I’ve done a whole 12 day streak with my Spanish DuoLingo. Dad & Indy were both interested in it the other day so I showed it to them. Dad started doing French, and Indy got quite excited when it turned out Irish was an option, so he and I started doing it together.
A lot of what I’ve learned from doing the Irish is that I’m remembering a great deal more of the Spanish than I imagined (I had four years of high school Spanish but gave up in college when the first year class was just…way over my head.). I mean, I knew I was recognizing/remembering some of it, but my ineptness with the Irish emphasizes how MUCH I’m remembering/recognizing. :)
Also, even what little we’ve done of the Irish emphasizes just how much Irish English follows Irish language rules of speech. There was a translation of something that once we got it right and I said it aloud in English I was like “*Oh*! That’s very Irish!”
Indy gave me a peculiar look. :)
I’m still not convinced this is hugely useful for actually talking to people, although for comprehension and a little stumbling through a not-too-complicated conversation it seems like a reasonably decent tool. And possibly if I continue with it for a few months I might feel brave enough to go try to take a Spanish class again.
(I’m mizkit73 there, since someone will inevitably ask. :))
I’ve played around with the Irish Duolingo, too, and found it to be a bit frustrating and not very practical. I can think of very few places where I would have to say, “The lion ate the clothes” in Irish.
I find DuoLingo’s approach… unhelpful. Its so-called immersive technique tells you what you got wrong (or right) but never why. A rule now and then when learning helps keep things in perspective, at least for me.