Duolingo Revamped Japanese Course

Japanese
#1

Okay, I’m outing myself as a Duolingo user here, but I do enjoy using it to reinforce the basics and I’ve gotta keep my streak alive! (968 days)

Anyway, I got a notice today saying the course has been totally revamped. Initially this was very frustrating, as I am on Level 4.28 and now even though I am still at “4.28”, there is a lot of new content (JLPT N4 Level) in earlier sections that I’ve already “completed” according to the website but I’ve never actually seen before.

So, I reset my entire Japanese course. I’ve skipped ahead to Level 3, because the new content in Levels 1 and 2 is so familiar to me.

Once I got over the blow to my ego, this is for the best for any Duolingo users. The Japanese is of a more difficult standard, and the notes for each section now actually contain helpful tips and grammar points, so it’s better for reinforcing my learning from Bunpro and KanjiStudy.

It’s still not a great teacher. It’s more like buying someone a fish each day rather than teaching them how to fish for themselves, but it does prioritise everyday tourist-type situations. So it won’t help me pass the N5 or N4 like Bunpro does, but i’ll probably end up using more of the Duolingo phrases when I’m on holiday in Japan than Bunpro’s content.

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#2

Thank you for making this thread!
Interresting, I am a duo user too (section 4 unit 55 with 574 day streak ) and I was wondering if I should also reset the course …
But I don’t want to loose all the kana and kanji I did so far, could you confirm that those sections are wiped cleaned too if I reset the course?
I mostly use duo to learn vocaba nd get a bit of grammar on the way by repetition, I am not sure I will survive reworking all the section (I gave up on the previous course rework 4 years ago and made a fresh strat a year and a half ago) as I have gold on everything up to this points and my kanji used to be up to date ( though I use another app to learn them)
I have super BTW use to do between 30 min to an hour daily untill I heard about the course rework 3 months ago and started using more ressources. Now I am down to 15 min a day so I can use bunpro, satori reader and JA sensei.

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#3

Yes, the hiragana, katakana and kanji all reset, which is a shame (unless you’re trying to win the Diamond League, then it’s free real estate lol).

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#4

Damn it…
My days winning the diamond leagues are long gone. Used to reach 15k xp a week now reaching 4k is a miracle haha
I am just trying’to fil all the kanji section and course.
I use to want to make it gold but it’s nearly impossible now with the new vocab.
I will think about it!

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#5

You know what. Let me get back to duo. I almost reached my one year streak on March this year (~300 days) but I ultimately decided that maintaining it wasn’t good for me mentally, especially when pushing through the levels gets a bit repetitive at times (and not that high retention rate, personally).

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#6

I find that doing enough duo each day to hit all the daily targets is a good pace for me. It doesn’t take too much time (15-20 mins a day?) and means I have a few days of SRS-style repetition.

When I try to cram it just to get through it quicker, that’s when I forget stuff and lose the enjoyment.

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