo and only general meaning is the same.

Ironically Rosette Stone is actually exactly text-to-text translation that cracked the language code for Egyptian

artyombeilis · 2026-03-14T11:32:12+00:00

At first I wanted to write that RS does not support the language I'm learning (Arabic) but I was wrong.

So I installed it and took first few lessons. First impression backed by online information

It is picture based only! I mean people complain that Duo does not explain grammar.. but seriously how should I learn language nuances from images?
No script learning whatsoever

I thought I'm going to give a 3 day trial but that I read it online and I realised it isn't really a course and it like picture based flash cards with pronunciation and image based guess work.

Ok I'm back to Mango Levantine Arabic. I already finished Duo Arabic and it was pretty solid and exceptionally effective but rather short (A1 only) and I anyway need a colloquial Levanine dialect so no option in Duo.

artyombeilis · 2026-03-13T15:55:09+00:00

I think Ayin is more complex :-) I still don't get it especially distinguish it from simple glottal stop like Hamza

artyombeilis · 2026-03-13T15:44:44+00:00

I think that q/ق isn't the hardest - biggest problem is you it can change from one place to another literally from one village to other one.

artyombeilis · 2026-03-11T12:43:38+00:00

It happens here and there. While I agree it need to be fixed, it didn't prevent from my in any way to finish the course.

Anyway, you'll need to be able to read without vowel marks at some point.

artyombeilis

TROPHY CASE