Not sure about the AI checker yet; we'll see! I've used ChatGPT myself though as a wonderful language tutor to complement Duolingo, so I'm trying to not be completely skeptical / cynical :-)","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"lsllc","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-09T00:00:32.000Z","created_at_i":1704758432,"id":38920342,"options":[],"parent_id":38919198,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"You can turn off the league feature:
https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/ulj7pa/psa_you_ca...","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-08T22:28:54.000Z","created_at_i":1704752934,"id":38919198,"options":[],"parent_id":38919053,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"DuoLingo is so annoying with the gamification. It just won't shut up. I found that if I limit my use, it stops reminding me what league I'm in, probably because it realized I don't care.
I just hope I'm not learning wrong things from the new AI-powered checker. It's bad enough that I can't always find an explanation why I got something wrong. (I've actually used ChatGPT 3.0 to explain some of my mistakes, and then was able to verify its explanation because of the keywords it used, and then googling those.)","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"wycy","children":[{"author":"attentive","children":[{"author":"wintogreen74","children":[{"author":"ikt","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-09T00:07:06.000Z","created_at_i":1704758826,"id":38920418,"options":[],"parent_id":38919973,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"to learn another language it's critical you use it as often as possible, in an ideal world you want to completely swap out your native language for the one you're learning, that's the reason for the streak, to keep you engaged in the target language to help you learn, it's not like a snapchat streak which is completely pointless","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"attentive","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-09T00:40:49.000Z","created_at_i":1704760849,"id":38920683,"options":[],"parent_id":38919973,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"That's how human brain works through constant exposure. If you don't care learning the language and honest with yourself about it then it's fine too. But this topic is mostly about the people who do want to learn the language.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-08T23:27:00.000Z","created_at_i":1704756420,"id":38919973,"options":[],"parent_id":38919421,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"This sounds suspiciously like some form of Stockholm syndrome.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-08T22:45:18.000Z","created_at_i":1704753918,"id":38919421,"options":[],"parent_id":38919260,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"If you get daily language exposure some other way then why not. But if the owl is the only thing ties you to your daily exposure then you'll have nothing.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"sharkweek","children":[{"author":"Ringz","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-08T23:56:10.000Z","created_at_i":1704758170,"id":38920307,"options":[],"parent_id":38919950,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"Probably you are right about that. Which brain does not like to pretend to give orders, instead of just reacting.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"kaashif","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-08T23:56:34.000Z","created_at_i":1704758194,"id":38920310,"options":[],"parent_id":38919950,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"Or just break it now. It doesn't matter.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-08T23:25:21.000Z","created_at_i":1704756321,"id":38919950,"options":[],"parent_id":38919260,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"Do your brain a solid and break the streak at 364 just to establish whose really in charge here.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"throwup238","children":[{"author":"chaps","children":[{"author":"gambiting","children":[{"author":"johnnyanmac","children":[{"author":"gambiting","children":[{"author":"johnnyanmac","children":[{"author":"chaps","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-09T16:47:41.000Z","created_at_i":1704818861,"id":38928309,"options":[],"parent_id":38927748,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"Hmmm. Personally when the non-disambiguated wikipedia page of a specific word starts with, "$WORD is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labor." and includes a photo of a physically mutilated other person, then maybe there are reasons to be a bit more careful since it's very easy to pass the wrong message.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-09T16:11:37.000Z","created_at_i":1704816697,"id":38927748,"options":[],"parent_id":38927483,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":">No, it is actually completely correct.
fair enough, I thought that definition was unofficial or marked as slang.
>No such thing has happened, words can have both literal and figurative meaning.
yes, like "literally" having the definition of "figuratively". I would indeed call that a perversion:
>to divert to a wrong end or purpose
most of the time that is at best marked as slang (such as use of a double negative to mean a negative, and not a soft positive), but I guess that's not my call to make.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-09T15:52:37.000Z","created_at_i":1704815557,"id":38927483,"options":[],"parent_id":38926867,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":">>Devices can't literally own a person, so it's not the correct use.
No, it is actually completely correct. But for the sake of playing this fun game of being "Technically right" here's also a dictionary definition:
Slave noun:
"a person entirely under the domination of some influence or person:"
She was a slave to her own ambition.
