Open source Duolingo alternative?

original2@lemmy.world to Open Source@lemmy.ml – 148 points –

I would like to learn a couple of languages (polish and Japanese - I already learned Spanish to a decent degree) but it seems like every solution is closed source.

I would use books but listening (and speaking) are very important and books won't help with those.

What would you guys recommend?

30

The US Foreign Services Institute releases their learning materials, so if you're okay with a lack of structure I hear they can be very useful, including both reading and listening.

It can be accessed on several different sites. Here's one that came up, but you can find a few more with some searching: https://www.livelingua.com/fsi/

Holy shit this is an excellent resource. Thanks a lot

Edit never mind just looked at the pdf for my native language and it's full of errors for the most basic shit.

I just checked my native language and they are using an older version of the language that ceased to be used around 1975 or so.

2 more...
2 more...

There is librelingo but, honestly, it's far behind Duolingo.

The closest software I found is to use a flashcard tool (like AnkiDroid) and then search for an open deck of your language using AnkiWeb.

Doing so you get a similar experience than DuoLingo without the gamification and pretty UI.

This. Lots of people use Anki for this purpose. When you get used to it, there is no way back.

Duolingo is useful for wasting time while feeling like you are learning however it isn't a great tool for learning if that is your goal.

I hear this opinion a lot, and I'd just like to add it manages to help with some exposure and repetition at the very least. I'm sure you're more knowledgeable than myself with learning languages, but I've been using Duolingo to learn Japanese for a little while now and have managed to pick out basic hiragana and katakana here and piece together small words.

I don't have any delusions that I'll be fluent if I finish this course, but if it can help me learn the characters it's worth the time to me.

A lot of people reduce Duolingo to their app, but they offer a big website on which you get a lot of explanations

I disagree, of course you can't learn just using Duolingo, but it is like saying X textbook doesn't teach you anything because you are only using that. Learning a language is a process that never ends and that requires a lot of different processes, maybe Duolingo doesn't have absolutely all of them but if you finish a tree of the main languages and some other digging around you will have learnt quite a lot.

I think my all time favorite for learning a new language is language transfer. Though, I don't see a polish or Japanese option, sadly.

Have you tried this? Learning a language by listening to 5-10 minutes each day seems too good to be true but I might give it a shot 😄

If you like Duolingo's style, which I honestly do (I mix it with podcasts on the road), then there's probably no close enough alternative.

If you want an open source version because of the ads, just go to your phone settings and set a "private DNS" with dns.adguard.com. There are other options too, but I'll leave them for you to discover. This will filter out most ads on many apps and websites, such as Duolingo.

3 more...

Most modern textbooks include a CD (or download code) with listening and pronounciation activities.

A Spanish person lol

I'm for open source, but something like Duolingo doesn't really bother me if it's closed source

I get what you mean, but the speaking excersizes involve them recording me speak. That is kinda sketchy in my opinion. It also uses adverts, so transparency is kinda important (again, in my opinion)

Well you can check your privacy policy to see what they do with that. I doubt they can get much personal data from that. Jk they're going to clone you with AI and steal your bank info.