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I’m pretty glad I don’t use Duolingo, it’s easier to learn language tips from YouTube
These kinds of figures are pointless without knowing the starting number of users, it could be an increase from 10 to like 30 or something… Also, this sudden rush of articles mentioning rednote seems more like an attempt to induce movement to it, but that could just be me being cynical.
This Tiktok ban is going to make people in the US do what they never did before and learn a second language. 万岁
More like start learning a second language and give up after a week.
This may be a stereotype, but TikTok specifically caters to people with short attention spans.
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Gateway learning.
I learned Spanish to write love letters in 2nd grade.
And now 30 years later, I know like a dozen languages at a basic level, but still good enough to be sent all over the world on business trips for free.
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Can anyone explain to me what makes TikTok and now this RedNote so much better than the other short form options (YT, Insta… others) that people think learning a completely different and unfamiliar language is not only viable, but the best option?
I want to learn another language for travel purposes, which to me makes sense. I’ve never had the itch to learn one so I could use a social media platform.
I wouldn’t overthink it. It’s just a youthful rebellion/protest thing. Old people banned an app young people like and young people were like, “Ok, fine. We’ll use a different app, assholes.” And they found one even more Chinese just to be obnoxious.
But to answer your primary question, Instagram is a bloated app with a terrible algorithm made by a garbage company owned by a garbage person. But just as important, Instagram is also where TikTok users’ parents are. Youths don’t want to hang out with friends where their parents are watching. Hell, I’m middle-aged and I was annoyed when my mom followed me on Instagram. Like, “Stay on Facebook, mom. That’s the boomer app.”
I’m sure almost every TikTok user is a YouTube user too. But YouTube Shorts isn’t the same as TikTok. Shorts are basically a way for established creators who make longer, professional videos to make little casual ones between their main video releases. It’s not a drop-in replacement for TikTok. The vibe is different. (If Shorts had been released as a totally separate app with a separate algorithm, it’d be a drop-in replacement for TikTok but they just duct taped it onto YouTube proper.)
Plus, the data and national security excuses were always horseshit. Congress was trying to protect American dominance in social media and during the debate, members of Congress said their issue with TikTok was that it didn’t have an Israel boner. https://forward.com/culture/688840/tiktok-ban-gaza-palestine-israel-antisemitism/
Forward is a publication aimed at a Jewish audience, for the record, so that’s not some antisemitic conspiracy theory.
Just as I finally see Chinese culture gaining more global cultural relevance— and it had to be in order to bypass a ban of an intrusive app.
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Real anti capitalists learn Esperanto
I’m no anti capitalist, but I also learned Esperanto a few years ago. But nobody really speaks it, so I switched to learning something a bit more practical (SO’s native language so I’m less helpless when we visit their country).
That’s not exactly true, that nobody speaks it. There are a couple of hindrances to speaking it, basically finding the people willing to be occupying that niche and then those who actually want to learn and speak it to a high degree.
I’ve just learned how to say fuck America, 他媽的美國
No one is learning any language using shitty Duolingo all they are learning is how to parrot useless phrases and vocab with no explanation on how to form sentences or actually use the language properly for themselves.
All this hatred for a tool that is bridging the gap between not speaking a language and being able to understand basic sentences.
Except for the fact that it is designed to keep you coming back and hopefully paying them for the privaledge whilst making people believe they are learning something useful.
It is in fact counter productive to actually learning a language properly. I used it for a year and a half trying to learn Spanish and in that time I never really learnt anything of worth. On top of that my native Spanish speaking girlfriend told me on numerous occasions that the things it was “teaching” me were flat out incorrect.
I learnt more useful language skills in a month on Busuu than I did in a year and a half using Duolingo. So yes there is a lot of hate because it wasted a lot of my time for absolutely zero benefit and in some cases taught me the wrong things so I had to go back and “unlearn” all the bullshit it constantly pushed to me.
It isn’t a tool to bridge a gap, it is a word game designed to get you addicted to “streaks” and then hopefully remove money from your wallet under the guise of teaching you something.
