Duolingo is the most downloaded language learning app in the world. With over 500 million users and a cheerful green owl mascot that will guilt-trip you for missing a day, it has made language learning feel accessible to millions of people who might never have tried otherwise. But the question that keeps coming up — especially from serious learners — is: Is Duolingo actually enough to learn a language?
The short answer: No. But that's not the whole story.
Here's a thorough, data-backed look at what Duolingo does well, where it falls short, and what you should be using alongside it.
What Duolingo Does Well
1. Building and Maintaining a Daily Habit
This is Duolingo's greatest superpower. The streak system, push notifications, XP rewards, and gamified leaderboards are brilliantly engineered to keep you coming back every day. For many people, the hardest part of learning a language is simply being consistent — and Duolingo solves that problem better than any other product on the market.
A 30-day streak on Duolingo won't make you fluent. But it will make language learning feel like a natural part of your routine — and that foundation matters enormously.
2. Vocabulary Exposure
Duolingo's spaced repetition system introduces and revisits vocabulary at regular intervals. For absolute beginners, this is effective. You'll pick up hundreds of common words in your target language, and the repetition genuinely aids retention.
3. Basic Grammar Intuition
Rather than teaching grammar rules explicitly, Duolingo uses pattern recognition — you see a structure repeatedly in different contexts until it starts to feel "right." This approach mirrors natural language acquisition and works reasonably well for simple, high-frequency structures.
4. Low Barrier to Entry
Duolingo is free, mobile-first, and available in 40+ languages. For someone who would otherwise do nothing, Duolingo is dramatically better than nothing. It democratizes language learning by making it accessible regardless of budget or location.
5. Fun and Engaging Design
The UX is genuinely enjoyable. Lessons feel like mini-games. The characters are charming. The audio quality for most major languages is excellent. It's hard to be bored on Duolingo.
Where Duolingo Falls Short
1. You Won't Learn to Have Real Conversations
This is the most significant limitation. Duolingo's exercises are overwhelmingly translation-based — translate from English to Spanish, match the word to the picture, fill in the blank. These exercises build recognition skills, but conversational fluency requires producing language spontaneously, responding to unpredictable inputs, and thinking on your feet.
After a year on Duolingo, most users cannot hold a real conversation. This isn't a failure of motivation — it's a structural limitation of the product's design.
2. Listening Comprehension Is Weak
Real native speakers don't speak like Duolingo's audio. They speak fast, drop syllables, use informal registers, blend words together, and vary massively by region and accent. Duolingo's controlled, slow, clear audio trains your ear for Duolingo — not for actual humans.
3. Grammar Coverage Is Shallow
Duolingo introduces grammatical structures through repetition but rarely explains them. For some learners (especially those with a previous language background), this is fine. For many others, the lack of explicit explanation leads to confusion when they encounter more complex sentences.
4. No Speaking Practice
Standard Duolingo lessons include minimal speaking practice — some voice recognition exercises exist, but they're rudimentary and famously unreliable. Real speaking practice requires producing language spontaneously in response to another person — something Duolingo's format cannot replicate.
5. Content Plateaus at Intermediate Levels
Duolingo is most effective for beginners. As users reach intermediate levels, the content becomes repetitive, progress feels slower, and the structured progression of the app runs out of meaningful challenges. Most serious learners abandon Duolingo by the time they reach A2–B1 level, not because of boredom but because it stops providing what they need.
What Does the Research Actually Say?
Several studies have examined Duolingo's effectiveness:
- A 2020 study by the City University of New York found that completing a Duolingo Spanish course was roughly equivalent to one semester of college Spanish — for listening and reading. Speaking and writing were not assessed.
- Duolingo's own research has been criticized for methodological issues (small sample sizes, self-selected participants, no comparison group). Their headline claim — "34 hours of Duolingo equals a semester of college Spanish" — is widely regarded as an overstatement.
- Independent linguists and polyglots consistently note that Duolingo is a useful supplement but insufficient as a standalone learning method.
The evidence suggests Duolingo can get you to a solid A1–A2 foundation in a popular language if used consistently. It is unlikely to get most learners beyond that point without significant supplementation.
The "Duolingo Only" Experiment: What Happens
Every year, a few YouTubers document their "Duolingo only" language learning experiments — typically 1–3 months of exclusive Duolingo use for a new language. The consistent findings:
- Vocabulary recognition improves noticeably
- Reading simple sentences becomes easier
- Speaking ability improves minimally or not at all
- Listening to real native speech remains extremely difficult
- Users describe feeling like they "know the language" but can't actually use it
This gap between passive recognition and active production is the core problem with relying on Duolingo alone.
What to Use Alongside Duolingo
Think of Duolingo as the foundation of your habit — the thing that keeps you showing up every day. Then add these layers:
For Listening Comprehension
- Comprehensible input videos (Dreaming Spanish, InnerFrench, etc.)
- Native podcasts at beginner level (Coffee Break Spanish, JapanesePod101)
- Leyo — real-world audio content calibrated to your level with AI comprehension support
For Speaking Practice
- italki — schedule regular sessions with tutors or conversation partners
- Language exchange partners (Tandem, HelloTalk)
- Leyo's AI conversation mode — speak freely and receive real-time feedback
For Grammar
- Language Transfer (free audio) — superb for intuitive grammar in Spanish, French, German, Arabic
- Textbooks: Assimil, Integrated Chinese, Korean Grammar in Use
- Grammar explainer channels on YouTube
For Vocabulary
- Anki — build decks from content you're consuming, not pre-made lists
- Leyo's reading mode — learn words in authentic context
Verdict: Should You Use Duolingo?
Yes — as part of a broader routine, not as your entire strategy.
Duolingo is excellent for:
- Starting a daily language habit
- Building a core vocabulary base
- Keeping you engaged during early stages
Duolingo alone is not enough to:
- Reach conversational fluency
- Develop real listening comprehension
- Prepare you for language proficiency exams
- Have meaningful interactions with native speakers
The best approach: use Duolingo for 10–15 minutes daily as your habit anchor, and spend the rest of your study time on speaking practice, immersive listening, and reading real content.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Duolingo get you to B2 level?
Almost certainly not on its own. B2 represents genuine conversational fluency — the ability to discuss complex topics, understand fast native speech, and express yourself naturally. Duolingo's content and methodology are insufficient to develop these skills without significant supplementation.
Is the paid Duolingo Super/Max subscription worth it?
Duolingo Super removes ads and adds offline mode. The newer "Duolingo Max" tier (available in select languages) adds AI-powered conversation practice (Roleplay) and explanation features — these are genuine improvements. Whether it's worth it depends on how much you use Duolingo and whether you're supplementing it adequately.
How does Duolingo compare to Babbel?
Babbel tends to provide more explicit grammar instruction and more realistic sentence structures. Duolingo is more gamified and better at habit formation. Neither is sufficient alone; both serve best as one component of a broader strategy.
Is Duolingo effective for hard languages like Japanese, Korean, or Mandarin?
Less so than for European languages. Duolingo's course quality and depth varies significantly by language. Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin courses on Duolingo are weaker in grammar depth and character learning compared to dedicated resources. Supplement heavily with specialized tools for these languages.
What's the single most important thing to add to Duolingo?
Speaking practice with a real person. This is the skill Duolingo most consistently fails to develop, and it's the one that matters most for actual language use. Even one 30-minute tutoring session per week will move your progress faster than tripling your time on Duolingo.
