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If this is your first Z-Pack, welcome - I'm Zach.

I scour the jungle of the World Wide Web to deliver you micro doses of big trends & ideas.

Better than the news, worse than a book.

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🔥 Hot Take Friday: How Duolingo Holds You Back

This is a live image of me as I die on the hill that Duolingo and other language-learning gaming apps are NOT your solution to learning a language:

Here’s why I crusade against Duolingo:

They’ve gamified a complex thing for you so that you spend your time wanting to learn a language all on the app instead of mixing it up as you should — shame on that bird!

I know what you’re thinking - yes, Duolingo can be helpful, but it’s just one ingredient to the recipe for learning a language.

As writer Trung Phan shares below, Duolingo keeps you in a chokehold by using these 2 nudges:

1. Streak-saver notification: “It pops up on your phone when there’s an hour left in the day, often with the alarm of a siren emoji.”

2. Passive-aggressive notification

Lessons learned:

• We shouldn’t gamify everything, because (1) gamified doesn’t mean you’re learning, and (2) you’re rewarded with cheap dopamine hits that can be addictive

• There’s not a one-stop shop for language-learning

A writer I enjoy, Murtaza Hussein, wrote how he taught himself to speak and read at an intermediate level of Turkish in just seven months — that’s less than 2 semesters of classes!

Here are his recommendations on how to learn a language + some tips of my own from my experience learning Spanish and Portuguese (I have to be able to read, write, and speak both daily for work, not to 💪, but feels essential for trusting me on this!)

Check out his full piece here

1. Find a tutor on the apps iTalki or Preply (or Natakallam depending on region).

   • You can test out a few and find someone you click with to be your main person. Try and meet with them for a few hours a week — it may cost like $40 a week, or $160 a month for a really extensive amount of guidance.
     

2. Download a flashcard app on your phone and laptop.

   • I like Brainscape, but also recommend Anki.

   • Give yourself a flashcard quiz with all your new words every morning, or make a Note in your phone with words you want to get better at (I divide mine by category, i.e. food, home, vacation, etc.)

3. Duolingo (notice how it’s merely a piece to the puzzle):

   • Play it on your phone for 5 to 15 minutes a day as a refresher. You can do this walking around, drinking coffee, before bed, or while waiting in line somewhere
     

4. After three months of learning, change your device language to the language you are focusing on (Ik it’s scary!)

   • After about a week the pain will start to go away 🫠 
     

5. Immerse yourself in the language’s media:

   • Find a Netflix show, follow comedians and podcast accounts on Instagram and YouTube, and listen to music — ya gotta throw the kitchen sink at it!
     

6. Don’t give up!

Also, if you want to get REALLY good at it, or anything, honestly, def check out writer Trung Phan’s awesome breakdown on pursuing mastery here. You’ll regret it if you don’t give it a read!

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Thanks for taking the Pack,

Zach

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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice or recommendation for any investment. The Content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.