What makes duolingo really appealing is it seems to be somewhat structured and has quality content which is mostly reliable and informative. Users receive feedback on their overall progress through unlocking levels and earning points.

I have several issues with user uploaded content

• I can not see a way in which they could build a 'structured' course, and by structured I refer to a fully constructed skill tree to the same level and quality as the current duolingo skill trees. Which I feel would be taking away some of the key aspect of what I personally think is really good about duolingo. (A progressive FULL language learning tool)

• The 'user' in question doesn't have to be a native speaker. certified teacher, duolingo staff or anybody with any real knowledge of the language at all. So how can the quality of the content be assured? Infact, how can it even be proven what I'm told I'm learning is what I actually am learning. And even so, at which point do you class yourself good enough to teach a language? I'm a native English speaker, would I say my spelling and grammar is flawless enough to teach foreign learners 'proper' English? No.

Which leads to.

• I would hate to see a jumbled mess of half decent courses which you would have tossed around the place, by any old Joe who fancied making their own 'flashcards' for us all to see which have been ripped straight from a GCSE textbook. In regards to memrise, having used that service, I like it. But why would duolingo want to be like memrise when we pretty much all agree, memrise is a lesser product and this one is more quality.

If there was a filter process where 1 course of 'X' language was added and over time it was developed by users whilst vetted and approved by the staff at duolingo or other native/professionals over the quality of the 'X' course content, then I can see it working well.

Other than that, what can a few basic, mashed up, thrown together courses teach me I can't find out elsewhere.

Don't misunderstand that I wouldn't want user content added, but I'd rather it don'e correctly because (especially when it comes to languages) ..

QUALITY is winning. Not quantity.

Just my 2p

@Raftus "Courses on Memrise aren't like the full course on Duolingo, we agree on that, right?" I think that's the point of why people want duolingo to not be like memrise, which is why it was being insulted. I personally use memrise to learn NEW vocab instead of just redoing loads of old ones (obviously I still water so that I remember the vocab) in which case making courses myself would be pointless as I need to learn from people significantly better, (like natives, as I get the impression that some courses I see were just made using a dictionary/some basic phrases). I want a system where natives/fluent people can make a course like a duolingo course that teaches how to actually form your own sentences, something memrise doesn't do (as it's a flashcard site). Don't get me wrong, I love memrise, but I'd imagine most people using it (especially for the more obscure languages which aren't on duolingo currently) they use it to learn new vocab, in which case the "make your own course" suggestion is pointless. Sorry for blabbing so much and I don't mean to sound rude if I do.

You can be learning a language and still make a course, no problem. Courses on Memrise aren't like the full course on Duolingo, we agree on that, right?

For instance I'm not fluent in Spanish, and am learning it here and on Memrise, but I could make a themed course on certain gothicky, descriptive words that I've learned reading 'La sombra del viento', for instance. I don't have to be much better than others at Spanish, but that course might be fun for someone to learn from. You see a few of those types of courses there, and it gives Memrise a flavour distinct from Duolingo.

Ha ha, don't worry - you're not rude, it's a pleasure talking about this with you. We obviously see different uses for Memrise, but that's the beauty of it. I just felt that Memrise was being unfairly slighted here, when it is a completely different kind of site to Duolingo.

I will be intrigued to see how Duo intend to keep the high standards once (because this is probably what the big surprise coming up is) they allow user-generated content.

Ah good. I don't agree with the people insulting memrise, although I do agree with the comment to a small degree because some languages have better courses than others. From looking at the ones like Chinese, French, Spanish, I haven't tried any of them out but there seems to be a lot of long courses with a lot of words, whereas some languages have very few good courses (or none). Some people use memrise to learn, some use it to remember, I guess? I use it to learn partially because I have no other alternative website to use. It is different to duolingo, which is why I think it would be great if we can add languages to duo but make sure it's still in a duolingo style, so you don't get any languages like the badly made ones you sometimes find on memrise.

I really hope that this is what the surprise is, as I would love to get to see what languages are added here and since duo has audio, writing and reading practising it could come in very useful. Comparing memrise and duolingo does seem a bit weird though, as I thought of them as unconnected, I was surprised how many people I found to actually use both.

Definitely need that