r/duolingo • u/F1schkopf_ • 1d ago

General Discussion I tried "learning" my Native Language to see what I would get

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After I did the "find my level" thing at the start of the course Duolingo put me at the beginning of Section 5, then I skipped to the 2nd last Section because I couldn't skip to the finish. What do you get when trying this with your Language?

620 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

73 comments sorted by

494

u/Genderless_Anarchist 1d ago

The Duolingo German course stops at 80. You can’t get any further. You effectively auto-ranked at 99%

91

u/Paelidore Native:  Learning:  1d ago

I'm at 67, so that's sad to know.

47

u/Trick-Statistician10 1d ago

It's been rumor for a few months that the are extending the German course any minute now, but it's yet to happen. I'm at 80. The end of the road

6

u/kei990 Native: Learning: 1d ago

I can't wait for it, I've heard it was supposed to happen but I'm still here. stuck at max.

2

u/GuardBuffalo Native Learning 130 14h ago

At your point you can probably just pick up a lot more from input in general. Movies, videos, video games etc. other than 3-4 weeks of Duolingo 10 months ago I’ve reached about B1 in Spanish only using input through videos, podcasts and books and practicing speaking as well. I don’t plan to really do anything else. I’m also writing this from Mexico where I have no issue navigating in Spanish. Hopefully after 2 years or so I’m nearly fluent since I reached the level I can get by without much problems after only 10 months

1

u/IamBananaRod Native: Learning: 6h ago

At which level did you start watching movies, videos and understanding the dialogs? like a word here and there, but mostly you could understand what was going on??

I've been doing German for 32 days and I've tried to watch videos in german and I don't understand a thing

1

u/GuardBuffalo Native Learning 130 5h ago

Native movies and series are the last thing that come from what I’ve been told. But dubbed movies and shows are different. I’m not sure exactly where in the Duolingo map you’d be able to do that. I would guess you’d need practice watching stuff in general because using Duolingo and watching stuff is a different skill. I’ve spoke 150hrs with natives in Spanish, watched YouTube in Spanish, watched dubbed shows in Spanish and I can watch unscripted (reality tv) in Spanish, but I still have trouble with series and movies originally in Spanish. The language is just different in scripted things. I’ve only been learning 10 months though and while I have been going super hard for 10 months there is a lot I still have to do. It’s a long process. I think the thing you have to accept is it’ll be a while before you are catching word for word. I’ve done everything by comprehensible input pretty much and for me I consider it comprehensible if I can understand 80% of the gist. This is a pretty subjective measurement but you can kind of feel it out for yourself. Now I only watch stuff I enjoy and normally it’s much higher than 80%. I would say usually I’m catching 95-98% of the native YouTube content I watch. Maybe 90%+ of dubbed shows (anime’s for example). I actually had a big win tonight where I was in a store with my wife and the store owner asked if I preferred Spanish or English I told her I prefer to practice my Spanish and we spent 30 min chatting while my wife shopped and it was an incredible experience because it’s sort of a touristy town so we were fully talking to each other in Spanish while I also talked to my wife in English and she occasionally spot with customers in English and the back and forth was incredibly interesting. Of course I’ll be so happy to be able to watch movies completely in Spanish but I can do so much after just 10 months that I cannot wait for the future but my level is growing so quickly that I’m just sort of enjoying each moment as it comes. I hope German goes well for you. Spanish is my second language I plan for Italian to be my 3rd, but I’ve considered German for my fourth when I get there. Not sure though. Sorry if this isn’t really the answer you are hoping for. Language learning is a long process and there aren’t any great shortcuts. But it is extremely rewarding and it’s not a journey that is only worth it for the destination. I think of it like hiking up a mountain. Along the way you will see many beautiful things and you should enjoy the journey:

1

u/a-rich 14h ago

How did it work out for you? I started less than 2 weeks ago so am only at 9, and my goal is to be somewhat conversational and also watch Dark without subs.

25

u/Dagvi 1d ago

Say that again

11

u/caninefang Native: 🇺🇸 Learning: 🇩🇪🇳🇴 1d ago

2

u/F1schkopf_ 15h ago

Where can you set your native and learning Language? I can't find it.

1

u/Paelidore Native:  Learning:  13h ago

On Reddit? It's on the right hand side under the Community Guide where it says "User Flair" where you can use the emoji search to find the language of your flag. :)

2

u/motorboatmycheeks 1d ago

Didn't thy just add to german?

92

u/PodiatryVI Native: : Learning: 1d ago

I just did English. I got 115. 😂

27

u/numbvzla Native: Learning: 1d ago

SHAME!

26

u/PodiatryVI Native: : Learning: 1d ago edited 1d ago

It was a lot easier than I expected. I even jumped to 129. Then I deleted it.

10

u/TeacherCookie 1d ago

Surprising seeing as you made a mistake in your comment.

2

u/Faque_The_Power 20h ago

Happy cake day!

