I’ve spent the last few years testing a number of methods to learn French from scratch, and I am often asked what my thoughts are on Duolingo. It has certainly become a popular platform, but not because it’s effective.

Carina Otero learning French In Paris France

Duolingo’s popularity seems to stem from addicting gamification, a chaotic marketing strategy, and the simple fact that it’s a free app. I also find it especially interesting that Duolingo has succeeded in creating a sense of community amongst its users, but not necessarily in a way that enriches the language-learning experience or improves skills of the community’s members. Rather, Duolingo users seem to bond (or commiserate) over their shared experience of not learning anything from the platform.

For these exact reasons, I don’t use Duolingo. Instead, I have experimented with a handful of other methods– and the one that I believe is a more superior alternative is a Lingoda Sprint. There are several elements of a Lingoda Sprint that I find comparable to some of Duolingo’s most positive qualities, but are much more effective.

What is a Lingoda Sprint? Lingoda is an online language-learning platform that hosts live, small-group classes for French, Spanish, English, German, and Italian. Lingoda offers challenges for new users, called a Sprint or Super Sprint, which rewards students with cash or platform credit if they follow the challenge rules and attend a certain number of classes in a 60-day period. I successfully completed a Lingoda Sprint (which I write about here) and definitely recommend the experience.

If you’re looking for an alternative to Duolingo that will actually teach you to speak and understand a new language, continue reading to discover why a Lingoda Sprint is the best choice.

What Makes a Lingoda Sprint the Best Alternative to Duolingo for Learning a New Language

1. Motivation through gamification

There’s no question that Duolingo is popular because it’s addicting– they’ve mastered elements of gamification that keep users motivated to continue using the platform. Duolingo is essentially a vocabulary game that “rewards” users with status or notoriety within their app. However, simply playing the game isn’t enough to make you a proficient speaker in a new language. The comparison I like to make is explained well in one of my favorite books, Atomic Habits by James Clear. To paraphrase, he writes that real change comes from action, and not from movement. Movement may feel productive, but doesn’t actually produce results. When applying this theory to language-learning platforms, I would say that using the Duolingo app is movement that feels like productivity, but doesn’t give you the opportunity to put your skills into action.

By contrast, participating in a Lingoda Sprint allows you to learn through their informative lessons while also giving you plenty of opportunities to apply your skills and put them into action.

2. The science behind the streak

Maintaining a streak isn’t just a tool that platforms use to retain their users– the instant gratification and validation over long periods of time is also an enormous benefit to the user. In order to create a habit, an individual must repeat an action enough times for it to become second-nature.* Every time you use a platform and are rewarded for repeating an action (completing your lesson, attending a class, etc.) you are one repetition closer to developing that habit. And the more you continue developing that habit, over time you subconsciously train yourself to make that action part of your identity. If you can maintain a streak for learning a language, over time you will train yourself to believe that you are a speaker of that language, and it will become part of your identity.

Duolingo and Lingoda’s Sprint both integrate an element of ‘maintaining a streak’ in each of their platforms, but there is a key difference between the two. While maintaining a streak during a Lingoda Sprint will help you make real progress in learning a language and strengthen your identity as a speaker of that language, maintaining a Duolingo streak is really only solidifying your identity as someone who likes playing a vocabulary game on their phone.

*This is another principle explained in greater detail in the book Atomic Habits by James Clear

3. Lingoda’s Sprint reward is valuable

Making real progress while learning a language isn’t the only reward for completing Lingoda’s Sprint or Super Sprint– the greatest motivator is the promise of 50% of your money back in the form of cash, or 100% of your money back in the form of credits. For anyone looking to save money while also learning a language effectively, completing a Lingoda Sprint is one of the most creative ways to do exactly that. The current cost of a Lingoda Sprint is advertised as €360 for 30 classes in 60 days, or their Super Sprint is €610 for 60 classes in 60 days. Payments are made over the course of two months before the start of the Sprint, and you can also automatically apply my €20 discount by clicking this link to register for your challenge. If you successfully complete the challenge (and use my discount code!), you will have only paid €160 for 30 classes (€360/2=€180 , €180-€20=€160), or €285 for 60 classes (€610/2=€305 , €305-€20=€285). That makes the average cost per class around €5!

