365 Days of Duolingo

This past week I finished a 365 day-long streak of learning Greek on Duolingo!

Why?

I started this challenge last year shortly after finishing my LeetCode challenge for three reasons. First, since I’m half Greek on my dad’s side, I felt that learning Greek would help me get more in touch with my heritage. At the very least, it would make my paternal grandparents happy, since they’re native-born Greeks. Second, I wanted something else to do each day since I was no longer solving Leetcode challenges.

How did it go?

I definitely feel like I know more Greek! Though I will admit, I was more enthusiastic about Duolingo in the first month or two of the challenge than I was during the rest of it. By then I wasn’t as invested in learning and would only open the app to do my daily practice. Because of this I never reached the diamond league, but maybe one day I’ll return and try to make it there. Despite this, I still feel like I learned enough Greek to go on vacation in, e.g., Athens or Sparti.

Also, I have to compliment the Duolingo team: they really know how to market the app, and the designers and developers must play videogames or study game design because the app makes learning a language so much fun. From the art design to the sound effects, and especially the way one’s phone vibrates when they get a correct answer, the whole experience just feels so juicy.

What’s next?

I’m putting down Duolingo for now, but I may return to it later. For now I want to enjoy at least a few weeks without working on any year-long challenge.