Speech recognition: it's a joke, isn't it?

[andrear]

As long as you make some noises in a number equal to the words to be pronunced and evenly spaced, the speech recognition marks as correct anything you would say!
I managed to get a "pass" on saying something like: "hhh uuh eee" instead of Du bist Toll.
So, it's a good way to exercise pronunciation, but don't expect that as a feedback of the quality of what you say!

[Jacoolh]

I agree. I just turned the mic questions off. As long as you pronounce it like the the woman's it's fine.

[TimothyGeek]

At first I turned it off, but then I realized that it actually has some benefits. Without it, I don't practice speaking the words out loud very often, and my pronunciation deteriorates. With the mic turned on, I practice a lot more; and although it doesn't tell me when I do it wrong, just trying to speak the words gradually improves my pronunciation.

[KChildheart]

That's very true, more could be done however, considering I'm learning for free and it is encouraging me to speak, no major harm done. I can also play the recording back and compare to the speaker. =P

I wondered why the response was so quick. If there were a check involved that would require data being analysed a bit further and sent, there would be a wait time of about 3 or 4 more seconds. That doesn't sound like much but it's noticeable when compared to a 1 second feedback.

My advice is don't rely on Duolingo to replace a German tutor. It's a good grasp of the basics for reading and understanding but it isn't perfect =P