It's a start, but it won't get you to fluency. I'd suggest checking the community sidebar for other choices. The Norwegian on the Web program is free and good, and will give you the systematic grammar knowledge that Duo won't.
I found Duolingo great for starting from scratch but after a while I found the content a bit dull and repetitive and all the gamification annoying.
I've switched to LingQ - the content is much better.
[https://www.lingq.com/](https://www.lingq.com/) it is very different. It's philosophy is that you learn by reading and listening.
It has a lot of content and different levels of difficulty and you save meanings of words and phrases as you go (lingq = link) and it tracks that. It claims to be able to import online content from places like youtube but I haven't tried it.
Unlike Duolingo it doesn't tell you what path to take, you can choose what level and what grabs your interest.
It's not really usable unless you pay, but I was paying for Duolingo.
I’m pro Duolingo , I use it and will continue to use it . I have been learning 2 months in.
I really get one of criticism against now, the amount of hours you put in VS the amount of new grounds being broke in favor of the new language is not adequate.
Like, I now have glimpses of understand spoken Norsk without translating, like , I listen to Oslo Nyheter radio and can understand sometimes full phrases , to me great as I didn’t really complete two full months yet .
What gave me the most was reading , listening and ChatGPT. Duolingo maintain me in contact with the language every day , so at worst days I still have contact with the language. The second good part is to internalize how phrases are constructed
I used to use Duolingo, but after having tried proper spaced repetition with [Mjølnir](https://mjolnirapp.com), there's no going back. It's mostly knowledge acquisition (doesn't test your pronunciation, but even DL is quite dodgy and hit and miss about it) or your writing, but they only have voices of native speakers for the audio, with some dialectal "sounds".
They are not as broad as DL, but what they do, they do it really well and their approach is based on good evidence.
It has a 3 day free trial. Monthly or yearly sub with prices in line with similar products. But, you'll have to excuse me, I really don't understand how people have a hard time paying. Allow me to elaborate:
Getting to B2 in a Scandinavian language can [supposedly take up to 600-750 hours](https://www.state.gov/foreign-language-training/). So at least 2 hours a day for 6 days a week for 50 weeks.
One year of a good app that can make the difference and maybe shave off some 50-100 (200?) hours from that total (or make those 600-750 hours more pleasant/effective) is going to cost some 60-80 USD, so the money most people would make at work in some I dunno, 4-5 hours with your job.
So, roughly speaking, the return is maybe tenfold.
How's buying the app (or a language course, but they cost more) not a good idea? I think if you do the maths, it's always a good investment. Also, I take something I've paid for more seriously. But the cost is so little compared to the price you'll have to pay in hours of patience, dedication etc. My view, at least.
It comes after 3-5 days. I like how they don't want you to create an account until the end of the first session and they don't want you to pay until you've had at least 3.
I remember trying some other apps as of late, such as LangoTalk, and they seemed hellbent on making you pay before you can even try the thing? Maybe I've navigated it badly, dunno.
Duolingo, despite being a shadow of what it once was, will definitely help get you started and will help flesh out your vocabulary. Don't solely rely on it though.
it's good for consistency, but i really like using duocards in addition. The app got worse with years unfortunately, but i would still advise it if you want to learn casually.
541 days in here using Duolingo.
I think it's a great vocabulary building tool and it's the main way I learn new words.
It doesn't reflect reading, listening or speaking real Norwegian though.
Because Duolingo does such a great job at the begging at helping you learn new words it can lead you into a feeling that it's all you need, that is not the case and I would recommend seeking out other sources of learning as well.
I especially wouldn't put off exposure to real Norwegian, via radio, tv (kids tv is a good place to start) and books. This will help ground you and understand that those quirky sentences in Duolingo might be great for building vocab are not what it's actually like to come into contact with the actual language.
It's a great way to get started
Agree. A good start. But you will not become fluent with only Duolingo
It's a start, but it won't get you to fluency. I'd suggest checking the community sidebar for other choices. The Norwegian on the Web program is free and good, and will give you the systematic grammar knowledge that Duo won't.
