How Much Do You Learn with Duolingo after One Year?

I take an online German Placement Test to see how much I have learned after one year using the Duolingo App as to total beginner. No prior German experience before using Duolingo.
Top Tips:
- Expand your vocabulary reading basic level books in the native language you are studying
- Understand how the words should sound by watching native language TV and Movies
- Get a good English-German dictionary and German Grammar Book
- Speak or text with native German speakers
- Persistence pays off, even if it feels like you aren't progressing
This is not a sponsored video. I have no affiliation with Duolingo, the views and opinions expressed are my own.

[@Redundant_underscore]

I lived in Germany for a decade +, and never took this test. Been back in the US for 20 years and assumed my feel for the language was gone. Because of this video I went and took the test and scored a C1.2! Thanks for inspiring me to take the test!

[@ConstellationOrion]

How old were you when you first went to germany?

[@Redundant_underscore]

@@ConstellationOrion - 23

[@taurus7911]

Wow you’re my aunts age

[@thelionwithin7848]

How its called

[@richielavey1565]

337 days on Russian so far, I think it’s a good tool but shouldn’t be the only tool

[@stefanpalade4747]

What else do you recommend? I’m tryna learn русская

[@Lucifersphoton]

@@stefanpalade4747 Music. Read and listen to short stories. Find some good KZbin videos were they explain the Grammer. Look into genative, acusitive videos. Then practice speaking the words to people. Whether you say them right or not. Stay consistent. Ты получил это!

[@omekapo]

this^

[@margaritadankova5061]

Привет. Как твой прогресс с русским?

[@hc06reh]

A year later…how you getting on?!

[@ritaanggreni156]

I am using duo for 8 months i am learning french on duo and yeah it's helping me i write every single protips and take a note of em ,practice and watching alot video is a key for us to get used to hear the native (french) also reading arcticles in french and if i confused about the pronounciation I google on it then repeat for more, so I think duo it's help but you also need another things should do for better progress, happy learning 😊

[@M_SC]

Yeah it’s hard to learn French pronunciation from duolingo but there are podcasts and KZbin for that

[@thepizzaelf]

Yup I’m doing the same and watching as many KZbin videos, reading comment sections etc. Need to do other things along side it to really help

[@charlotteevans7868]

i can't even understand your english lmfao

[@_perza]

@@charlotteevans7868 lmao my man needs to do duolingo for English 😭😭😭😭

[@charlotteevans7868]

@@_perza lmfao RIGHT

[@GorgieClarissa]

I love duolingo for what it is - a vocabulary mill. You are not practicing conversation or creating anything on your own, but you are getting slammed with vocab and grammar in a fun and fast way. Sure I will never say ''the purple owl is my best friend'' but it's truly about ingesting as much new vocabulary in a short amount of time and comprehending what you are given. The sentences often sound silly, but they are technically grammatically correct. So if you can understand the sentence - duo is doing its job! I've been using the platform for a decade learning several languages - 4 of which I am serious about. It takes a lot of work and effort to keep up the learning, but with duo it's actually kind of fun. You aren't learning too much in each level and I personally feel what I learn on duo is quite easy to retain. Duo isn't perfect and it's not a platform to practice speaking or conversing. But it's a great way for any beginner to gain a dumptruck of new vocab and even for intermediate and advanced to brush up on their vocab skills as well!

[@sighauser407]

Where do you go after you've done say 75% of the tree in a given language? watching people speak in german or some other website/app?

[@abraham7414]

Yeah. I wish duolingo would focus more on speaking which is the most essential factor of learning a new language.

[@richardcai363]

Exactly. I use it everyday and for speaking my wife’s Chinese lol so I speak to her and she corrects me.

[@guyguy7953]

This is a good assessment of Duolingo. I’ve been using it to learn Italian. I supplement it with the Italian for dummies book and accompanying audiobooks for explanations to practice speaking. That along with an Italian short story book that has English translations are all my tips, for those of you who are looking. Without Duolingo starting me off though, I would not have gotten off th ground. It was a great way to naturally drill the grammar rules into me, like a baby learns it.

