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The multiple course-challange: my way of learning Italian with Duolingo

How do I learn Italian language with Duolingo?

Some strange motivation

I needed a new challange, and I was also interested in Italian language. I like the melody, the country, the food, the supercars of Ferrari and Maserati, Bud Spencer and Terence Hill movies. I definitely have some strange motivations, right? J

Doing multiple courses that have Italian

Click to enlarge photo:

I do four Italian courses combined with English, German and Spanish

I started with English-Italian course: Italian for speakers of English, so English is the first language and Italian is the second. A day later I took on all possible Italian Duolingo courses that have something to do with the languages that I know at any level so far. I completed all possible trees and reverse-trees combining English, German, Russian, Spanish and my mother tongue, Hungarian.

So, I looked for Italian courses that include the above languages and - in addition to the above mentioned English-Italian - I found:

Italian-English

Italian-German

Spanish-Italian

What is my daily goal in my Italian studies in Duolingo?

I do one topic in each of the above mentioned 4 courses every day. I try to do the longest possible – the one that has the most lessons -  when I have more time, or, to have a shorter one for the next day, LOL!

Revising Russian with Crown Levels

As there is no Russian language available yet in connection with Italian, I also refresh my Russian skills. I started to revise my Russian-English course by completing all the Crown Levels. To be honest, I cheat a bit in this course by testing out and using a lot of Google Translator for it. I will complete this course in this way, but I will not do it in other Duolingo Russian courses, as I feel that my Russian skills need a lot more practise than just ,,testing out”.

Addicted to gold: going for Level 5 Crowns

Duolingo Crown Levels are a real challange with really a lot of lessons in each topic, so it will definitely take some time to complete all my language trees. No matter, my goal is to reach Level 5 in every Duolingo course, because I want to see all my trees in that beautiful golden colour I got used to with the previous system before Crown Levels. It was enough to learn by hiting the ’practice’ button to get the golden circles back.

When do you practise Duolingo? 

I do one part of my language lessons first thing in the morning, even before walkingmy dogs. I get up a bit earlier for this. I find ’brain training’ better in the morning than physical exercise, as my muscles needs some time to warm up and my bones, especially vertebrae needs to get into place after lying on the bed for hours. I read it somewhere that the vertebrae needs about 2 hours of walking around doing ones daily routine to ”re-organize” and I think it makes sence. This is also true if someone really does a proper warm-up before the serious workout or bike-ride, etc. For decades I used to workout or go and ride BMX Flatland first thing in the morning, very early at dawn, and then I did my daily dose of Duolingo language learning later on. Recently I have been doing sets of exercises after each Duolingo lesson, not to get too sleepy sitting in one place, and getting the workout done at the same time. It depends on my mood how I workout, but I do something every day at home. This saves time for my business as well.

How many daily XPs do I achieve now?

With the four types of Italian courses and the Russian-English Crown Level fortifying course my daily Duolingo points are high above 1000 recently. Once I made more than 2500, but that was with some extra diligence above my daily dose and some Duolingo Stories. I also completed all sets of Duolingo Stories in Spanish and German. When there is a new set out there, I also complete on Spanish and one German every day, until the new set is golden too.

How much time does my daily Duolingo language learninig take? 

Well, I have never measured the time, but it is about 2 hours a day, depending on the lenght and difficulty of the topics and how tired I am. It was summer holiday when I started this brutal amount of daily Duolingo practise. School starts soon, and I will have less time, but I want to keep this up until all my Italian trees are complete. Then I am going to apply a new strategy, definitely including levelling up in Crown Levels in all my languages. I am not thinking about taking on any new language until this is ready.

What helps me to complete this huge amount of daily Duolingo?

Wearrin Super Duo attire gives me super-owl powers! J I also keep sipping my favourite mushroom coffee. J

I got more than 1000 points today on Duolingo!

1017 points on Duolingo: daily goal exceeded

Daily habit or addiction? :)

I always comlete my Duolingo lessons every day for almost 900 days in a row now. Recently I took on Italian and learn it combining it with English, Spanish and German, using reverse trees as well if it is possible. 

