Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

Jack Tame: Duolingo and the utility of multilingualism

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Sinopse

361 days.    That’s how long my streak on Duolingo is. This week, all going well, I will pass the 12-month mark on the world’s biggest language learning app. A year of consistent daily Español.   Although of course, if you’ve ever used Duolingo, you might know that a 365-day-streak does not necessarily mean a full year without missing a lesson. The thing about Duolingo streaks is that if you happen to miss the occasional day for whatever reason, and you’ve racked up a bit of a streak already, it forgives you your absence. It freezes your progress for a day. I thought it was a cop-out feature until I flew across a time zone and faced the prospect of having my record thrown on the scrap heap.     One of my great educational regrets is that I cannot fluently speak multiple languages. I’ve always loved the sound of languages. I’ve loved what they reveal about culture. I get such a thrill from being in a place and speaking something other than English, connecting with another person. I swe