[@JP-ub3iv]

Yea it’s practically impossible for me to learn a language unless I’m forced to in a classroom setting or actually live in those countries as a full time working adult. We all understand duolingo wouldn’t allow us to get perfect nor even able to have a conversation in a new language but it does build up a foundations. It’s like programming. Without the initial training I can’t just look at codes and figure out what it means no matter how long you stare at the screen

[@stephencindrich6787]

I admire your candor and your courage! Thank you for posting. German is a tough language, for sure. Absolutely stick with it! Best of luck mein Freund.

[@williamthompson7829]

Duolingo is for real.. It seems kind of childlke but if you do it the right way you get a good feel for the language.

[@hivepark6844]

Yeah, low-intensity learning is pretty awesome.

[@RoopeRontu1999]

Also got A2, and I've studied German in lower secondary and for a couple of courses in high school. Great job on your work, mate.

[@hivepark6844]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@briancyr7150]

This is great! This encourages me to give it a try.

[@hivepark6844]

Go for it!

[@LotharHimmelswandererSchmitz]

Es ist sehr tapfer von Ihnen den Test online zu machen und Ihre Fähigkeiten offen zu zeigen. Ich benutze auch Duolingo um mein englisch zu verbessern, aber ich benutze auch busuu und LingQ und schaue viele fremdsprachliche Videos auf youtube. Duolingo allein ist meiner Meinung nach zu wenig.

[@sensu31]

Duolingo is good when you're just starting the language. You need to work on your pronunciation and more vocabulary, Hausaufgabe (homework) for example, such words are a 'must know'. I got B2.2 on this test and I've been studying for like 6 months or so and I haven't used Duolingo since I reached the 3rd checkpoint after which it starts asking you to make sentences with weil, ob, etc. and for those you need to know grammar.

[@hivepark6844]

That's awesome! What other resources did you find helpful to build on after Duolingo? Any study guides for B2?

[@sensu31]

@@hivepark6844 For vocabulary I mainly use German.net, its really good, there's "word bundles" for each level and you can learn up to around 2500 words in total or so. I also listen to songs, watch tv shows,etc. I've got a tutor that helps me with grammar once a week because knowing words is not enough, you need to "grasp" the language, you'll see what I mean once you get better at it. German isn't too hard, if you're motivated enough you're gonna excel at it!

[@DopaSix]

Youre so charismatic! I will share this Video!!!

[@hivepark6844]

Thanks 😉

[@tomate3391]

Great job, beside your mistakes you already seems to have developed a certain feeling for the German language. Having said this I think A2.1 is still to high. But the last questions weren't easy. So, don't worry too much. I am convinced that you would make more progress in one year without Duolingo. Your reading in German already paid off. Here and there a bit of grammar does no harm. Keep on learning! I tried Duolingo with Spanish for Germans and vice versa. There are in both courses a lot of strange sentences and even mistakes. My formula is: more than 15 minutes/day is a waste of time (in the sense of language learning). You can spend more on Duolingo maybe it is fun. (I am not judging, fun is a good reason, but it is not language learning) The reason is, I think learning with Duolingo is very very inefficient. For example the people who finished the Spanish course mostly are not even A2, based on their questions and comments in the forum.

[@digitaldion]

Gut gemacht! Ich habe eine Weile in Berlin gelebt und auch einen Deutschkurs gemacht. Ich habe aber auch mit Duolingo gelernt. Ha ha! Yes, it works well enough, but as you rightly say, one must also use other sources (reading, talking to others, watching German language movies, videos and TV). Dogs of Berlin is another great crime show with German (or English) sub-titles. Mach weiter so und viel Spaß!

[@hivepark6844]

I need to watch Dogs of Berlin, a few people have recommended that to me. Thanks!

[@DiiAM00NDx3]

I highly recommend Deutschland 1983 -1989. It's daunting and uses quite natural dialogue

[@baltazarmenvielle4146]

I just took the test and said I was B1.1 (Pre-intermediate) which is, I think, a little exaggerated result. I mean, I've been learning German for about a month right now, and I haven't been introduced to the genitive case yet. I practice and read a lot though, like 2h+ a day! And German is not my first foreign language, but the third, so there could be some things I absorbed without knowing it.

