[2023-03-28] Duolingo level 75
Last night, on Day 224 of using Duolingo, I reached the end of the Brazilian Portuguese course—all 75 levels. The only task that remains within the app is to acquire the Legendary Trophy for each unit. I've completed 10 of the legendary levels so far.
To earn a Legendary Trophy, I have to answer 20 questions in each of 8 challenges—without hints and while making a maximum of 2 errors. If I make 3 errors in a given challenge, I need to start that challenge again.
Completing the Legendary Levels is an excellent reminder of what I've learned and a solid indicator of how much I've retained. I find these tests both exhilarating and nerve-wracking. It's satisfying to see how much I can recall from lessons I completed six or seven months ago. It's intimidating to have no hints and to know that any error, even just a slip of the finger, could send me back to the beginning of a challenge. Nevertheless, it's useful to review material that was introduced early in the program and rewarding to know that I've internalized more than I realized.
One of the questions that people often pose about Duolingo is whether you can become fluent through the app alone. (Duolingo itself says its courses are designed to get you to a level B2.) For my part, I never expected to achieve fluency through the app alone. As I've written before, I have supplemented my Duolingo practice with various tools:
- audiobooks, particularly VocabuLearn Portuguese-Inglês Level 1 and VocabuLearn Portuguese-Inglês Level 2, which I listen to while housecleaning and when falling asleep
- ebooks, notably Say It Right in Brazilian Portuguese, which uses a standard phonetic system to show how to pronounce words like a native speaker, and Portuguese for Dummies
- books, such as 501 Portuguese Verbs and an old-fashioned English-Portuguese dictionary
- online resources, including DeepL translator and the Collins Portuguese-to-English and English-to-Portuguese online dictionary
- podcasts, such as Fernando Nonohay's Read Books in Brazilian Portuguese with Me
- videos, which I can watch with English subtitles and at a slower speed (ask me which title I selected from Duolingo's How to use movies and TV to practice your language)
- language lessons, with my fabulous Portuguese neighbour
I also frequently google anything that isn't clear in Duolingo or that's particularly complex (such as how to use the subjunctive).
In a recent email, Fernando Nonohay (of the podcast Read Books in Brazilian Portuguese with Me) said that listening to Portuguese even if you don't understand it is still worthwhile "because just by being exposed to the language you are becoming familiarised with the sounds and rhythms of Brazilian Portuguese." This has been my experience with VocabuLearn. When I started listening to that audiobook, I understood very little (mostly words that were the same in English or similar to French). Now, seven months later, I can understand the vast majority of both audiobooks (level 1 and level 2).
I expect it to take me another month to earn all 75 Legendary Trophies. After that, I will continue to use Duolingo, both to brush up on my French and to continue practising my Portuguese. And I will keep looking for other tools to help me improve my ability to read, write, listen to, and speak this beautiful language.
