My thoughts on getting to level 25

[ally.x]

So 2 days ago after 529 days and about 3 streak freezes I finally reached level 25 in German

Some random thoughts about my time spent here (not just about German):

• Duolingo gave me a chance to start/learn more languages (German and French), I will always be grateful for it, even though it became pretty lonely lately (with no way to contact other people directly)
• If you seriously want to learn a language you have to use other resources
• After getting 30,000 XP (level 25) Duolingo content feels comfortably easy (or it should)
• Level 25 feels more satisfactory than completing the tree (which is usually just the beginning of the real learning)
• Now I feel ashamed of my level 18 in French and want to get at least level 20 as soon as possible (yes, Duolingo is a "game-like" platform and I like this side of it)
• I found out that French is harder than German (for me)
• I found out that once you are over the level of complete beginner in French, it starts to make much more sense :-)
• Finished 4 trees so far (Eng > Ger, Ger > Eng, Cze > Eng, Eng > Cze)
• 4 trees to go (Eng > Fre, Fre > Eng, Ger > Fre, Fre > Ger)
• Basically I want to do all trees available between Czech, English, German and French
• I know now what it means when a course is in Beta, I am able to correctly answer all the questions on a placement test in Eng > Ger, Ger > Eng, Cze > Eng but not by far in English > Czech (the one in Beta and the one teaching my native language), I guess it needs many more "my answer should have been accepted" reports :-) (It's a good idea to try these placement tests on a different account and not to delete your own trees)
• Still didn't decide which version of Duolingo is better, so far randomly switching between browser and Android seems best
• It's crazy how level 20 is only half way of reaching level 25
• There seem to be more resources online for French than for German (which is only logical :-) )
• Currently I just can't stop myself from watching this old TV course for learning French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=celBWxbHOOk=15s
• If anyone is wondering what other resources I used to improve my German, I wrote about it here: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/24437249

Thanks for reading and happy learning :-)

[_Quackity_]

The whole game side of duolingo is really what I came here for.

[buck72]

Thanks for sharing your insights on reaching Level 25 as well as sharing your German learning resources. :)

[Raisinnoir]

Gratuliere! You may want to try studying French from German. I have found it very helpful.

[ally.x]

Yes, I am doing French > German and German > French on the side. It's really cool when we can drop the English aspect from the whole process. I always come back to these trees after advancing a bit in English > French tree.

[Usagiboy7]

This is among my favorite reflection posts so far (and I've read a TON of them, because I'm always curious what people will say.) It is so organized and covers a ton of thoughts. Also, now that you've reminded me that 20 is only halfway to 25, I'm looking sideways at my goal to get to level 15 in Japanese. Maybe I should bump that number up a bit. :P

I know now what it means when a course is in Beta.

I've never read anyone point this out in their reflection, and I love that you did! Beta to full release (especially right when a course enters beta, rather than when a course is about to leave beta) is a very different experience. And for that matter, so is Tree 1.0 and Tree 3.0 etc. Knowing it has made me chill out quite a bit. :)

It's crazy how level 20 is only half way of reaching level 25

Again, whyyyyy? (j/k. ^_~ It actually a cool fact that I think is a bit obscure for anyone who hasn't gotten to level 20 and looked ahead to see when they can expect to finally arrive at 25. )

Thanks for sharing resource recommendations! :)

[ally.x]

Thanks Usagiboy, I feel honoured, I'm sure you've really read tons of these posts :-)

I really had no idea how Beta course can be different from those "tuned" courses like German and French, can't wait for Czech to get there (or closer to it) so I can recommend it to someone I know who's just learning it.

When it comes to levels, this was my experience in German:

• Level 5 (300/30000) - ridiculous
• Level 10 (2250/30000) - at least I don't look like a beginner now
• Level 15 (7500/30000) - getting somewhere
• Level 20 (15000/30000) - looks good, but wow, I am only half way there
• Level 25 (30000/30000) - that was a lot of work :-)

Good luck with your Japanese, it must be like learning French, German and Russian together :-)

[FrenchByte]

Nice thoughts.

[DanBarnes6]

Thank you for you comments. Very helpful. I'm wondering how you feel about your German language skills. Could you communicate comfortably if you were traveling in Germany?

[ally.x]

Hi, since I did a lot of work out of Duolingo I would get by these days. I briefly visited Austria 3 months ago and was understood and was able to understand well (when they were talking proper German and not dialects). I still make progress every day and week so now it would be even better. I can read a book, watch a movie or listen to radio no problem. Me talking is obviously the hardest part since I don't get to practice that. But even that comes more easily after advancing in reading/listening.