[@HelloThere-lo3qi]

2 hours a day is a lot man.. i think it suits you just right since you already spend like 60+ active hours

[@baltazarmenvielle4146]

@@HelloThere-lo3qi Yeah, but the thing is, if you wanna have B1 level you gotta at least have 300 hours lol

[@GorgieClarissa]

@@baltazarmenvielle4146 very true! the test sounds a bit inflated or maybe you are really smart ;) either way, 60 hrs is crazy amazing! You should be proud!

[@MRrZero]

@@HelloThere-lo3qi 2hours a day isn't much in language acquisition. Ideally you should be getting bombarded with input through out the day. Get that brain soaking in the new language

[@robinahkukiriza4060]

Hall. You study on online or at the site

[@anc3698]

Hi Matt, what was your level (in Duolingo) when you gave this exam? What unit (Duolingo: #fort) / level were you at in the German Duolingo tree?

[@alp7819]

Nice vid!

[@hivepark6844]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@Wolle704]

I am a 32 year old german native speaker and did the same test twice. I am quite sure I did not make any mistakes. This is my result: Your recommended German course level is C1.2 - "High Advanced"

[@nikoss3194]

Judging from my experience, too, there is probably something fishy about the test.

[@EnderFighter64]

same with me

[@leila_de_hautjardin]

Wait but if a native speaker can't get C2 on this test who Can ? 🤔 Something is wrong...

[@leila_de_hautjardin]

I just thought about something : since they want you to take/buy courses, they won't tell you "Your level is C2, you are perfectly fluent, you don't need us"

[@Wolle704]

@@leila_de_hautjardin From this point of view it obviously makes sense. But it still means the test is not reliable.

[@kirstenallen1900]

I did all of German and Spanish. I’m on day 850. I use it like Solitaire. I don’t really think it’s the most effective way to learn language. Polyglot channels were more helpful, using comprehensible input, tons of listening and watching German and Spanish channels on youtube in my areas of interest, and lots of reading starting with children’s literature, juvenile literature and adult novels. Take time with pronunciation at the start so you don’t have to correct poor pronunciation later. KZbin can help with pronunciation.

[@tomate3391]

I agree, I think for beginners it is not that bad. You can dabble through the language and get your first impressions. But from a certain point on it is too inefficient.

[@ric2840]

This test is very hard. As a German I had also think a few seconds about the answer of "Das ist der Mann, (dem jemand den Frosch gestohlen hat)" Your german is not bad. I can ensure you, it is not that important if you say "in das Restaurant" instead of "in dem Restaurant". We will understand you. ;) By the way: Most Germans don´t even understand the bavarian dialect :D

[@brandonsmith1198]

I made progress in Spanish and German is a bit tough, so no one here doesn’t speak German just Spanish. Great review try to do German again to see how good I am.

[@TaroMorikawa]

make a video where you talk with someone in german! This would interest me even more.

[@nakaoulhalrd1094]

video hay va huu ich, huong dan de hieu cam on ad

[@michaelbutler4638]

“Wohin geht die Familie?” Had me dying laughing… I thought all the same things as you. Could have been any of them.. even Nebraska! 😂

[@djataberk1]

I also took the test after 80K German Exp. I haven’t finished the A2 section yet, which is section 4. I got the following from the test: Your recommended German course level is B1.1. I am also currently participating in an A2 level Deutsch class.

[@vakancy]

When I heard what test you were using I quickly rushed and took the test and it gave me A2 but I'm still not even halfway done with my Duo hahah

[@michalskala2117]

We got almost the same xp, but I am on duolingo for 20 days. I have around 20 000 xp. I tried the test and than I saw your results. I got the same! A2.1! Wow! that is interesting - same xp, same results.

[@DJSt3rling]

Had you completed the German section for DuoLingo, you'd probably be closer to a B1 level. However, online language tests are not accurate because they only measure reading comprehension (not writing, speaking, etc).

[@bakeymykakey]

yeah very true, his pronunciation was certainly not the best

[@elrodadrollandmj3751]

ban chia se de hieu lam cam on ban nhe

[@bookishwriter9460]

A lot of them were not about what was in the picture but finding the one sentence that was grammatically correct :)

[@abhimehta5999]

I am happy to share that, I am not a native speaker but got C1.2 as my CEFR level.

