language

Learning French and Welsh with Duolingo

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A screenshot of my Duolingo profile.

Considering the millions of people who already use it, I probably don’t need to tell you about Duolingo. It’s arguably the most popular app for learning a new language, and I’ve been using it daily for over three years now.

Until now, I’ve been learning French. Now, I studied French for seven years at school and college, obtaining a Grade A* at GCSE, and then a Grade D at A-level. But my A-levels were in 2002, and my opportunities to practice French were limited in subsequent years.

I first dabbled with Duolingo in 2018, when we were due to go to France on holiday. I kept a streak for a few weeks to brush up my French, but didn’t manage to keep it up. I tried again the following year, as we went to France again in 2019, but I couldn’t keep the momentum going. Then lockdown happened and I couldn’t go anywhere.

Super Duolingo

However, we did book a France holiday for 2022. And coincidentally, on the 1st January 2022, Duolingo offered a year’s premium membership for £48, which was 60% off the standard price. So, I took advantage, and, apart from one day in 2023 (ironically because we were in France), I’ve kept my streak going. Having Super Duolingo made a big difference – not having to sit through repetitive adverts, and having unlimited retries, made it a more pleasant experience. I think that’s why I’ve stuck with it.

Indeed, as per the screenshot, I’ve managed to remain the Diamond League for 114 weeks – which is more than two years, if you’re counting. I have managed to come top of the Diamond League a few times, although I’ve yet to come top of the Diamond Tournament.

In terms of progress, my Duolingo French score is currently 105. On the CEFR, that puts me at the lower end of the B2, or ‘vantage’ scale. A high B2 score would probably be enough to study a degree course in French, should I ever have the desire to. Currently, the maximum obtainable Duolingo score for French is 130, which is high B2. In future, the maximum score may go up to 160, which would be C1, or ‘Advanced’ on the CEFR.

Switching to Welsh

Whilst my aim is to complete Duolingo’s French course up to a score of 130, I’m planning to switch to Welsh for a while. Our summer holiday this year will be in Wales, and it would be nice to learn a few phrases to use. And yes, I’m fully aware that almost every native Welsh speaker also speaks English, but so far all I know is ‘Bore Da’ (hello) and ‘Diolch’ (thank you). And Welsh is technically one of the UK’s official languages, albeit one that is little used outside of Wales.

The Welsh course on Duolingo is significantly shorter than the French course, and it apparently hasn’t been updated since 2023. It’s therefore possible that I may complete it before our holiday in July, at which point, I can go back to finishing the French course.

What’s next

After I’ve completed French and Welsh, I would have to decide what to do next. A while ago, I stopped doing the ‘legendary’ levels on Duolingo in French, so I could go back and re-do those. Or, I could switch to another language entirely. Alongside my A* in French GCSE, I also got an A* in German, having studied both, so maybe I could start the German course. After 25 years, I only remember small bits of German, and so I would probably still have to do the course essentially from the start. I’ve also never actually set foot in a German-speaking country (apart from a very brief visit to Switzerland in 1992), although I would like to.

Losing the language of love

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Given with love

I’m working through the article that I’ve saved to Pocket over the past few weeks and came across a poignant piece called Losing the Language of Love (Web Archive Link). It’s about how you develop a special dialect when you’re close to someone for a long time, whether it’s a partner, friend or family member, and how it feels when that person is no longer a part of your life anymore.

It reminded me of the almost three and a half years that I spent with Hari, my first girlfriend. Over the years we developed our own dialect between us, much of it derived from gamer speak – we’d call each other ‘noob’ if we did something wrong, or use ‘zomg!’ as an expression of surprise. And, like in most relationships, we had pet names for each other that made no sense to anyone else.

We split up in March 2009. As well as losing a partner, I also lost a reason to use those words – they didn’t really mean anything to anyone else. And I’d feel uncomfortable using them with Christine – after all, I see them as relics from an old relationship that didn’t work out.

But then Christine and I also have our own words. Like most couples, we have our pet names for each other, which in both cases is ‘Squishy‘, because we’re just that sick-inducingly cute. And, by extension, our pet name for our unborn child is ‘the Squishlet’, even though we’ve basically settled upon a name for it based on its presumed gender. Plus, there are other words and phrases that we use that are probably meaningless to others.

When a relationship with someone close to you ends, it isn’t just the physical things that disappear. It’s also the less tangible things like words and phrases, that meant so much to you and your significant other. To others, they are just that – words and phrases with no context.