I am in exalted company. I have read that Meghan Markle has just hit a 90 day streak in French.
Duolingo is a highly successful language learning app. You score points (XPs) from various activities including speaking. There are leagues, and you move up and down dependent on how much you practise. The app is fronted by Duo, a cartoony owl.
Move over Meghan. I am approaching a 1,250 day streak in Italian. I have accumulated enough additional credits for my efforts that if I miss an occasional day then I can get a 'streak freeze'. I am on the 'Super' programme, where for around £60 per year I get no adverts, and unlimited goes at getting a question right. But soon I will reduce to the standard free version. Why? I will explain.
The problem is the algorithm, and specifically how it draws you into doing more and more on the app each day. Key to this magnetism is the opportunity to boost your XPs by reaching certain achievements eg if you score 90% plus in three lessons, your points are multiplied up, and if you work very hard you might get into the promotion zone.
Of course there is the converse. If you score low in a week then you will be into the hell of the demotion zone. Oh the shame!
What got me in the end was the irresistible urge to game the system. Instead of plodding through another proper lesson, I would focus on the skills practice modules, in which you consolidate your learning. My speciality was speaking, where you hear one of the characters saying a sentence and then repeat it. No boasting, but I am reasonably good at this and can knock out a 20 XP practice in around a minute. If I am in line for a booster then my 20 XP can become 40 or even 60.
Do well, and the Owl congratulates me and encourages me to do more. So I respond, concentrating on the boosters and relegating the more challenging ordinary lessons to when I have time.
The Owl is happy if you are on the app; the Owl is less happy if you neglect your studies. A friend had had enough and abandoned study, sliding down the leagues. The Owl first expressed sadness, which developed into being the Duolingo equivalent of right pissed off.
I have seen the light. I am not renewing my Super subscription. I have played in the top leagues including the top one, Diamond. I am doing one ordinary lesson each day, and must make clear that Duolingo is a good learning tool to supplement other activities, so I shall continue to enjoy my time on it. I can withstand the adverts, and think I can manage the disadvantage of the free version where you only have limited chances to correct mistakes.
But otherwise I am off the owl wheel. I don't care. I am free. To whit to whoo.
The author is a writer, speaker, historian, occasional tour guide, and former Managing Partner of a City law firm.