Sien  Zostac  Chodz 

Being a non-game person, I thought it wise to try a few games first. After 10 minutes of Cooking Madness and My Dog Simulator for Free, my heart raced as hamburgers burned and my dog dodged walls but was run over by a bus. So, DuoLingo and learning Polish seemed perfect.

90 minutes of play on Surface

I played for almost 90 minutes- reading, writing, listening and speaking while earning points, being congratulated, gaining crowns and lingots while seeing myself move up the leader board from 44 to 16 to 12.  I felt good about myself, was learning, having fun and wanted more.

New aspects

Each game/lesson is self-paced while giving players choices as they finish lessons.  A perfect score gets even more points (like extra credit). A choice to either delve deeper or learn a new aspect of the language entices the more academically minded player. Lingots and gems, the game’s virtual currency, allows players to go shopping. I was hooked!

DuoLingo’s creators have seamlessly woven social media aspects into their game. Here are a few:

New features

·       DuoLingo offers a free version as well as a monthly fee version that is ad free.
·       The concept of ‘not being alone’, giving away lingots exists.
·       Players see others’ scores compared to theirs.
·       Players can join/create a club and invite others (mobile only).
·       Taken directly from DuoLingo’s webpage – “For more Duolingo news, contests and product releases, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @duolingo.”

PS Now I know sit, stay, come in Polish! Let's test the girls!