[@mohit8111]

Hey, did you get C1 just by learning on the app? :)

[@abhimehta5999]

No, I actually never followed it!! I took classes

[@dazy03]

I've been using duolingo for 130 days straight now and I do feel like I learnt something, but I dont think it's usable in 'the real world'. I checked this video to see is just using duo would be enough, of if taking a class would be the best idea.

[@melaniegrace7707]

Duolingo is wonderful but speaking, reading, and listening are skills that can only be improved with practice

[@shakurfaith]

I got an A2 after three weeks of studying. Well, it does help having a German girlfriend though

[@nothingheretowatch7371]

I am using duolingo 3-4 hours every day and I aquiered 23 000 xp in one month, I can understand very little to none German if nativly spoken, but I will continue doing it :)

[@bakeymykakey]

definitely get into consuming more german media, watch movies, tv shows and DON’T put on english subtitles as i promise you won’t learn anything from that. also read short stories in german they are super helpful. duolingo is great but it’s very slow paced and everyday german speakers will speak much faster so it’s important to practice proper listening skills.

[@nothingheretowatch7371]

@@bakeymykakey hey, tnx für advance, since my comment I started watching Netflix on German which greatly helped me to pick up some short native phrases and I got used to native talking speed, I will keep updating my progress

[@robinahkukiriza4060]

How to study through dualingo and i get my certificate

[@butchstein9738]

You did really good job. The test was more about what is grammatically correct that is finding a grammatically correct sentence out of 4. Really misleading. You are definitely more on the intermediate side. Also it is better to learn gramma at the very end when end when it comes to German. You develop the natural feeling for it as you did with one of the examples.

[@elchapi366]

I learned Spanish watching telenovelas as a child 😂

[@AuronSurmount]

You said 365 days roughly 22 minutes a day. How far into the course did you get. What checkpoint / what lesson were you on when you did this. It would be interesting to contrast

[@catmakesmusic182]

did you make all the lessons gold or just finished once

[@hivepark6844]

I make them all gold

[@mikeolivero293]

The thing is I can read and understand Spanish but I can’t speak or write it. It makes no sense

[@MariadeLourdesAniesSanch-ze7hf]

something help me people is no easy

[@MariadeLourdesAniesSanch-ze7hf]

I need study more english because my english is basic

[@SupperSoup]

I also just got A2.1 wow lol

[@ShaunRoselt]

What's the link to this test?

[@hivepark6844]

www.expath.de/expath-german-language-placement-test/

[@hexkwondo]

Doulingo is not to be used by itself. You will fail to learn the language if you depend on that alone. It is good for drills and learning new vocabulary words.

[@truthteller2711]

What should I use it with

[@janahajjsleiman8933]

i have been studying german on duolingo for 3 months, i just did the test and got A2.1. So after a year i think it should be more than that

[@mohdshariq7423]

How much time do you spend per day?

[@janahajjsleiman8933]

@@mohdshariq7423 it depends during the summer i spend 2 to 4 hours and now with school i’m studying 30 to 40 minutes per day

[@MariadeLourdesAniesSanch-ze7hf]

but Iam beginner

[@MariadeLourdesAniesSanch-ze7hf]

I speak people because understand english

[@mad_dy747]

he looks kinda like Kevin Spacey

[@koffeekat1832]

Would i be B1 with duolingo in 6 months?

[@tomate3391]

With only Duolingo I doubt that heavily.

[@johannesrichter2927]

r U Kevin Spacey

[@jansojele289]

What's with the pronounce tho?

[@carolin7337]

11:09 the last question was in fact wrong haha

[@Philix2011]

As a native German I would assume a lot of Germans would’nt even answer the question at 7:20 right hahaha

[@samhagman5958]

Portuguese in Duolingo is what I am doing

[@joaovitor-se4cu]

good luck!

[@DevranUenal]

If you want to improve your "ö"s, pronounce them as the "e" in "nerd".