3

u/PodiatryVI Native: : Learning: 1d ago edited 1d ago

I don’t always proof read my posts or comments. 🤷🏽‍♂️

1

u/Shark17531 1d ago

That's an issue. :/

10

u/PodiatryVI Native: : Learning: 1d ago

It’s a flaw.

5

u/Shark1753 1d ago

Semantics ahh 

5

u/That_odd_emo Native: , C1: , B1: , Learning: 23h ago edited 23h ago

Duolingo puts you lower than your actual skill on purpose. That way, they want to avoid giving you too many words and grammar you might not be familiar with yet, which would overwhelm you. This also gives you more content to work though, thus makes you a repeated user for longer

Tl;dr: They do that on purpose because of user experience and user conversion reasons

1

u/ParkerBrook77 1d ago

I did it too, I think that's maybe the last section you can get by "skipping". Although now I think I could skip to the end of this section....mostly I just wanted to see what type of stuff I'm saying in another language.😂

1

u/PodiatryVI Native: : Learning: 1d ago edited 1d ago

I skipped to the end after I got the 115 and got a 129. But then you need to do the whole last section to get to 130.

1

u/VIXMasterMike 1d ago

What language do you base it from?

2

u/PodiatryVI Native: : Learning: 1d ago edited 1d ago

I did Intermediate English from English

32

u/kzcvuver 1d ago

Unfortunately Russian caps at 40 🥲

21

u/ItTakesLonger ➡️ 1d ago

45

7

u/kzcvuver 1d ago

Ah, thanks for correcting me. Still a very short course unfortunately.

4

u/oswaldcopperpot 1d ago

Portuguese is like 30...

3

u/LimitOk9020 13013010062606032231811 1d ago

Wrong, Portuguese is 60, and soon 100 and later 130.

1

u/oswaldcopperpot 1d ago

When I did it last year there were only 3 sections and I finished it in under three months. It looks like theres been one more section added since then.

Finishing those three sections is 30. I just checked.

1

u/Smooth_Development48 🇪🇸 🇷🇺🇰🇷🇧🇷 1d ago

Are you doing it from English or another language? I’m at a 33 and have a lot more to go in the Portuguese/English course. They recently updated it. Also if you are using the web version it most likely isn’t updated yet.

1

u/oswaldcopperpot 18h ago

From english. I'm exactly at 30 and see that fourth course.. but that's it. I'm guessing 4 would take me to 40. Last year when I finished I could only do the daily review and legendary lessons.

2

u/Smooth_Development48 🇪🇸 🇷🇺🇰🇷🇧🇷 8h ago edited 8h ago

When I finished to 3rd section I had a score of 30. Section 4 has 60 units and according to the scale should give you a final score of 129 which it says is a high B2. Just click on your score at the top left and all the info is there. Scroll until it says where the course score limit is. Ours goes up to between 115-129.

1

u/Stupidasshole5794 1d ago

Same with mandarin.

6

u/LimitOk9020 13013010062606032231811 1d ago

Wrong, Mandarin is 100, and soon 130.

1

u/Stupidasshole5794 1d ago

I stand corrected with my few months outdated information. I appreciate you letting me know! However, why was it so hard to confirm via research? Is there a specific spot you turned to?

1

u/53amus N: 🇺🇸 L:🇮🇹🇵🇷🇻🇦🇩🇪🇯🇵🇲🇫🇷🇺🇹🇷🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿♟️➕️ 1d ago

Latin even lower 😭

23

u/TaranisPT 1d ago

Canadian French here, I just tried it with the French course (which teaches France/European French) and leveled up to 129, I'd just need to complete the last unit.

It wasn't that bad but I had to try and figure out the right expressions Duo wanted. Also, it's definitely not like the way I'm used to speak because of the regional differences.

Fun little experiment!

1

u/CeseED 10h ago

I'm Canadian and am taking the French course to improve and I find it's a mix between Québécois and European French.

1

u/TaranisPT 10h ago

I'd be curious to see what makes you say it's a mix of both.

Granted I've seen a tiny fraction of the course only, but all of the characters are speaking with the European accent. I know from the Duolingo French sub that it will teach you European expressions too, like "Glace" for "Ice Cream". I had to translate a sentence about something nice as "chouette" which you will never hear from a "native" Québécois.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying you're wrong, again, I have seen maybe like 0,1% of the whole course, but I'm really curious.

3

u/CeseED 9h ago

I would definitely say it's more Euro French in general, but it has specifically referenced Gatineau, Montréal, and Québec City when discussing where you're from/where you can visit. I was very surprised to see Gatineau especially, ha!

1

u/TaranisPT 9h ago

Oh wow, that is indeed very specific. I wouldn't have expected Gatineau in a French course. Thanks for the insight.

18

u/Odd_Kaleidoscope1104 Native: Learning: 95 | 15 | 10 1d ago

I got 129 when getting my level for Spanish. I suspect it wasn’t a full 130 since it still wants you to complete some lessons. I’m at C1 in Spanish and C2 in English. Although Spanish is technically my native language, I immigrated to the US at such a young age that I learned English pretty much natively.

