Gamify your language learning with Duolingo

Whether you’re looking to master a new language or just brush up on old skills, Duolingo’s fun challenges, quests, and community can help you stay motivated and have fun while you learn. It’s easy to get started: Practice for as little or as much time as you like each day, and enjoy the satisfaction of seeing your streak increase. Want to amp up your learning? Here are our top tips and tricks for getting the most out of the app.

Tap the Guidebook at the beginning of each unit to get an overview of its content, such as grammar tips and key phrases. Finished a level? Get in a quick lesson recap with a Review, or test your retention with an extra-hard Legendary challenge – just tap a completed level to select these options.

As you complete levels, you’ll also unlock fun characters and Rapid Review challenges – just wait for the grayed-out characters to appear in color, then tap one to start a timed lesson review. You’ll also earn achievements the more you practice, which you can find in your profile tab.

For an extra reminder to practice, add a Duolingo widget to your phone to easily keep track of your streak. Just long press the app icon on your device’s home screen and select “Widgets.”

Complete lessons to earn XP (experience points) and automatically compete in a league with other users – the more XP you earn, the higher you’ll advance (and the better the bragging rights). If your place in the league is slipping, be on the lookout for XP boosts and Happy Hours to maximize your points. For certain languages, you can also test your knowledge with timed challenge events, such as XP Ramp Up, whenever they appear in the league tab.

Connect with friends by going to your profile, tapping “Add friends,” then searching for or inviting contacts. Show them some support in your feed by tapping the Celebrate button, or share a fun new phrase you learned during a lesson by tapping “Share” on the right-hand side of the answer bar. Your feed is also where you’ll see blog posts on all things languages, from fun cultural facts to etymological deep dives.

Head to the Quests tab (the chest icon on your home screen) to power up your learning by completing daily or monthly quests to earn rewards, such as gems (which you can use to buy more rewards), streak freezes (so you can skip a day’s practice without it affecting your streak), and XP boosts (which you can use to refill your hearts if you’ve made too many mistakes).

If you’re following friends, you can be invited to a Friends Quest to take on challenges as a team: Either nominate someone to join you when prompted, or get notified when someone picks you.

Encourage your Friends Quest partner by giving them a nudge, or – if you’re feeling generous – by gifting them valuable XP so they can refill their hearts.

Making too many mistakes will cost you hearts, which can put your practice on hold for a few hours. While you can obtain more hearts by completing a review or watching an ad, upgrading to Super Duolingo will grant you unlimited hearts and remove any ads. It also lets you deepen learning in the Practice Hub (the dumbbell on your home screen), where you can work on weak areas with Target Practice, engage in conversation skills, review recent mistakes, and practice further via a library of interactive stories (available for select languages).