People that seriously want to learn a language should be dissuaded from using this trash app as it is only counter productive to the learning process, they should instead check out Busuu or listen to Language Transfer which is free and vastly superior!
I see what you mean, but I don’t think anybody should expect Duolingo, atleast in the early stages, to teach conversation. The streaks are just a way to keep people engaged. That’s the biggest issue in education, which is keeping people engaged even during the tough parts.
I do agree though. I use Duo as a method of practice side-by-side learning in an actual language school. My personal opinion is that nothing good ever comes of a single source. I always keep looking for different sources of information.
I also see how this might not be how other people function, so I don’t really see any reason to object to your point.
TL;DR - Fair enough. To each their own. Nothing is ever perfect and I agree that you shouldn’t charge money for something that isn’t “correct”. But for the most part, it isn’t worthy of hate as much as just distaste? Maybe there’s a better word for it.
I am admittedly salty about my own experience with it which definitely skews me towards the negative view of it, I just dont like to see people jumping on that app and thinking that that alone will see them through learning a language.
I do see your points of using it as a supplement to learning through other methods but also due to the fact that it taught me a few different things that were flat out wrong I just think that there are better supplementary learning resources.
Also personally I really struggle with languages and wasting so much time on that app really destroyed my motivation for learning the language in general and as such my initial momentum has gone and I haven’t really progressed at all recently. Engagement is important like you say and I dont think the streaks are a bad idea but the way they implement them is insidious in that it is all tailored to keep you in app and hopefully paying them IMO.
My initial message was more in disgust of the app as a whole, I wouldn’t go as far as to say I expressed hate otherwise I’d have used much stronger language but again everyone’s opinion on that line will be different. I just dont think it is good at all and if I can dissuade people from using it then I will. Maybe I should have put the alternatives I mentioned in the first comment to balance out the message but it is too late now :D
Yeah. That’s true. There’s definitely scope for improvement…
I dont think the streaks are a bad idea but the way they implement them is insidious in that it is all tailored to keep you in app and hopefully paying them IMO.
I mean, that is what all of these apps earn from anyway, so while not a great tactic for most apps, I give Duo the pass since they atleast deliver on what they promise, which is a step towards learning foreign languages.
My initial message was more in disgust of the app as a whole, I wouldn’t go as far as to say I expressed hate otherwise I’d have used much stronger language but again everyone’s opinion on that line will be different.
Fair enough lol. I get it. I have the same feeling for people watching dubbed anime 😭. I get why but still, goddamn it.
but it is too late now :D
😬 better late than never.
Off-topic : Chicken Little fan? Your username harkens to the old days.
I used Duolingo for a while (for French and Spanish) but it didn’t allow for progress at the rate that I wanted to go. Then I realized that it was holding me back by design, to keep me using the app regularly. I know people who have done well with it, but it wasn’t a good fit for me.
Once I realized I could just skip sections, my progress shot up.
i tried learning spanish with it, now i know how to order a hamburger with cheese but it won’t teach me much else… just the same fucking sentence over and over again. every now and then it drops in a new word and then we’re back to the hamburger thing.
Hamburgesa con quesa? Muy bien
I’m pretty sure that this post is a total load of bs.
My niece is one of tiktok’s victims and she is as young and lazy to even construct herself a sandwich. Nevermind learning a language as confusing and backwards as mandarin or Cantonese.
I don’t get the connection between losing access to tik tok and starting a +20 years journey to learn chinese
I believe that a clickbait title about 400 idiot people starting the first lesson in Duolingo and then quickly quitting without deleting their accounts is the through line here.
“only idiots show interest in a second language” is a take for sure
That’s very clearly not what they meant and you know it.
A small but vocal chunk of people moved to another Chinese social media app with the announcement of the TikTok shutdown. This app is mostly used by Chinese users unlike TikTok. The idiots are the ones trading one foreign monitoring app for another - one which doesn’t even primarily use the language they speak