>>and not accept colloquial usage has perverted the term
No such thing has happened, words can have both literal and figurative meaning.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-09T14:55:42.000Z","created_at_i":1704812142,"id":38926867,"options":[],"parent_id":38920252,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"Devices can't literally own a person, so it's not the correct use.
I don't like being nitpicky, but if we're going to argue about the "correct usage" and not accept colloquial usage has perverted the term, I may as well set the record straight:
>a person who is forced to work for and obey another and is considered to be their property; an enslaved person.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-08T23:52:03.000Z","created_at_i":1704757923,"id":38920252,"options":[],"parent_id":38920097,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"Being a slave to your phone or an app, or even a game or a book is perfectly correct use of the word.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-08T23:37:51.000Z","created_at_i":1704757071,"id":38920097,"options":[],"parent_id":38919983,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"Maybe don't casually call something slavery when it clearly isn't.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"pierat","children":[{"author":"wycy","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-09T00:43:12.000Z","created_at_i":1704760992,"id":38920701,"options":[],"parent_id":38920098,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"> And yet, refusal to do anything about it.
I mean, I literally said in the same post what I was going to do about it. I'm ending it on my own terms when I'm satisfied with my own progress.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-08T23:38:03.000Z","created_at_i":1704757083,"id":38920098,"options":[],"parent_id":38919983,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"One thing I've heard here in HN, is that people LOVE to complain and bemoan their situation, and willingly abrogate their power and choices to some inanimate policies and corporate choices.
The GP's comment was that they were effectively 'slave' to a skinner box, and even recognized it. And yet, refusal to do anything about it.
I see it again and again. The answers are there, and a bit harder, but yeah.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"skyyler","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-08T23:38:18.000Z","created_at_i":1704757098,"id":38920103,"options":[],"parent_id":38919983,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"We forge the chains we wear in life.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"colechristensen","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-08T23:50:27.000Z","created_at_i":1704757827,"id":38920236,"options":[],"parent_id":38919983,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"One of the things that enables civilization and not dying of disease living in your own filth is a certain vague appreciation for order that comes out in certain ways for different people\u2026 like the semiobsession with streaks which plenty of businesses take advantage of.
Lots of people harness this for their own good with streaks for things that are really actually valuable for them.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"csallen","children":[{"author":"lolive","children":[{"author":"cykros","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-09T11:22:14.000Z","created_at_i":1704799334,"id":38924839,"options":[],"parent_id":38922406,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"It never ceases to amaze me how much people discount the existence of things because they "only" exist in the minds of those who believe in them.
Nobody has yet shown me a flawless proof that they themselves exist, or anything else, and yet somehow, I manage to get through my days just fine based on the versions of things in my mind that correspond to the empirical phenomena that I experience. And occasionally those mental constructs change with new empirical data even.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-09T04:40:22.000Z","created_at_i":1704775222,"id":38922406,"options":[],"parent_id":38920269,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"Reminds me of this joke: \u201cGod exists for sure, at least in the mind of believers.\u201d
#downvoteInApproach :)","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-08T23:53:33.000Z","created_at_i":1704758013,"id":38920269,"options":[],"parent_id":38919983,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"Sure, the count is tracked by the company Duolingo, but that's irrelevant. The count is also tracked by the user, and that's what's important. Even more importantly, the commitment to keep to the count is made by the user. It's their commitment, not Duolingo's. Therefore, it's not relevant that Duolingo encouraged that commitment and benefits from it. The user is still going to be subject to the guilt and shame that comes when humans break our own commitments, and that's what makes quitting easier said than done.
It's kind of like telling a smoker to just quit because it's the smoking company who benefits. Yeah, sure, but the addiction is internal. They're not just selflessly smoking to help Philip Morris.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"wycy","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-09T00:18:19.000Z","created_at_i":1704759499,"id":38920539,"options":[],"parent_id":38919983,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"If I make it to a full year I'll at least feel like maintaining the streak as long as I did was in service of a specific milestone goal.