More than 2 hours a day 

I started completing my Crown levels in Russian-English as well. Completing my daily dose of Duolingo lessons takes me about two hours a day. I know it is a lot, but it is summer holiday still, as I am a teacher of English with a Hungarian mother tongue. Oh yeah, and also doing Duolingo Stories, all sets complete in Spanish and German! I know, I am king :)

I almost went to sleep, but saw that I almost have 900 XPs. It was 897 actually. I crossed the 900-XP-border, than decided to hit 1000, BOOOM:

This is my daily record so far on Duolingo: 1017 XPs

Looking forward to Roma and Patwa language courses, I hope they will be availabel soon!

Update:

I have just  noticed, that it is not the first time I have been over 1000XPs! I just wanted to check how many XPs I needed today to reach 1000, and I could not believe my eyes:

I am kinda motivated :)

I might set a new goal of always going over 1000 XPs a day! Duolingo for the win! :)

Duolingo Stories sets complete in Spanish and German

’Stories’ is a nice surprise

Duolingo Stories came to me as a surprise. I don’t know how I found this amazing new option for my favourite free online language learning application, but I amvery happy I did. 

I have been practising Spanish, German and Russian combined with each other and English in all possible way Duolingo made is possible so far. Achieving 3x50 XPs daily with trees and reverse trees in a way to include German, Russian and Spanish is now one of the first things I do every morning (even before walking my dogs) for more than 2.5 years now.

Owls eat mice, but Duo does not eat this cute little mouse! :)

More fun and another positive addiction

Duolingo Stories added more fun and variety to the ’game’. ”Much to learn, I still have” in Spanish, Russian and German, and it was not boring to me at all to do the 150 daily XPs. Stories simply broadened the range of my addictions, ha-ha. I set a goal of doing only one Duolingo Story a day, because it would not be lucky if I neglected my other duties (for example my job, LOL) due to my language-learning mania. I completed slowly but surely the Spanish Stories, then moved on to the German Duolingo Stories ’tree’.

How does Duolingo Stories work?

Stories consists of sets of tales that have tasks in them regarding reading and listening skills.

Choose the correct word!

(I consciously avoid using the word ”competence” here, as for us teachers and students in Hungary there are compulsory tests we have to make kids write, and I speak for all of us, we do not like it, especially because these tests are obligatory.)

We have to complete tasks on vocabulary, finish sentences, fill in the gaps with the right word and so on. The narrator’s and participants’ speech can be played in a slower version as well, just like in the basic Duolingo language courses.

Duo is busy reading, so our little mouse can show us the meaning of words :)

Great graphics and layout

I love the way Duolingo Stories look, as well. We can find the good-old user friendly, colorful drawings we all have got accustomed to. The program also shows us the meaning of words when we hover the mouse over them (or point on it with our fingers on portable devices).

Mobile devices or PC? Which is the best Stories platform?

Take care of your eyesight first!

Do yourself and your eyes a favour and learn on the biggest screen possible

First of all, if you still have good eyesight, and want to keep it that way, stop staring at small, or actually bigger smartphone screens. I noticed my eyesight deteriorating when I did an insane daily dose of 330 XPs a day on Duolingo using my Samsung Galaxy S4 mini ( a very small) smartphone. It is best to learn on desktop, but I still bought a bigger, 10.1 inch tablet only for the sake of learning languages with Duolingo. Yes, I know I said use your PC, but for me the app version of Duolingo is better. I like it how the words in the sentences are in front of me and I can click on them to rearrange them in the correct order. So I do not have to hover the mouse over each word I am not familiar with. The app version makes it possible for me to see all the words in a task and as I am a visual type, I can find out the meaning of the word even though it is completely new for me.

So, as a last word on whether I recommend smart devices or PC for Duolingo, I say that if you do not find the app version better, use your computer with that nice big screen to save one of the most precious things in life: your eyesight.

What languages are available?

At the time when I am writing this blog entry, there is no app version of Stories. I prefer using basic Duolingo on my tablet, but Stories work for me better on my computer. I can move on faster by tapping ”Enter” key, for example, and for me the handling of the whole program is all-in-all faster for me on my PC. I also enlarge the screen when I use it either on my tablet or my desktop.

