How'd you come across Duo?

[corduroyjay]

I'm big on self learning, and as I was searching for new methods I stumbled upon a talk Tim Ferris was giving over his DSSS method. He mentioned Duo, it piqued my interest so I checked it out. I haven't looked back since!

How were you introduced to Duo?

[Lyarra]

Luis gave a TED talk.

http://www.ted.com/talks/luis_von_ahn_massive_scale_online_collaboration.html

[jaye16]

me too. Now, I"m addicted. Having taught languages I can say with confidence this system works! I also try my hand at the translations, although I'm only able to do some editing I think I'm contributing to the final product.

[aquage]

Same here, watched best of Ted on Netflix.

[matt_2250]

Ditto :)

[loganflatt]

Searched for language learning apps in Apple iPhone app store. Tried different free apps. Liked Duolingo best. Discovered website after using app.

[Beethoven.21]

Same as I did, just with Android Market

[Joselitoo]

I found out about it from VSauce2 on youtube, really glad I found this! Now I can keep improving my Spanish

[thenino85]

Got accepted for a conference in Italy (with two month's notice) and was desperately trying to find online language learning services, went so far as to subscribe. You know the ones. On those services, however, people were talking about how great Duolingo was. I have since thrown them to the curve. Granted, I won't be able to speak Italian at all, but as long as I can roughly understand the signs around me, I will consider it a success.

Ironically, however, it turns out that Duolingo is headquartered literally a block from my house and above the coffee shop I frequent. So I guess I've been coming across it for a while. Go figure.

[mptmpt]

I got a Google Reader recommendation for the LifeHacker article about Duolingo and I thought I will give it a try since I was looking for a way to boost my French. The irony is that a year later Duolingo seems that it is here to stay, sadly Google Reader is gone for ever.

[salsalatinjazz]

actually, i have to confess, my mom made me do it.

[yodeling]

My mom's a math teacher, and the Spanish teacher at her school told her about Duolingo, and then my mom told my sister and I about it.

[Belboz99]

I found this on the Art of Manliness blog on being a life-long learner, an autodidact.

The blog is a really good read, Duolingo is linked at the bottom of the blog along with a few other good resources for the self-learner.

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/03/18/how-and-why-to-become-a-lifelong-learner/

[corduroyjay]

I read that blog pretty often. I must've missed this post. Gracias!

[oskalingo]

I'm pretty sure I discovered it on reddit through the subreddit /r/languagelearning.

There is a subreddit now dedicated to duolingo - http://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/. I recommend it - there are some good discussions there and good links to articles on duolingo. Plus Luis has done one or two AMAs there (interviews where anyone can ask a question).

[Yoshers]

CHROME WEB STORE FTW!!!!!!!!!

[stefanxx]

I googled "things to do when you're bored" and someone in some forum suggested Duolingo :D

[rawrsomecat]

stumbleupon :)

[denises2013]

A friend of mine mentioned taking an online course to learn French and sent me the link. I looked at the site and joined to refresh my French, and also to learn a few new languages. I'm hooked!

[zippzopp]

I just searched, learn german,found a site with free trail to test it out, liked it, but thought might as well browse some more to see what else comes along and found this site, so glad I did.

[Antinomial]

Review in The Economist

http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2013/06/language-learning-software

[coffeemomcrafts]

my daughter told me about it.

[davidpla]

I saw Luis' TED talk too.

[volleyballDVM16]

I've been taking a French class with a personal tutor, who also student teaches a French class at a high school. She told me about Duo and I've been on it ever since:)

[melearn]

I wanted to learn german online so i googled 'best ways to learn german online' and stumbled upon this blog post
http://venturevillage.eu/7-cool-new-ways-to-learn-german

[cmattv]

I heard about it on a TED talk and thought it was really cool.

[Magoogan]

I was reading blogs by Americans who moved or who take extended trips to Germany. One woman mentioned Duolingo as a great resouce to learn German. I love this site! It is more interactive and fun than a lot of others. I currently use 4 different learning programs to learn German. They all have good qualities and different approaches to learning.

