The apples don't fall far from the tree
For Christmas last year, TM gave his younger siblings tablets. Since you all know my views on screens, you can imagine I had mixed feelings over this, but they were ecstatic. Despite my misgivings, they have proven to be a pretty good thing. There is the game that we got for R. They have all been good about waiting to get them out at the end of the day after everything is picked up. And just a few days ago, G., L., and Y. have discovered DuoLingo.
This first came up because Y. expressed a desire to brush up on her Mandarin since she realized that she has lost quite a bit. Putting DuoLingo on her tablet seemed like an easy way to start this process. (To our Mandarin speaking friends in Evanston, boy, we wish we lived closer. And not just because your language skills!) It's not perfect, but it is a start.
Of course, once Y. had it on her tablet, G. and L. needed it on theirs. L. is currently working on Spanish. I'm not sure what G. decided on, but I've heard mumblings about Icelandic (which I'm not sure is even available) and Polish. Both girls have expressed a desire to learn all the languages on DuoLingo. It's a job to rein them in a bit and convince them to focus on just one.
I realize that this is a wee bit hypocritical of me since at one point I was working on three languages at the same time. I'm also the person who took French IV and Beginning Intensive Italian my senior year in college for fun. (Please do not ask me to use Italian. I have forgotten 99% of it, and there wasn't a huge amount to begin with.) I completely understand the desire to learn all the languages.
No, DuoLingo is not a complete foreign language program. But it is great for a younger student who wants to try out language learning. there are certainly worse things to spend screen time on.
This first came up because Y. expressed a desire to brush up on her Mandarin since she realized that she has lost quite a bit. Putting DuoLingo on her tablet seemed like an easy way to start this process. (To our Mandarin speaking friends in Evanston, boy, we wish we lived closer. And not just because your language skills!) It's not perfect, but it is a start.
Of course, once Y. had it on her tablet, G. and L. needed it on theirs. L. is currently working on Spanish. I'm not sure what G. decided on, but I've heard mumblings about Icelandic (which I'm not sure is even available) and Polish. Both girls have expressed a desire to learn all the languages on DuoLingo. It's a job to rein them in a bit and convince them to focus on just one.
I realize that this is a wee bit hypocritical of me since at one point I was working on three languages at the same time. I'm also the person who took French IV and Beginning Intensive Italian my senior year in college for fun. (Please do not ask me to use Italian. I have forgotten 99% of it, and there wasn't a huge amount to begin with.) I completely understand the desire to learn all the languages.
No, DuoLingo is not a complete foreign language program. But it is great for a younger student who wants to try out language learning. there are certainly worse things to spend screen time on.
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