DUOLINGO SQUAD

[Immortal Platypus]

I also now want the story.

[Just a Lifetime he/him]

Give the people what they [say they] want...

Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago --- two years ago on Thanksgiving --- when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the restaurant

Actually, it all started about seven years ago when I got a job at the University of Bern (UniBe) in Switzerland.  Once I got there, I learned that immigrants to Switzerland who don't already speak French or German are officially required to demonstrate a credible effort to learn either of those languages.  (This turned out not to be enforced by my local immigration authorities, but I didn't discover that until renewing my registration the following year.)  I only had native English and AP-level Spanish.  Bern is just barely on the Germanic side of the country, so I signed up for an evening German class through UniBe, where some of my classmates recommended Duolingo.

So around Christmas 2016 I started doing German on Duolingo, and figured that I might as well also rebuild/maintain what scraps of Spanish I still had.  However, I wanted language learning to feel like a fun hobby, rather than just another thing to do for work, so I added Welsh to the mix, as a thoroughly impractical language to do for fun.

Completely by coincidence, following my contract in Switzerland, the next job offers I got were from the University of Liverpool and Swansea University [Prifysgol Abertawe] --- Swansea/Abertawe is in south Wales, while Liverpool is just over the border from north Wales.  I ended up in Liverpool, where I have a couple of Welsh coworkers who speak a bit of Welsh.

In the meantime, around the end of my time in Bern in early 2019, I was getting a bit bored with German/Spanish/Welsh on Duolingo.  There have been several app redesigns since that time, but back then I had gone through the full "trees" for all three, had also done the English-from-German and English-from-Spanish "reverse trees", and was close to wrapping up the German-from-Spanish and Spanish-from-German trees.  So I added Chinese since U. Liverpool has a lot of Chinese students, and also reinforced the impractical side with Esperanto.

I managed to keep up all five for a little over a year, but by early 2020 (even pre-lockdown) I was getting too busy with my new job (especially my teaching duties, which I'm currently procrastinating from).  And the app had been redesigned to provide a bit more to play with, so I dropped back to German/Spanish/Welsh, which I continue to this 2,268th day of my streak.

So, that's what I did.

You know, if one person --- just one person --- does it, they may think he's really sick

[Telrao she/her]

7 hours ago, Just a Lifetime said:

Hola / Hallo / Haia!

I'm doing Spanish, German and Welsh (with Chinese and Esperanto set aside for the foreseeable future): duome.eu/daschaich

I'll spare y'all the story behind the choice of lingos.

Bienvenue! Welcome to the Squad, my friend! I shall add you as a member  

[NerdyAarakocra They/Them]

On 3/15/2023 at 4:16 PM, Just a Lifetime said:

Give the people what they [say they] want...

Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago --- two years ago on Thanksgiving --- when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the restaurant

but Alice doesn't live in the restaurant, she lives in the church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower, with her husband Ray and Fasha the dog.

Edited March 22, 2023 by NerdyAarakocra

[Szeth's Facepalm]

Guys i got a thirty day streak and got inducted into the streak society!!! I got a new app icon, gems, three free days of duo plus, and a bunch of other stuff :DDDD

[Telrao she/her]

9 hours ago, Szeth's Facepalm said:

Guys i got a thirty day streak and got inducted into the streak society!!! I got a new app icon, gems, three free days of duo plus, and a bunch of other stuff :DDDD

YAYYYYY!!!

You are now one of Duo's Legion! Go forth, brother, and spread the good news!

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

I WILL FREE YOU ALL!

[Szeth's Facepalm]

3 hours ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

I WILL FREE YOU ALL!

naw bro i'm good really they're giving me free gems n stuff

[Guest]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Telrao she/her]

1 minute ago, MarceletsGo said:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Dang bro what

My little brother lost his 388 day streak yesterday :sweat:

[Guest]

oof.    I'm not the father... my nonexistent girlfriend cheated on me...

[NerdyAarakocra They/Them]

15 hours ago, MarceletsGo said:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

But the "Tu" is unnecessary. It's implied with the "est."

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, NerdyAarakocra said:

But the "Tu" is unnecessary. It's implied with the "est."

Ok thanks I really hate latin 

[NerdyAarakocra They/Them]

1 minute ago, MarceletsGo said:

Ok thanks I really hate latin 

No, I'm saying that Doulingo did it redundantly.

[Guest]

Ok that's stupid and gonna cause confusion 

[Telrao she/her]

4 hours ago, NerdyAarakocra said:

But the "Tu" is unnecessary. It's implied with the "est."

It's a way of teaching. As you get into more complicated stuff, they take away the redundant things. *shrug* Just makes it easier to understand when you are learning the language  

[Lord Gregorio he/him]

Spoiler

I got this wonderful email from the one and only green bird. I feel mocked.

[Telrao she/her]

1 hour ago, Lord Gregorio said:

  Reveal hidden contents

I got this wonderful email from the one and only green bird. I feel mocked.

Lol that's hilarious

Guess what question I just got?

Spoiler

*tremble tremble*

[Guest]

Uh-oh

[Quivil]

Just because Duo's never going to die doesn't mean they can never be murdered...

[Telrao she/her]

Hmmmm yes! We have plotted before, but not with a True Mercenary...

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

Heehee I ripped of Duo's wings and so had to sign up using an alternate google account to start learning Latin and Greek

[Telrao she/her]

2 minutes ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

Heehee I ripped of Duo's wings and so had to sign up using an alternate google account to start learning Latin and Greek

W-what

So are ARE doing Duolingo? Hast thou sworn fealty to his Languageness?

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

...Telrao I ripped off his wings. Do you think I'm going to swear fealty? I'm going to find a way to free you all from the inside!

[Telrao she/her]

3 minutes ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

...Telrao I ripped off his wings. Do you think I'm going to swear fealty? I'm going to find a way to free you all from the inside!

*shook* B-but

*checks streak*

416 days uhhh *throws muffins*