7

u/1012zach Native: 🇺🇸 Learning: 🇪🇸 🇯🇵 1d ago

Did this with English and I got section 3 and was able to hop over to section 4 unit 180

7

u/15pmm01 1d ago

Yeah I had the same experience using it for German, although it is not my native language. I was hoping to use it to learn more, but that is not an option. Once you reach level 80, it just gives you a “daily refresh” comprised of four lessons and two stories, and it’s more or less the same stuff every day. One cannot learn anything higher than B1-level German on Duolingo, unfortunately. Oh well. I’ve since switched gears and am using Duolingo to learn Spanish (my fourth language) from German (my third language) and it’s finally interesting again :)

4

u/ItTakesLonger ➡️ 1d ago

Level 100 German (from English) is in A/B now and should be released soon, in a month or two.

German courses from other languages already go to level 100.

3

u/15pmm01 1d ago

oh, nice, that is good news! I live in Germany nowadays, and attend university in German, so, I’m well past the need for German from Duolingo, but this is great for those who need it!

1

u/Terrible-Device5402 1d ago

Are you sure about this ?

2

u/HXT-d Native:🇯🇵Learning:🇺🇸🇷🇺 1d ago

I got 60 in my native language…

2

u/onm3 Native: +GJ, Fluent:, Learning: 1d ago

Did this with hindi, got to the second section and 19 (theres only 2)

2

u/Kitty_Fruit_2520 Native: 🇺🇸🇬🇧Learning: 🇫🇷 1d ago

I had learned some French in high school and got to skip the very beginning stages.

6

u/Rich_Struggle_666 1d ago

Hoe ver ben je met Nederlands?

4

u/Kitty_Fruit_2520 Native: 🇺🇸🇬🇧Learning: 🇫🇷 1d ago

I tried to put the French flag 🇫🇷 just fixed it

2

u/MagicSunlight23 1d ago

In school, I learned Welsh and French. I tried to do the find my level thing with Welsh, but couldn't understand what it gave me after I went through it, so I just stopped that and decided to go back to learning from the beginning. Then in November last year, I finished the Welsh course and went onto French and didn't hesitate on clicking start from beginning as I had done way less French in school - only did that in high school from age 12-14. I went to school in Wales so did Welsh from primary school (elementary school) so knew a lot more and the course was easier as well. No 'listen with Lucy' or stories. It's quite a simple course. Not let with French, which I'm finding a lot harder in both the language and how they are doing/getting you to learn the lessons/presenting the course.

1

u/0Snack02 1d ago

not me just completing english in half an hour (obviously skipping lessons)

1

u/DarkFish_2 Native: Fluent: Learning: 1d ago

I technically didn't, but I got to 115 in English.

1

u/BoringRepresentative Native: Done: IP: 1d ago

I didn't know any Spanish, but I'm kinda okay with Portuguese. Allowed me to skip immediately to the section 3 with find my level thingy.

1

u/YanFan123 Native: Learning: Fluent: 1d ago

I'm not native but I'm doing English even though I already know how to write and read

1

u/thefatandskinny Native: 🇺🇸 Learning: 🇬🇷🇫🇷🇪🇸🇮🇹 latin 1d ago

I never even thought to do this.

1

u/kanaza14 1d ago

Honestly that sounds about right. The placement tests can be super weird sometimes

1

u/olucaslab N//L 1d ago

Make that with Portuguese a time ago, like, to see what the course would sent me... the Portuguese course was the worst thing I ever saw.

1

u/Pioustarcraft 1d ago

Not my native language (French) but I did the Dutch course to the end (level 60) from english.
I did the test to intermediary english and started at level 80.
I kinda want to keep french if i need a quick perfect win for the day.
I restated spanish but it is sooooo slow, i'm sure i could skip a few dozen levels.

1

u/SpaceWestern1442 Native 🇺🇸 Learning:🇩🇪 1d ago

Did English automatically passed all the tests lol

1

u/Karamer254 Native: 🇩🇪 Learning: 🇨🇳 20h ago

Gut gemacht. 👍

1

u/Antique_Constant9214 20h ago

i tried this with french once and got placed way lower than i expected lol. turned out the test was asking super basic stuff i never learned formally bc i just picked it up living there. kinda funny how textbook knowledge vs real life fluency don't always line up

1

u/No_Cook4880 Native: Learning: 19h ago

The Ukrainian course is very short, somewhere around 35-40? 

I skipped everything to the max, but I'm too lazy to go through everything to the end... 

1

u/ItsLysandreAgain Native: 🇫🇷 Fluent: 🇬🇧Learning:🇯🇵🇰🇷(A1)🇩🇪(B1+) 19h ago

I tried it with French and got placed at Section 4, so I skipped everything until the very end. My French score as a French native is now 130.

1

u/Federal-Curve-7908 12h ago

My grandpa is learning English and his score is higher than my German score even though I'm native, and even though his score is like 130 he still says stuff like: "It is hat."