Duolingo vs KellynKai Student Interview

These days, a foreign language can be learned in many ways. Thanks to technological advancements, online language learning has become much more common as the world has become busier. Online learning is the new, fun, and exciting way to learn a new language. There are several sites available for language learning, including Babbel, LingoDeer, and Duolingo. Among all of the foreign languages, Chinese is the most frequently studied.

The purpose of today’s interview is to gain an insight into the experience of two students who tried Duolingo and KellynKai. Karen, who has a Chinese family background, speaks intermediate Chinese. David has never learned Chinese before and is a Chinese beginner.

Q: Why did you use Duolingo?

David:

I took Spanish for three years in high school. The classes were heavily centered around Duolingo and required us to meet a certain minimum number of hours per week on the site to complete the lessons.This wasn’t the only time I used Duolingo. During the pandemic lockdown, I decided that I wanted to learn Chinese. Because of my experience at high school, I was familiar with Duolingo and decided it was a good place to start with Chinese.

Karen:

I grew up in a Chinese household and I always wanted to learn Mandarin Chinese. Two years ago, I came across Duolingo because everyone was talking about the app.  I wanted to give it a try, since  Duolingo was free and seemed to be fun to use.  I didn't really have time to go to class, so Duolingo was the simplest way for me to get started learning Chinese online.

Q: What was your experience using Duolingo?

Karen:

Duolingo is described as a learning app, but in my opinion, it is more like a game. After you choose the language and the level, it allows users like me to match words, play sounds, and fill in blanks. It encourages me to earn streaks by completing a level each day. It was entertaining. I learned the basic foundations of Mandarin using Duolingo, which made it easier for me to quickly learn the new writing system and simple conversational phrases, such as “hello, how are you?” and “where is the restroom?”. However, as time went on, I felt it was more like memorizing than learning.

David:

I felt that I did make progress with Spanish as I progressed through high school; however, later I realized that this was a false sense of achievement. I knew vocabulary and could string together basic sentences, however, speaking was (and still is) very difficult. During my first time using Duolingo, I was given words to spell and click, but this did not build an understanding of the language. Duolingo focuses on vocabulary, it is like a flashcard app, however I still do not know Spanish. I believe the main issues I had with Duolingo were the asynchronous lessons, the false sense of progress, and the unstructured coursework.

Q: Why do you use KellynKai?

Karen:

Though I gave it my best effort, Duolingo failed to improve my Chinese proficiency as much as I wanted. To advance my Chinese learning, I searched and found KellynKai, a Chinese online tutoring service. It offers all the benefits of Duolingo, such as personalization, online learning, and effectiveness. Although Duolingo gets me closer to Chinese, I know that I would never become fluent using Duolingo. I decided to take a free trial lesson with KellynKai. My lesson was very enjoyable, so I scheduled a second lesson a week after. I feel like I am learning a lot more so far with KellynKai.

David:

This summer, rather than sitting at home doing nothing, I wanted to find a way to enrich my time. I thought one of the best ways to do this was to learn a new language. I knew that I needed to do something different if I were to actually learn, so I did some research and found KellynKai. Since they were offering a free trial lesson I went ahead and took it. I really liked the tutor and how the lesson built up my understanding of Mandarin. On that basis, I decided to stick with KellynKai.

Q: How has your experience been with KellynKai?

David:

Since the tutoring is synchronous and the lesson plans are structured, I feel that learning Mandarin has been much more effective. Throughout high school, the teacher was the primary driver of my learning, and the same is true with KellynKai. The tutors are very responsive to my skill level and lessons are structured for effective learning. Unlike Duolingo, my first lesson at KellynKai was learning to pronounce vowels and my tutor provided a lesson plan. My KellynKai lesson helped me build my understanding of Chinese from the ground up. My tutor used vocabulary to reinforce the lesson focus. The tutor taught me basic language rules to help me to learn more Chinese. For example, in my second lesson, I could pick up Pinyin pronunciation by reading it. Duolingo does not do this, instead it focuses on vocabulary without teaching the fundamentals of the language. I’m very happy with my experience with KellynKai.

Karen:

I like it when I get to talk to a live tutor. KellynKai makes it very easy for me to learn Chinese online. I feel it is way better than Duolingo, personally. For instance, I get to learn about more complex grammar. The most important aspect of learning Chinese for me is communication. Having a conversation with a native speaking tutor not only helps me learn the language correctly but also improves my ability to speak it well in everyday situations, for example, both formally and using slang.

Q: What are the main differences between the services you have noticed?

David:

The main difference that I have noticed is the synchronous feature of KellynKai. Since the tutors are live, I feel more engaged with KellynKai. Duolingo is completely asynchronous and I feel more like I’m working on an assembly of tasks. As a matter of fact, my limited Spanish knowledge was from my teacher rather than from Duolingo. Duolingo’s only feature is its flashcard-like website, whereas KellynKai has more offerings outside of the class. After class, I can refine and practice the skills I learned with the KellynKai flashcard app. Duolingo acts as a flashcard service; KellynKai uses flashcards to supplement actual learning. Flashcard supplementation allows me to learn the language more effectively, and I feel I am already having a better time learning Chinese than I ever did learning Spanish.

Karen:

I believe that the quality of the lesson makes a big difference. Part of me thinks that this is because Duolingo is missing the human element. Unlike KellynKai, the Duolingo app does not offer professional guides or conversations with live tutors. KellynKai offers a one-on-one tutoring lesson; therefore, I have more time to practice my language skills with a real person. Depending on how you study, learning a language with a real person can make a tremendous difference. However, Duolingo is still such a good start for everyone to learn any language online.

These testimonials describe how Duolingo has helped and hurt these two students. As Karen said, Duolingo is a reasonable starting place to develop an interest in any language. However, at a certain point, for many students, learning a language requires much more. KellynKai provides a comprehensive and professional experience with live tutors, a flashcard app, and flexible scheduling.