After a year the milestones become less meaningful (400 days? 500? 700? meh) yet harder and harder to break the longer you go. A friend recently hit 1000 days in Duolingo--really hard to give up once you've gone that far.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-08T23:27:55.000Z","created_at_i":1704756475,"id":38919983,"options":[],"parent_id":38919260,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"> I have a 297 day streak right now and I just feel like slave to the owl. I\u2019m going to get to 365 and then purposely break the streak to free myself.
Why do you even care? It's an artificial count by a for-profit company with an Owl logo that doesn't even know you exist outside of a few database rows.
You've just self-described it as slavery, why would you keep doing this to yourself?","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"Timothee","children":[{"author":"johnnyanmac","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-09T14:57:30.000Z","created_at_i":1704812250,"id":38926892,"options":[],"parent_id":38920292,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"Yeah, daily streaks make no sense for strenuous exercise. Everyone needs a rest day. Makes more sense for food, though. Since you usually never skip a day of consumption.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-08T23:55:10.000Z","created_at_i":1704758110,"id":38920292,"options":[],"parent_id":38919260,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"I've had the same issue with the Fitness app on my smart watch (and others like Readwise). I wanted to keep the streak alive for the sake of it, but I was starting to get hurt. For Readwise, it was just becoming mindless daily review.
Thankfully I got out of it and am much more consciously breaking streaks.
The downside is that I've clearly been exercising a lot less since I stopped focusing on the streak, so it works in some ways\u2026
We should have a way to adjust what we consider a streak: maybe a daily streak is important to you, but maybe 3 times a week is what matters to you. Having the option for each app would be great.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"cykros","children":[{"author":"wycy","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-10T15:56:48.000Z","created_at_i":1704902208,"id":38939961,"options":[],"parent_id":38924817,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"I'm not entirely sure if I feel that I have to since the streak doesn't really correspond to a calendar year so much as it's "a year", but I think I will indeed go to 366 anyway just for good measure, unless Duolingo specifically recognizes 365 as a milestone.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-09T11:19:25.000Z","created_at_i":1704799165,"id":38924817,"options":[],"parent_id":38919260,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"It's a leap year mate; you've gotta get to 366.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-08T22:33:03.000Z","created_at_i":1704753183,"id":38919260,"options":[],"parent_id":38919053,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"> Then after 200 days, I lost my streak and... breathed a sigh of relief.
I have a 297 day streak right now and I just feel like slave to the owl. I\u2019m going to get to 365 and then purposely break the streak to free myself.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"mc32","children":[{"author":"NikolaNovak","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-08T23:48:17.000Z","created_at_i":1704757697,"id":38920208,"options":[],"parent_id":38919319,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"Sure, I can see that; doesn't bother me personally in the least though as I just said "No" when it offered reminders/widgets/notifications/whatevers, so I don't think I ever heard of it as said or missing me or anything when I broke my streak. My wife even finds it cute, so it's an eye of the beholder thing :)","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-08T22:37:27.000Z","created_at_i":1704753447,"id":38919319,"options":[],"parent_id":38919053,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"The irritating thing about them is they personify the owl. It doesn\u2019t even have a normal name, and instead is issued the brand name.
Anyhow, when it tells me it\u2019s sad, or it misses me, it makes me actually avoid the app. It\u2019s so stupid and annoying as all hell.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"borroka","children":[{"author":"refulgentis","children":[{"author":"borroka","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-09T18:46:33.000Z","created_at_i":1704825993,"id":38930148,"options":[],"parent_id":38921674,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"That's not how effect sizes, in statistics, are estimated.
But, yes, I used a hyperbole, it is a classic tool of rhetoric. I could have said that they just learn how to ask for a coffee, or the directions for the Eiffel Tower. The meaning is the same.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-09T02:53:47.000Z","created_at_i":1704768827,"id":38921674,"options":[],"parent_id":38920355,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"I don't use this app and I get the general sentiment but I can tell you one thing about effect size: the effect size of a comment that says you only learn "hello" after 100s of hours is 0!","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"NikolaNovak","children":[{"author":"borroka","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-09T18:43:54.000Z","created_at_i":1704825834,"id":38930121,"options":[],"parent_id":38922172,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"It was a hyperbole.
