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    Duolingo

Duolingo

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Overview

Duolingo has a rating of 2.5 stars from 81 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Duolingo ranks 199th among Language Learning sites.

  • Service
    28
  • Value
    31
  • Returns
    9
  • Quality
    32
Positive reviews (last 12 months): 11.1%
Positive
2
Neutral
3
Negative
13
View ratings trends
4
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How would you rate Duolingo?
Top Positive Review

“Fun and Effective Language Learning”

Rekhmir S.
4/2/24

Duolingo offers fun and effective language learning through its interactive platform and gamified lessons. Whether I'm learning a new language for travel, work, or personal enrichment, Duolingo makes it engaging and accessible. I appreciate the variety of languages available and the adaptive learning algorithms that personalize the experience based on my progress. Duolingo's bite-sized lessons fit easily into my daily routine, making language learning a pleasure.

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Top Critical Review

“Waiting forever for emails!”

Phoenix S.
10/6/24

I wait since couple month for the email with my test results! I wrote couple emails already but since today, I still do not have my test results! Without these test results I cannot start with my classes! I am already late for the fall semester! It's a shame that you have to pay before you start with the test otherwise, I would still have my money and could do it with someone else. They should shame about themself to rip of students! Never again!

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Reviews (81)

Rating

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Thumbnail of user phoenixs37
Arizona
1 review
1 helpful vote
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October 6th, 2024

I wait since couple month for the email with my test results! I wrote couple emails already but since today, I still do not have my test results!
Without these test results I cannot start with my classes! I am already late for the fall semester!
It's a shame that you have to pay before you start with the test otherwise, I would still have my money and could do it with someone else.
They should shame about themself to rip of students!
Never again!

Tip for consumers:
Not answering my emails at all now I understand why you have to pay before you make the test!
What a waste of my lifetime!

Products used:
I still wait for my test results! Made my test in August and really do need it!

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Thumbnail of user cooolblue12
New York
2 reviews
3 helpful votes
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September 6th, 2024

The duo has been sending me weird emails. Feels like Duo is going to take my soul away and knock on my door at midnight if I don't practice spanish.Happy because I can speak some Spanish :)

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Thumbnail of user wilsong121
Canada
0 reviews
0 helpful votes
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October 15th, 2024

I took the Duo-lingo English assessment, and it was a terrible experience. I took the exam TWICE and when I asked them for an explanation of why they did not validate me, they responded unconsciously and ambiguously; and then they constantly changed their arguments; First, was that my glasses were shining, and when they were overwhelmed by my arguments, they came up with a new ploy that I was looking the other way; weak and stupids reasons, I argued to them that I could not control the brightness of the materials and that the movements of the gaze in intellectual processes in the case of an exam are involuntary. They do not accept that their system is deficient

Finally, after 16 email exchanges, they told me that they would give me one more try and the result was the same, they said that I looked the other way, so I asked them to send me the videos and evidence and they did not respond, the just clean his hands, so in total, I spent 120 dollars in the trash with this unscrupulous company

Conclusion: stay away from this unscrupulous thieving company that also does not accept that its system has serious defects and prefers to blame the user

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Thumbnail of user karend2978
Canada
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 22nd, 2024

Early on in lesson they have a story that you follow about a girl going on her honeymoon not with her husband but her wife. My young granddaughter read it and said "that doesn't sound right". I've tried to get a response from company but no answer. Still waiting. I've sent 3 emails to them.

Service
Thumbnail of user rekhmirsorgaardketn
Armenia
15 reviews
1 helpful vote
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April 2nd, 2024

Duolingo offers fun and effective language learning through its interactive platform and gamified lessons. Whether I'm learning a new language for travel, work, or personal enrichment, Duolingo makes it engaging and accessible. I appreciate the variety of languages available and the adaptive learning algorithms that personalize the experience based on my progress. Duolingo's bite-sized lessons fit easily into my daily routine, making language learning a pleasure.

Thumbnail of user c.g.wallen
Sweden
1 review
0 helpful votes
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February 17th, 2024

Duolingo is a blast as you work your way past he Diamond League - winning 1st place. Now I don't have the paid version anymore. So Duo stopped teaching and left me hanging with the same 5 words like a broken record. No real grammar but enough vocabulary for transitioning to another learning platform. So yes, the paid version is fun and effective up to 2000 words. That is why I recommend Duo and his friends.

Tip for consumers:
To concentrate on the pronounciation and alphabet.

Products used:
It is an online language learning course

Value
Quality
Thumbnail of user jm1778
Australia
1 review
2 helpful votes
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February 15th, 2024

I stopped practicing Duolingo for a few days and received ridiculously critical emails? Is this way of motivating people to participate? I found it aggressive and rude. The last message was 'how do you say quitter in Italian?'
That's downright bullying.

Do better … a lot better Duo Lingo because like others affected by this experience, you've lost me as a participant and I will not recommend as an effective language learning app.

