Build your learning habits with your friend Duo

You may have said oui, sí or ja to learning a new language but it always helps to have a little bit of motivation. Luckily, Duo, your feathered green friend and Duolingo’s beloved mascot, has you covered with handy habit-building features.

Keep your achievements in sight with a gentle nudge from Duo whenever you unlock your phone. On your home screen, tap and hold an empty spot to pull up the menu. Tap 'Widgets' and find the Duolingo widget to choose between a 2x1 or 4x2 format.

This adds your selected Duolingo widget on your home screen, so you can feature how many days in a row you’ve been learning a language. The longer you practice, the higher your streak count goes. Tapping the widget also takes you straight to the app, so you can keep your streak going for the day.

Reminders are always helpful, but it’s always better when you receive them at the right times. Duolingo allows you to customise your reminders so that you can get them at your preferred time of day— whether you’re kicking the morning off with a little practice over coffee or winding down from the day by getting some lessons in during your commute.

Just tap the Profile tab on the navigation bar and then the gear icon. Scroll down to Notification settings to customise reminders. Tap 'Reminder time' to manually schedule when you’re most likely to practice or toggle 'Smart scheduling' to let Duolingo handle it for you. You can even tap the mail icon for email notifications or the phone icon for push notifications from the friendly birdie.

It’s much easier to stay committed when it’s a shared goal and Duolingo’s new Friend Streak helps you do just that. Tap the flame icon at the top of your screen and then the Friends tab to add friends. Once they’ve accepted your request, all that's left to do is keep on practicing daily to build your streak together. You can share a streak with up to five individual friends.

There’s nothing like a bit of healthy competition to drive you. Tap the badge icon on the navigation bar to access leaderboards and see how you compare to other Duolingo users learning the same language. Earn points from completing lessons weekly to level up. New users start at the Bronze League, and with practice and dedication, you can work your way up – maybe even to Diamond League.

Habits are best built by finding the drive to work on them every day. Consistency is key, so let Duo take you under his wing and keep you focused on moving forwards – before you know it, you’ll be able to look back and see how far you’ve come.