But among the people (about 20) who have told me they have used Duolingo to (try to) learn my native language, I have yet to find one who can say more than a few disconnected words. And among the people I have seen who are fluent in my native language or the other languages I speak, I have yet to find anyone who said they used Duolingo to learn that language. Am I extrapolating too much? I think the sample size was pretty good.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-09T04:06:20.000Z","created_at_i":1704773180,"id":38922172,"options":[],"parent_id":38920355,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"But at that point a person has to take some responsibility. I don't think one can spend a hundred hours learning on Duolingo and not get beyond Hola.
Can a person find a way to waste hundred hours on Duolingo? Sure. I got perilously close :). But after a tenth of that I could generate sentences for friendly emails and at beginning meetings etc when I actually tried to learn.
Has the "100 hrs and not gotten beyond hola" been your personal experience or somebody you know? Trying to understand if I'm arguing with a strawman / straw scenario, or actual occurrence. If latter I'd be genuinely extremely curious to hear a lot more! What were the 100hrs spent on?","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"tadbit","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-09T14:14:37.000Z","created_at_i":1704809677,"id":38926401,"options":[],"parent_id":38920355,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"> after spending hundreds of hours using Duolingo and being able to simply say "Hola" in Spanish
Based on this statement it seems like you've never used Duolingo.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-09T00:01:36.000Z","created_at_i":1704758496,"id":38920355,"options":[],"parent_id":38919053,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"> If the claim is "30min of structured learning with duolingo will get you no closer to learning a language than 30 min of mindlessly scrolling facebook cat videos", I don't believe that's true. And THAT is the correct comparison :)
The correct comparison would include the effect size on language learning of using Duolingo instead of scrolling through cat videos. The effect size appears to be close to zero. And without considering in the analysis the long-term negative effects on the self-perceived ability to learn a language after spending hundreds of hours using Duolingo and being able to simply say "Hola" in Spanish, which may make the use of Duolingo a net negative on lifetime language learning.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null},{"author":"4death4","children":[{"author":"johnnyanmac","children":[],"created_at":"2024-01-09T15:01:21.000Z","created_at_i":1704812481,"id":38926935,"options":[],"parent_id":38921215,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"I mean, lead a horse to water. I had 3 years of enforced language learning in high school. I barely learned any conversational Spanish. These sorts of apps are supplemental, otherwise paying some $10 subscription to learn a new language would be a steal.
It's best treated as reading some motivational quote in the morning. Gets you out of bed and into the mood but it won't carry you through life alone. Is that worth $10/month? Depends on the person, but it would be for me if I was being serious.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-09T01:53:12.000Z","created_at_i":1704765192,"id":38921215,"options":[],"parent_id":38919053,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"If that\u2019s how you want to spend your time, then that\u2019s fine. But, it\u2019s kind of delusional to think you\u2019ve been learning to speak another language. At best you\u2019ve been playing a language-learning inspired game.
I know people who have done Duo Lingo for years. I was shocked when I saw how bad their language skills were.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}],"created_at":"2024-01-08T22:18:28.000Z","created_at_i":1704752308,"id":38919053,"options":[],"parent_id":38918894,"points":null,"story_id":38918279,"text":"Like many things, circumstances will differ.
One thing that I deem a falacy though, is comparing it with e.g. an expensive paid for classroom or personal lessons. It may well fail in such direct comparison, and no surprise!
People then use that comparison to claim "it's worthless", and I disagree with that.
If the claim is "30min of structured learning with duolingo will get you no closer to learning a language than 30 min of mindlessly scrolling facebook cat videos", I don't believe that's true. And THAT is the correct comparison :)
One thing to note though, is how you use it - note I used the term "structured learning" in previous sentence, not "doing match madness for points" :)
Personally, I spent first few months learning on duolingo, and it was wonderful; had some small chats with people who speak that language at work, occasionally wrote a sentence or two in that language in emails, etc. Then I spent next few months preserving the streak. I did the challenges and matches and got thousands of points and first places... but learned nothing. In fact, my knowledge deteriorated.
Then after 200 days, I lost my streak and... breathed a sigh of relief. I am now making sure I do the lessons and practice and learn, and purposely avoid the competition part of it or activities which give many repetitive points but don't increase my knowledge. My familiarity with language is increasing again and I can make more and more sentences on my own.","title":null,"type":"comment","url":null}