Quality
Thumbnail of user patriciat1469
New Jersey
1 review
1 helpful vote
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February 17th, 2024
• Updated review

1. I am already using it for a year. Before the year they did not allowed me to get into my setting therefore they debuted another year from my Credit card. Second. Terrible when you get into more advanced Spanish.

Tip for consumers:
Duolingo does not allow me to touch my settings. And is taking money from my account monthly.they are not good either in intermedia languages..

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Not allowing me to use settings
September 18th, 2023
• Previous review

It's sad that Duolingo knowing that I am soon to be using it for one year has blocked me from using my settings. Maybe so that I won't be able to cancel the subscription? I've been writing to them many *******@Duolingo support and There is no reply. Their customer services is zero! Their Spanish teachers are not very good either. Many mistakes….

Service
Value
Thumbnail of user sherylc345
Washington
1 review
4 helpful votes
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February 9th, 2024

For 38 days I have been participating in Spanish lessons through Duolingo.

Here and there it seemed like same-sex relationships were a part of the lessons.
I just had an "in your face!" experience.

Translate:
"this man and his husband has five children"
😩😫😒
Gotta find another means of learning...

Thumbnail of user laxmilinda
Singapore
1 review
0 helpful votes
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February 9th, 2024

I find Duolingo to be frustrating much of the time. I don't care about the games, I am looking to learn a language. Hindi, to be specific. I find it very repetitious, with no explanation of why or which rules apply, and the sentences are often ridiculous and have no practical value. My main frustration, however, is that the English translations are often wrong or they will mark you wrong when you translate a sentence into perfectly good English but their translation is not very good English. The program marks you wrong for translating something into proper English...without getting it "right" however you can't move on so you have to become accustomed to responding with incorrect English!

Thumbnail of user Mason.Edwards
Washington
1 review
2 helpful votes
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February 12th, 2024

Whenever you do some lessons and stop, they give you hate messages. They are unreliable and overall just suck. They get angry whenever I stop doing lessons so I'm probably going to have to leave America.

Tip for consumers:
duolingo is terrible and inappropriate for children.

Products used:
none cause they suck

Thumbnail of user lagypsytarot
Texas
1 review
3 helpful votes
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December 28th, 2023

Anytime you don't use Duolingo, they send you notification emails. This last one I got sounded threatening. Using phrases like " I'm going to make you do your lessons" and " no one wants to see Duolingo upset" Lastly." a happy duo, means a safe and happy you." That sounds psycho to me. I also checked the details of the sender and it was sent to another email besides mine. I'm assuming another parent. Which is not right due to privacy reasons. Now I'm sure that parent can see my email as well.

Thumbnail of user melanier230
Maryland
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
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March 24th, 2024

I liked Duolingo at first but the further I go in my lessons the more useless phrases I learn. I've been learning Swedish for an upcoming trip to Sweden and what I'm learning on Duolingo is totally useless! I just learned "Hon lyssnar på musik medan hon duschar" Swedish translation "She listens to music while she showers" and "flodhästen ar skrammande" translation "the hippo is scary" and "pingvinen behöver vatten" translation "The penguin needs water" Duolingo? Tell me when I'm ever going to need to say these things? I seriously doubt that there are penguins and hippos running around the streets of Stockholm! I'll admit I did learn some basic conversational skills but I need to learn more and Duolingo isn't working. I'll be canceling my subscription and find a better app to learn Swedish.

Value
Quality
Thumbnail of user sandness.karen
Colorado
1 review
0 helpful votes
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December 26th, 2023

Just for fun, I decided to take the Hawaiian course, and the selection of material is strange. There's a heavy emphasis on sports and exercise terminology as well as dated material about pandemic health precautions, but very little about Hawaiian culture or nature. No systematic work on the number system. On the other hand, the Chinese course is a good review for me, since I last took Chinese 30 years ago and am learning vocabulary that has changed since then.

Products used:
Hawaiian and Chinese course

Value
Quality
Thumbnail of user aydinn
Ohio
1 review
0 helpful votes
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January 13th, 2024

After reaching a certain level, you keep doing the same set of exercises over and over and over … again. At least this is the case for Arabic. I do not know if it is different in other languages. It is good to reach a certain middle level but after that you are not learning anything new. They should diversify the should the exercise pool. It is quite limited, not good enough for many purposes to learn a language. Also, though it is free, they make it annoying to remain on free version.

Thumbnail of user hilleiryb
Nebraska
2 reviews
3 helpful votes
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October 5th, 2022
Verified purchase

Purchased Duolingo for our business. Spent thousands and thousand of dollars for the subscriptions. Wanted to inquire about features that are listed on the website for subscribers but have had no luck getting in contact with anyone. I have been trying for 2 months. Sent tons of emails and when I call the help number it gives the same email that I have been emailing this entire time that I have heard nothing back from. Very frustrating that they can't even help their own customers out when they have spent a lot of money on their product. We have plants all over the US and we were going to recommend it to them but after these issues I have changed my mind.