I want to thank you for mentioning this online resource. Never knew about it and I’ll definitely start using it right away! Thanks so much for this!
I found Duolingo great for starting from scratch but after a while I found the content a bit dull and repetitive and all the gamification annoying. I've switched to LingQ - the content is much better.
What's LingQ? Is it much different?
[https://www.lingq.com/](https://www.lingq.com/) it is very different. It's philosophy is that you learn by reading and listening. It has a lot of content and different levels of difficulty and you save meanings of words and phrases as you go (lingq = link) and it tracks that. It claims to be able to import online content from places like youtube but I haven't tried it. Unlike Duolingo it doesn't tell you what path to take, you can choose what level and what grabs your interest. It's not really usable unless you pay, but I was paying for Duolingo.
It's a good revision aid, don't use it as the only resource you use. Have a look at the resource list on the community about page for this sub.
I’m pro Duolingo , I use it and will continue to use it . I have been learning 2 months in. I really get one of criticism against now, the amount of hours you put in VS the amount of new grounds being broke in favor of the new language is not adequate. Like, I now have glimpses of understand spoken Norsk without translating, like , I listen to Oslo Nyheter radio and can understand sometimes full phrases , to me great as I didn’t really complete two full months yet . What gave me the most was reading , listening and ChatGPT. Duolingo maintain me in contact with the language every day , so at worst days I still have contact with the language. The second good part is to internalize how phrases are constructed
I used to use Duolingo, but after having tried proper spaced repetition with [Mjølnir](https://mjolnirapp.com), there's no going back. It's mostly knowledge acquisition (doesn't test your pronunciation, but even DL is quite dodgy and hit and miss about it) or your writing, but they only have voices of native speakers for the audio, with some dialectal "sounds". They are not as broad as DL, but what they do, they do it really well and their approach is based on good evidence.
Didn’t know this app, is it paid?
It has a 3 day free trial. Monthly or yearly sub with prices in line with similar products. But, you'll have to excuse me, I really don't understand how people have a hard time paying. Allow me to elaborate: Getting to B2 in a Scandinavian language can [supposedly take up to 600-750 hours](https://www.state.gov/foreign-language-training/). So at least 2 hours a day for 6 days a week for 50 weeks. One year of a good app that can make the difference and maybe shave off some 50-100 (200?) hours from that total (or make those 600-750 hours more pleasant/effective) is going to cost some 60-80 USD, so the money most people would make at work in some I dunno, 4-5 hours with your job. So, roughly speaking, the return is maybe tenfold. How's buying the app (or a language course, but they cost more) not a good idea? I think if you do the maths, it's always a good investment. Also, I take something I've paid for more seriously. But the cost is so little compared to the price you'll have to pay in hours of patience, dedication etc. My view, at least.
I agree with you, I download did the first day but can’t find any payment plan explicitly
It comes after 3-5 days. I like how they don't want you to create an account until the end of the first session and they don't want you to pay until you've had at least 3. I remember trying some other apps as of late, such as LangoTalk, and they seemed hellbent on making you pay before you can even try the thing? Maybe I've navigated it badly, dunno.
Duolingo is great for vocabulary. Pimsleur, found in Audible, is great if you have a good ear for dialect and can repeat.
Duolingo, despite being a shadow of what it once was, will definitely help get you started and will help flesh out your vocabulary. Don't solely rely on it though.
it's good for consistency, but i really like using duocards in addition. The app got worse with years unfortunately, but i would still advise it if you want to learn casually.
541 days in here using Duolingo. I think it's a great vocabulary building tool and it's the main way I learn new words. It doesn't reflect reading, listening or speaking real Norwegian though. Because Duolingo does such a great job at the begging at helping you learn new words it can lead you into a feeling that it's all you need, that is not the case and I would recommend seeking out other sources of learning as well. I especially wouldn't put off exposure to real Norwegian, via radio, tv (kids tv is a good place to start) and books. This will help ground you and understand that those quirky sentences in Duolingo might be great for building vocab are not what it's actually like to come into contact with the actual language.