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The greatest regret of my life is choosing to take French in high school. Don’t get me wrong, I find French beautiful, and I was a dedicated A+ student. But as an adult, I’m constantly embarrassed by how little Spanish I know.
But even in adulthood, I knew it wasn’t too late for me to learn Spanish, so I did what literally everyone does: I downloaded Duolingo. It’s free, popular, and has a mascot with deeply threatening energy. What’s not to love?
Eventually, I reached a 300-day streak—nearly a full year of daily practice!—but when I tried to have an actual conversation in Spanish, I could not hold my own, to put it gently. I realized that Duolingo had gamified me into feeling like I was making progress, rewarding streaks and unlocking owl animations while carefully avoiding the part where I learned,
...Keep reading this article on Life Hacker.
