[2023-01-12] 150 days of learning

Today, I reached day 150 of my streak of using Duolingo to learn Brazilian Portuguese. Since my last update (100 days of learning), I've gone from Unit 24 to Unit 45, from 750 words learned to 1,700 words learned, and from 1 week in the Diamond League (the top league in the app) to 8 weeks.

I will concede that this would not have been possible if I were still working full time. Retirement gives me the time to learn. But retired or not, learning a language takes motivation. My motivation comes from multiple sources:
  • Learning a language is both interesting and ego boosting. It's very satisfying to learn a brand new language in my 50s—something I never thought possible. I recently played a word matching game on Duolingo where I was required to find as many Portuguese-English pairs in a set time frame. I was amazed at how much I had learned and how quickly I could recall the vocabulary.
  • As I explained in my previous post, Duolingo includes many game-like features that celebrate small and big achievements: finish a lesson, finalize a unit, maintain a streak, earn points and gems, climb the leaderboard, stay within the promotion zone to advance to a higher league, compete against or collaborate with friends, fulfill daily quests, acquire badges, complete challenges, take advantage of double-point periods. All these features appeal to the competitive side of me.
  • Within Duolingo, I can see my friends' achievements, and they can see mine. We can celebrate each other's successes and work together to complete weekly Friend Quests.
  • I especially enjoy sharing my progress with my son. Shane is using Duolingo to improve his French, and we're both dabbling in other languages. This week, we decided to upgrade to Super Duolingo, which removes ads and maximizes the time we can spend learning our chosen languages. We love comparing notes about the app, what we're learning, and how we're progressing. Today, for example, I shared with Shane that I was asked to translate this sentence from Portuguese to English: "Venha para o lado negro." I translated each word in my head, then said to myself: "Come to the dark side"? Sure enough. That's what it meant. Duolingo's content creators must like Star Wars.
  • I can communicate in my third language when I meet my Portuguese-speaking neighbours on the street or when I go to a Portuguese bakery. I may remember only a few words, but every attempt at using what I've learned is good practice.
Duolingo recently published a blog post on How to keep yourself motivated all year long. One of three tips is to find a language learning buddy.

Finding a buddy who has the same language learning resolution can really help keep motivation alive throughout the year. Even better, if you find a partner that wants to learn the same language, you’ll have someone to practice with!

The blog post suggests checking in regularly with your learning buddy, perhaps sending a favourite word or phrase you learned in the previous week. It also recommends immersing yourself in the culture and setting fun goals.
  • Start by choosing a country that uses the language you're learning, then explore its culture. Visit a restaurant or shop that specializes in the country's cuisine. Listen to its music. Cook its recipes.
  • Read articles or books in your target language. I recently found an e-book at one of the libraries affiliated with the Ottawa Public Library that uses a standardized phonetic system to show readers how to pronounce words and phrases in Brazilian Portuguese. Say It Right in Brazilian Portuguese will help me learn to say words the way they are spoken by native speakers.
  • Watch a movie, with or without subtitles. I would add: listen to podcasts. In writing this post, I discovered the Duolingo French Podcast, which promises: "Deepen your language skills and knowledge of the French-speaking world through fascinating true stories in easy-to-follow French, with added English for context."
  • Travel to the country.
While I don't plan to travel to Brazil, I do enjoy the process of learning a language and seeing similarities between words in different languages.

Another Duolingo blog post that recently showed up in my feed was this one: 10 Duos share their funniest language mistake. As the post points out, even people who work at Duolingo get a little mixed up from time to time. My favourite story from the piece was by Lisa, who wrote:

When I was an exchange student in Belgium, I was telling a friend about the wide use of preservatives in food manufacturing in the U.S. I used the word préservatif in French to talk about this. Unfortunately, préservatif means "condom" in French! My friend couldn't stop laughing at my mistake! Needless to say, I've never made that error since!

If you're active on Duolingo, feel free to connect with me on the app. Whatever you're learning, may you find joy in it.