I hit a numeric milestone in Duolingo yesterday, 300 days learning Spanish.
One of my Covid-19-keep-my-sanity-hobbies I decided to take on was learning Spanish. I started out really strong, and in the early days was spending an hour or more each day. After a couple of months, I started burning out, so I slowed down, and found a balance where I could still move forward, but not feel it was too much.
I haven’t been perfect. I’ve missed days. But the app has a nice streak-freeze feature that can keep you going. It’s a great idea! It’s not so much that you just quit, but it’s enough so you don’t feel frustrated and have to give up just because life gets in the way.
I’ll be frank, I probably would have quit a long time ago had it not been for the gamification Duolingo provides. The daily reminder to keep a streak going is a powerful motivation. It has been so helpful, I’ve started looking at other opportunities to use this powerful habit learning technology. For example, a great iOS app like Strides could be a helpful too to motivate me to walk daily, or tackle any other routine habit I wish to create.
Enjoy!
