Lessons on Writing from DuoLingo

Small steps matter in moving your writing project forward

Photo by Hannah Wright on Unsplash

What do learning Dutch and developing a writing practice have in common?

Quite a bit, actually.

I have been using the app Duolingo for five minutes each day to learn Dutch. I progress through micro-learning lessons that rely on repetition and a slow but steady increase in complexity. The level of commitment is low, and after only 5 minutes of use, the app will congratulate you on continuing your daily Dutch habit for another day.

It’s easy to complete a daily micro lesson because the app sends reminders and creates accountability, and five minutes is a low barrier to entry. The app starts pestering me if I haven’t completed my daily task, and I get the reward of seeing my streak increase each day. I keep completing it day after day because of the reminders and because it’s just such an easy task to feel accomplished about.

There’s a lot of positive reinforcement.

I will not be conversing in Dutch at my local cafe anytime soon because my progress is slow and limited to recognition and memorization rather than application in real-life situations. Also, the app seems to focus on a lot of unessential vocabulary first. Sure, I can rattle off words like "pig" or "clogs," but asking “where is the bathroom?” I still couldn’t find the toilet after 130 days of learning on the app and counting.

That said, it’s remarkable how many words I have learned during this time, and if I had told myself, “You can’t learn a language in five minutes a day," I would know a couple hundred fewer Dutch words than I know now. Seeing the regular progress is motivating.

I have been reflecting on the parallels between learning a foreign language and my writing habits, and I believe Duolingo has a lot to teach us about writing.