More languages will arrive soon thanks to the work of Duolingo staff and contributors

Stories from Duolingo is currently available in four languages. English is the first language (language one), and the target languages are Spanish, French, Portuguese and German. I have completed the Spanish and German Duolingo Stories trees. (I use this phrase here too, though the structure looks less like a tree here.) I listed the content (story titles) of Duolingo Stories in all sets of Spanish and German bellow:

Duolingo Stories Spanish title list:

Ola, yo soy Duo! :)

Set One:

¿Te conozco?

Bellas artes

Cuidando un pájaro

Tenemos que hablar

Encerrada en el baño

La carta perdida

La peor cita de mi vida

¿Puedes hablar?

Sigue las flechas

Tres deseos

Set Two:

El robo

¡Renuncio!

Alguien me persigue

¡Ayuda a Alicia!

El mayor tesoro

La cita misteriosa

¡Una serpiente!

Reunión de colegio

Da la vuelta

¡Acampando!

Set Three:

Un nuevo autor

Trabajo de laboratorio

¡Las manos arriba!

Cuarto en alquiler

La sorpresa de cumpleaños

La caja secreta

En la televisión

El ático

La persecución

¡Son las tres de la mañana!

Set Four:

Listos para despegar

¿Qué está pasando?

Cosas viejas

Tablero de güija

Tenemos que decirnos adiós

El panecillo matutino

Barbanegra

En la biblioteca

La bolsa de papel

A escondidas

Set Five:

El amor está en el aire

El mejor presidente

¡Es él!

Fifí necesita una habitación

La Pirámide de Tikal

Una boda más

Parada de tránsito

Se vende un auto

Un paquete para entregar

Citas rápidas

Set Six:

Decisiones

Muñecos de boda

Capítulo dos

Salto en paracaídas

La primera misión

Un nuevo plan de vida

Pan de Azúcar

El Cazador

Un paseo salvaje

El sobre

Set Seven:

Cristales

¿Campistas felices?

Fuera de horario

Atlántida

El traidor

Los planos

El duque de la Bastilla

El admirador secreto

El gran escape

El asaltante

Set Eight:

La entrevista

La reparacion del auto

Una carretera en el campo

Reserva natural

El salto

Jasmir

La segunda misión

La artista

2042

Cazadores furtivos

Duolingo Stories German title list:

Hallo, ich bin Duo! :)

Set One:

Zimmer zu vermieten

Ein geheimnisvolles Date

Kenne ich dich?

Wir müssen reden

Folge den Pfeilen

Es ist drei Uhr morgens!

Abflugbereit

Vogelsitting

Camping!

Kapitel 2

Set Two:

Ein furchtbares Date

Er ist es!

Noch eine Hochzeit

Auto zu verkaufen

Hände hoch!

Alte Sachen

Im Fernsehen

Fernbeziehung

Nach Geschäftsschluss

Verkehrskontrolle

Set Three:

Liebe liegt in der Luft

Eine Schlange!

Die geheime Kiste

Die Papiertüte

Der vergessene Brief

Fi Fi braucht ein Zimmer

Morgen-Muffin

Neuer Lebensplan

Wilde Fahrt

Der erste Auftrag

Set Four:

Verschlossenes Badezimmer

Zuckerhut

Klassentreffen

Hilf Georg!

Der Verfolger

Einbruch

Der Verräter

Kristalle

Der Jäger

Der Briefumschlag

Set Five:

Hochzeitspuppen

Der größte Schatz

Drei Wünsche

Entscheidungen

Blackbeard

Paket geliefert

Herumschleichen

Fallschirmsprung

Speed Dating

Atlantis

Set Six:

Der Straßenräuber

Was ist los?

Der heimliche Verehrer

Die große Flucht

Der Herzog von Bastille

Jasmir

Blaupausen

Die Künstlerin

2042

Die Wilderer

It is nice to see the sentence at the end with Duo saying:

”You completed all sets!” 

It also says: 

”Check back soon for the next set.” 

It will be great when there will be Stories in Duolingo for more languages. I would like Russian as well, and in all possible combinations, like the language trees and the reverse trees.

Okay, I have nothing more left to say, grab a coffee and get started! :)

Sofadog-caressing/Kanapékutya-simizés

Petting my sofadogs for being cute and clever

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