While Lingoda is a greater investment of time and money when compared to Duolingo, all the rewards you receive from completing a Lingoda challenge are far more valuable than what you could ever hope to expect from Duolingo.

Lingoda is a better alternative to other apps if you want to really learn how to speak and understand a new language

4. Lingoda teaches you more than just vocabulary

Lingoda’s lesson plans are dynamic, well-structured, and encourage creative thinking and collaboration with others. The fact that there is a real teacher guiding you and your classmates through the lesson is a great benefit, because you can ask questions and receive clarification. On the contrary, if you were self-teaching through Duolingo, you would have to seek out additional resources if you needed a grammatical rule explained to you, or would simply move on without understanding the reasoning. Duolingo’s lessons are limited, whereas Lingoda’s lessons are robust and also offer you plenty of opportunities to learn even more from your teacher and your classmates.

I noticed as I continued through my lessons during the Lingoda Sprint, I was often benefiting from an aspect that was unique to their format: I would learn something in one class, remember it, and then apply my new-found knowledge in another class while interacting with others, which would help solidify it to my memory. The dynamic nature of observing, understanding, applying, and interacting over multiple sessions is particularly conducive to my learning style, and it may be beneficial for you too.

5. You get to interact with real people on Lingoda

I’ve written at length specifically on the topic of why I prefer to learn language with real people as opposed to AI chat bots (you can read the full article here). But to summarize, one of the greatest benefits of learning from real interaction is that it improves your understanding and memory. I personally found Lingoda’s platform great because they have dozens and dozens of teachers, so you have more opportunities to learn from individuals with different accents, different backgrounds, and different personalities, making the experience more enriching. Building confidence while interacting with different types of people will also enhance your learning and comprehension, and you will be better prepared to use your skills in the real world. By learning in situations where you have to communicate and collaborate with real people, you’ll also be gaining valuable experience that will better prepare you for future interactions.

6. You create your own class schedule on Lingoda

People seem to love Duolingo for its convenience and flexibility, but those aspects are also central to Lingoda’s platform and structure. There are some strict rules to follow in order to qualify for a Lingoda challenge, but the fact that you can join an online class from home or from anywhere in the world is quite convenient. To complete a Lingoda Super Sprint, the timing is pretty straightforward with one class a day for 60 days, but the rules for the regular Sprint are a little more complicated: You can only 15 take classes in each month, and can only take up to 5 classes within a single week. Challenge participants can join any class that is already on the schedule, or they can request their preferred class and preferred time at least seven days in advance, and a professor will be assigned.

It’s important to note that Lingoda’s cancellation policy is quite strict: Sprint students are not able to cancel a class within seven days of it starting, otherwise they will be disqualified. The stakes are high, but the reward is worth it. I found the regular Sprint manageable, and as I’ve said before, I truly enjoyed the experience– you can read my full review about it here.

7. Lingoda provides legitimate certification of your level

In the language-learning community and perhaps even more broadly, Lingoda has a reputation of being a legitimate and respected platform. And if you needed to prove your level for a job, an application, a résumé, or a portfolio, it is more professional to include Lingoda’s language certification rather than awkwardly stating you once had a ‘Duolingo streak of XX days’.

If you complete at least 90% of classes in any level in Lingoda, you can easily generate a certificate that attests to your proficiency in that language. To generate your certificates, simply navigate to ‘Account Settings’, then ‘Learning’, and then click on the document you wish to download.

In the last few years that I’ve learned French from scratch, I have tried and tested dozens of methods to see what worked best for me. Somewhat ironically, I’ve discovered that experimenting with various methods was in-itself an effective technique– but if I had to choose just one method, I would say that Lingoda has been great for a number of reasons. Lingoda is convenient, accessible, and practical, and certainly has made me a better French speaker.

Are you looking for an alternative to Duolingo and wondering if a Lingoda Sprint is a good option for you? Let me know in the comments below, and I’ll be happy to answer any questions about my experience using the platform!