So, I finally cracked the 1000 day streak on DuoLingo. Now, the Owl is pretty forgiving, and allows up to two days missed in a row, so it hasn’t been exactly 1000 days, but I’d hazard a guess it’s under 1050.
Has it worked?
Sort of.
I went to France and was able to order food and conduct simple conversations, albeit often prepared with a sample script beforehand. Being able to read a bit was helpful as well.
I had a similar experience when I went to Mexico City, fumbling my way through Spanish.
My review: it’s fine as a language learning tool, but it isn’t a pathway to fluency. It’s a game which gives you the impression of language learning in a simple and frictionless way, but it lacks teaching, so I often have to go to other sources to understand what’s going on. After two years of paying for Pro, I don’t think I’ll resubscribe, and instead direct my language learning budget elsewhere, probably SuperFluent.
But overall, not a terrible experience by any means!