"La colazione"

[ergosomething]

Brief feedback for the makers of Duolingo (because I don't see a feedback form anywhere else):

Firstly, Duolingo is a great site! Thanks!

I have some constructive criticism. Oftentimes I get answers "wrong" by supplying the idiomatic English translation instead of the word-for-word Italian. For instance, I translated "La colazione" as simply "Breakfast" instead of "The breakfast" and I've been docked a point for this. There is no such thing as "the breakfast" in English (except when modified, such as "I'm going to the complimentary breakfast").

There are many other instances of this same problem in the Italian language activities. If the makers of Duolingo could be more attentive to idiomatic translation, it would greatly improve the site's effectiveness. Otherwise I'm spending my energy trying to remember and work around the website's quirks, rather than supplying the most intuitive translation.

Thanks!

[ergosomething]

Here's another example: "Maiale arrosto" or "Anatra arrosta." When I wrote "roast pig" or "roast duck" it counted this as wrong, correcting to "roasted pig" and "roasted duck." But my answers were idiomatically correct.

[mukkapazza]

Thanks, we've fixed this problem!