[@simonacula3193]

ok good effort, but i guess its unclear whos fault it was but thats absolute beginner german. Still hope for your improvement

[@beatrixaltenberg5135]

Not just the last question was wrong, a lot of your answers were wrong. You are still lacking the understanding for german grammar. It is not enough to know that this is a male word. The answer to is this a computer was not yes, it is one as the word for the number one. you were supposed to pick the one which was male, das ist einer, because it is DER computer, einER. And so on... still lacking a lot of basic grammar or the basic understanding for languages which are using gendered words. But not every question made much sense. The where are they going, through the field, following the father, to the house, made no sense, because all of them would have made sense. Basically, as a German native speaker, I can tell you that you understand German pretty well, but your grammer is lacking. You have no knowledge what to do with der die das when it is not just die Frau or der Hund.

[@Mydogsnameisbarney]

Die Frage lautete: WOHIN laufen sie? Und damit war nur eine Antwort möglich: ZUM Haus. Dativ. 🙂

[@kurtthecat3995]

That's why taking at least a year of basic beginning language classes would be helpful to establish a foundation in grammar and pronunciation before going off and learning the language on your own.

[@AndreaAvila78]

I had the same results as him. I have studied German on my own for a year, then another year with a teacher and I can't still understand the grammar, the cases. I love the language, it sounds so sexy. I absolutely love it and makes me happy but I can't learn it. I think I need to live in Germany for a while and really get immersed in the language.

[@davidrama5484]

Duolingo is great for vocab, that's how I started but you need a strong grammar knowledge, specially in German when it's so structured

[@MauricioLucioni]

Necesitas mejorar tu pronunciación alemana.

[@thebicycleman8062]

The biggest problem with duolingo is the pronounciation is alot of times very bad because it is a COMPUTER ROBOT VOICE and when you hear real people talk it will sound different. So it is very good to READ but TERRIBLE to practice talking and listening which is what we mostly do on the street

[@MariadeLourdesAniesSanch-ze7hf]

I think in english but something is Jesus

[@TillTheLightTakesUs]

Gotta say, 1 year for A2 isn't that good. You can do better.

[@Regular_Decorated_Emergency]

You look like Ted Cruz, woah.

[@rnader4370]

Almost nothing.

[@snosterm3847]

gegessen is the past of eat (essen)

[@hivepark6844]

Thx! Learning more every day.

[@Colin-Fenix]

Sorry, hate to say it but 1 year hasn’t helped you to read or pronounce German properly. You aren’t even reading the words properly. Don’t want to burst your bubble but Duolingo doesn’t work!

[@davidrama5484]

That's why courses are necessary. Also I recommend looking for videos on yt about how to pronounce. But it's the same in any language

[@tho3277]

Drugs taught you ! Cool

[@soggybred3269]

365 LIKES LMAO

[@chestermicek]

Hi, Matt, do you realize you said, "Ein Frau" instead of "Eine Frau"? That's a pathetic mistake for someone who has studied German for one year on DuoLingo. I hope that was just a brain fart. Moreover, your pronunciation is terrible for one year of work. You literally misread "gegangen" as "gegaben"; moreover, you mispronounced "restaurant". Clearly, you don't know that Germans pronounce that word like the French do. Join a DuoLingo German Chat Group because you desperately need compassionate feed-back. The only good thing about your test is that you didn't say "Das Frau". I mean on Day 1, you should have learned: "der Mann, die Frau, & das Haus". You obviously are either partially deaf, or you're not using a microphone to get feedback from Duo on your pronunciation. Bottom LIne: Good on you for trying & sticking with it for a year.

[@zeehee1231]

Damn 💀💀

[@fluffybunn2391]

@@zeehee1231 kinda dissed the man so hard but honestly it makes sense that this is the truest comment of them all XD

[@ChestnutTreeCafe]

I feel sorry for your kids.

[@Melissa-gn3dv]

He needs 'compassionate feedback' huh?

[@djataberk1]

I liked your comment. Don’t ever reproduce though

[@Kinotaurus]

I have to say, not great progress after one year. The guy doesn't know the basic accusative and dative endings, the pronounciation is pretty crude.

[@leylajaff]

Dieser Test ist wirklich dumm gestaltet 😅 Wouldn't recommend this as a native 😬

[@olijfcadiz4231]

Honestly ur German is very weak after one year of studying