💾 Archived View for tilde.club › ~winter › gemlog › 2023 › 8-21.gmi captured on 2024-08-25 at 00:23:24. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2024-05-26)
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Some...things...came up today, the result of which was that I ended up making my Duolingo profile private. This has a couple of effects: it stops you from having friends in-app; and, it turns off the leaderboard.
I was sad for the former, though in my group chat, my Duo friends totally understood the reason: unwanted attention. But turning off rankings and leaderboards? Holy hell. That was amazing. This app is for learning again.
Once you've played long enough to hang around Diamond League, you understand the strategies: do a lesson every morning and every evening to get the corresponding x2 exp bonus; do lessons in non-2x-exp, because they take several minutes and aren't a good use for the multiplier, and always stop at the last lesson in a cycle, because that last lesson will net you a 2x exp on mobile.
You end up hyperfocused on maximizing experience during the 2x bonus, which means doing reviews endlessly; these net you 20 x 2=40 exp in 40-60s. Normally they're a great way to review what you've learned, but when you're slamming the same stuff over and over for 15-30 minutes? That's not learning, that's gamification.
So with the leaderboard off, I can do lessons and reviews, and focus on what I think I need. I still get experience, but it doesn't really matter. I'm back to learning. I think this makes the app that much more usable.
Ar aghaidh!