[luzdelaluna]

I simply wrote "learning languages" and searched on Google. This is how I found Duolingo =D

[Yahp]

I read about Duolingo somewhere (don't know where, some journal or something) a long time ago and made it to the waiting list.

[NapoleonVEVO]

One of my friends posted a screenshot of Duolingo on facebook. The screenshot was showing a german lesson, so I thought I'd check it out xD

[Alia_La_Canta]

One of my friends on Twitter told me she found it really enjoyable. At about the same time I encountered it on a home education site, complete with link and an idea of what to expect.

[SpookySqueeek]

I don't actually recall for sure. Pretty sure I just googled something along the lines of learn Spanish.

[jolynnedougherty]

Saw it on the facebook page of a friend.

[helenvee]

A friend mentioned this new French course in beta about a year ago so I investigated - and signed up for both French and German.

[Delta13]

I found about Duolinguo from a Japanese forum, I saw there was no Japanese yet, so I began German. =)

[northernguy]

Get both Scientific American and M.I.T. Technology journals online. One of them had an article (with discussion) about the future transformation of education. In the discussion Duolingo was mentioned as an example of an approach that should, and soon will be, widespread.

Checked it out and signed up for French.

Currently trying to work with the government, administrative, political apparatus that manages public education here, to set up advanced placement French language classes where completion of Duolingo is a prerequisite. My goal is to see Duo a precondition for any publicly funded foreign language classes that are in languages that Duo offers.

[oskalingo]

My goal is to see Duo a precondition for any publicly funded foreign language classes that are in languages that Duo offers.

I really don't want to see people using duolingo because they are 'forced' to be here. This community is great because everyone is here voluntarily and from a place of self motivation.

[northernguy]

I assume that such an arrangement would be under license from Duo and would involve a separate structure. It would have to be a separate structure to verify completion.

Presumably Duo wants to monetize their efforts at some point and that would be one way to do it.

[oskalingo]

I assume that such an arrangement would be under license from Duo and would involve a separate structure.

Yes, this would be the best approach. And might be an interesting experiment in how the two different sets of learners perform.

[Alia_La_Canta]

The Immersion section is monetized to at least some extent (it's effectively a donated translation and Duolingo profits on it). I could see some complexities with mandating a specific test to enter a foreign language class, though it would be interesting to see what happens.

[emmett.ale]

hey everyone :)

[elky21]

Luis made IaMa on reddit...

[panda316]

Through a column in my local newspaper.

[Talca]

Met an American in Chile who told me about it. I told a Chinese friend and she is doing French on DL now.

[happyandbright]

I was looking at reviews for Rosetta Stone on Amazon and someone mentioned this site.

[Jaegermeiste]

Google Play listed Duolingo under "Other users have installed..." or "People looking at this also looked at..." on the page for the janky Rosetta Stone.

[PhilNolan1]

Google Play posted about it on Google+

[LanguageIsNeat]

Reddit comment thread. Several people recommended it independent of one another, said it was a neat way to learn a language.

[XpldFrFantasyLnd]

I searched for free language applications on the iphone for Italian and Japanese

[Daniel13D]

I went to the Apple App Store and searched 'learn spanish' and the second one that popped up for me was Duolingo. After I used it for a while (maybe a week) I found the website. Now I use a combination of both.

[Lerox]

A friend posted a link on our group ( http://florinrosoga.ro/blog/cursuri-gratuite-online/ ) .... Self learning, free....kind of like a game.... I like it! ;)

[danielle.p1]

Surprisingly, I didn't know about the TED Talks video on Duolingo.
I had tried looking for some form of language learning that didn't cost hundreds of dollars. I found an app on the phone and gave it a try and because it was the free version, it took me from lesson 1 to 15 and I was not having that. My husband is subscribed to Vsauce on Youtube and he heard about Duolingo on one of their episodes and I downloaded it on my phone and fell in love.

[taviab_14]

I found out about Duo from watching Vsauce on youtube and now I can't get enough of it. I've been on it for a few weeks now and I really think it will help with Spanish this year in 9th grade :)

[Daniel13D]

I thought it would help for my Spanish too. But for 11th grade ;)

[joe-mq]

Tim Ferris' Twitter account. I highly recommend following it!