Duolingo Critique

The app that I chose to review is Duolingo. There is a web version also. It is an interactive learning app that has many features. It can be accessed from multiple mobile devices like a tablet, laptop or phone. It can also be accessed with a pc. Functionality is seamless on all platforms. There is a database of learners with their information being stored for individual reference and each learner can connect with others through their profile. You can add friends and interact with others users. There are leaderboards that track progress daily on the app. This format is exciting because it makes the experience feel more like a game than educational lessons. There is a competitive factor and challenges that keep things interesting. Conversational exercises can be practiced in a more natural manner through an AI generated FaceTime call that reacts to your responses and stores your conversations. Stories are another way of practicing a language on the app. A pre generated radio program is available to practice listening as well as other learning exercises throughout the lessons. Other types of exercises that this app has in their lessons are typing in Japanese, picking the right characters, translating with English, and recording voice answers. While taking the lessons you can click on words to see the translation of it in your given language. Mistakes made are saved and can be practiced later. There are many languages to choose from and each language has its own unique practice exercises. The exercises are straightforward and easy to keep engaged in.

The design is crisp with colorful animations. Different sounds complement the activities in a way that makes it feel playful and fulfilling. There are different characters with names that you can get to know from the available stories. Those characters are present when completing exercises and they are animated to give reactions to the work being done. 

One recommendation for improvement is to add an AI assistant to help when stuck on problems. Another suggestion is to classify exercises in order of difficulty based on the results of user experiences. A third idea is to have an option to request topics like video games or sports, for example, from users to create more exercises.]