Products used:
language app

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Thumbnail of user richardc4718
Canada
1 review
5 helpful votes
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December 18th, 2023

I have over 2 years done in Spanish with duolingo. Since the company sold shares on the market the emphasis is to make money and it was very easy to see how they are going about it. They started to include more and more vague questions and poorly worded ones to increase the users mistakes and force them to pay. If you want to pay go for it if not there are ways to learn better than duolingo

Thumbnail of user cc937
New York
1 review
0 helpful votes
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November 5th, 2023

Duolingo can be free but you will have tons of adds that interrupt. It is designed to be a highly competive app in which you progress to different levels while competing with others. People can pay to assist with accumulating mega points. You unfortunately cannot choose to forego being dragged in to the levels. It teaches you to read the language but not really to be fluent. They dont adequately explain grammar rules, and you cannot hit a back button to review your previous screens while going through lessons.at least Ive never been able to do so. It does teach vocabulary in the language you choose. They also have many different languages to choose from. You can pay a small monthly fee to eliminate the adds, which is worth it and means the overall cost is reasonable.

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Service

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Thumbnail of user susanb136
Texas
28 reviews
63 helpful votes
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March 8th, 2020

Great introduction to a large variety of languages, fun and easy to use. The service is constantly being improved. One slight drawback is that their scoring system, if you care about this, has become extremely muddled through constant tinkering. It's not a big deal, it doesn't affect the learning content, which is outstanding; but presumably Duolingo thinks it serves a motivational purpose since they offer it. It is therefore somewhat frustrating to be scored separately on different devices, and penalized hundreds of points if you use the wrong device on a particular day. I asked them about this once, and (unusually for Duolingo) got a reply: "We decided to do it like that." OK then. I still recommend it, it's my favorite app.

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Thumbnail of user johnb353
Illinois
5 reviews
3 helpful votes
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February 18th, 2015

I noticed not long ago that i cared more about some of the characters in my game and their visually tracked progress mostly in part of a formulated concept that makes me invested in these characters. I broke my gaming habit to develop better habits like reading and designing and general learning. I heard duolingo mention in a speech by bill gates and thought, if its gotten that much buzz it was probably something to at least check out. So its free and uses the game layout to make myself interested in my own skills and development/progress, a much worthier cause and better use of these manipulation systems. I hope to see this site develop further and possibly get involved with the community and want more company's like this helping people develop skills.

Thumbnail of user lisas5420
Pennsylvania
1 review
4 helpful votes
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August 5th, 2023

I would never pay after using the free for a period of time. It failed to bring me up to speed and I'm now having more success with another free site. I also really hated how they penalize you for making a mistake. I find that I learn best from my mistakes, if I'm discouraged from making them I'll never learn. After completing 20 lessons I had to stop because I continued to test at a beginner level. I am making progress with two other sites.

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Thumbnail of user giovannaa10
New York
8 reviews
15 helpful votes
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January 19th, 2021

One of the best language learning apps is free. Amazing. It teaches you by having you answering questions and inferring the content. Quite brilliant. I try and do a lesson nightly before bed when I can. One minor complain though: I think having fictional languages like Klingon is fun but there's so many other real languages you don't have. Why not Georgian for example, one of the worlds first writing systems. Or many other languages.

Thumbnail of user sumeyah
GB
7 reviews
15 helpful votes
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July 18th, 2023

Un-necessary animals, frequent notifications and the obvious spying are just some of the reasons for deleting duolingo.

I highly recommend you to turn away from duolingo and select other language apps

Value
Thumbnail of user gracehetfieldschoolwork
California
1 review
5 helpful votes
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May 24th, 2023

I have used this app since 2019 and it used to be a great app for neurodivergent learners but they completely changed it so you can no longer personalize your learning experience and learn at your own pace. Every recent design choice seems like an FU to neurodivergent people. The new layout is visually overwhelming. Nothing is clearly labeled or distinct and it's very difficult to see how far along you are in your course or go back a review a lesson without scrolling for an hour and simply getting lost. Good luck trying to remember which unit including the color names in because it's nearly impossible to figure out, Opening this app depresses me.

Tip for consumers:
They do not care about the customer whatsoever

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Value
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Thumbnail of user colleeno117
Florida
1 review
7 helpful votes
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July 22nd, 2022
Verified purchase

My family and I have enjoyed using Duolingo. However recently it has gone downhill very fast. Top issues are:
There is absolutely no way to get a hold of anybody at Duolingo. I tried providing feedback and emailing, and received an email that I will not get a personal response. Wait what?!?!
The application itself is misfunctioning on a daily basis now. And because you can't reach anybody, there's nothing getting fixed.
I purchased the plan for a year, and I will be switching to Babel when my subscription ends. Mainly because every business, including Duolingo, needs to have some sort of customer service.

Tip for consumers:
There is absolutely no customer service available. Emails and sending notes through the app, result in no follow up, except an email to let you know you will not be receiving any personal follow up. So whenever you have any type of glitch, there’s no one to turn to, nowhere to go.

Products used:
Used the Duolingo app, and I still am, until my subscription ends.

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Quality

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