Jack Tame: Duolingo and the utility of multilingualism

361 days.   

That’s how long my streak on Duolingo is. This week, all going well, I will pass the 12-month mark on the world’s biggest language learning app. A year of consistent daily Español.  

Although of course, if you’ve ever used Duolingo, you might know that a 365-day-streak does not necessarily mean a full year without missing a lesson. The thing about Duolingo streaks is that if you happen to miss the occasional day for whatever reason, and you’ve racked up a bit of a streak already, it forgives you your absence. It freezes your progress for a day. I thought it was a cop-out feature until I flew across a time zone and faced the prospect of having my record thrown on the scrap heap.    

One of my great educational regrets is that I cannot fluently speak multiple languages. I’ve always loved the sound of languages. I’ve loved what they reveal about culture. I get such a thrill from being in a place and speaking something other than English, connecting with another person. I swear that when I dragged my family to Latin America last year, you could hear my wife rolling her eyes as I cleared my throat and began attempting to converse with the guy in the customs booth. But while I’ve ebbed and flowed with my Māori and Spanish over the years, I’ve never got to fluency.   

It’s one of those slightly embarrassing things about New Zealand. Roughly 20% of us can speak two languages – a figure that has been increasing as our population becomes more diverse. But when you travel, you quickly come to appreciate that not only can most Europeans breezily switch between at least two languages, many people in developing countries with limited formal education opportunities also have impressive language skills. Two thirds of Europeans are multilingual. Indonesia has roughly 200 million people who can switch between languages, let alone people in the sub-continent or sub-Saharan Africa. 

For many, multilingualism is a utility and English skills are vital for economic reasons. For those of us who’ve grown up in Anglophone countries, the case for learning can perhaps seem less urgent. 

I can see competing forces in language trends. While te reo Māori has recorded an incredible surge in interest over the last decade, new language tools make it easier for those of us who are also interest in foreign languages to opt out of doing the hard stuff. Real-time live translation tools are amazing (when they work) and they’re only going to get better. It’s not inconceivable to think that in a few years, live translation will become the default way of travelling. For many, it already is. No more blind pointing at a menu and hoping for the best. No more language barrier charades.  

I can see how those tools and that technology might make someone like me give up and throw in the towel. What’s the point in a Duolingo streak if you can open a different app on your phone and that’ll perfectly communicate on your behalf? 

But I hope not. I think the connections you form with another person when you communicate in their language are ultimately un-replicable by technology. And what’s more, there is something nourishing about forming a learning habit. It’s like you can feel the neural pathways trying to fire. There’s something humbling, too. It’s 25 years since I started learning Spanish, and here I am again confusing a verb conjugation.  

I think from time to time, being humbled isn’t such a bad thing. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
A'd be three hundred and sixty one days. That's how
long my streak on duo Lingo is. This week all
going well. If I can hold my nerve, I will
pass the twelve month mark on the world's biggest language
learning app, a year of consistent daily Espanol. Although, of course,

(00:37):
if you've ever used Duolingo, and apparently half a billion
people around the world have, you might know that actually
a three hundred and sixty five day streak does not
necessarily mean a full year without missing a lesson. The
thing about Duolingo streaks is that if you happen to
miss the occasional day for whatever reason, and you've racked

(00:58):
up a bit of a streak already, it forgives you
your absence. It freezes your progress for a day. And
actually I thought there was a bit of a cop
out feature until I flew across a time zone. I
did that thing when you're coming back to New Zealand
from overseas. You leave somewhere on a Tuesday, and you
land on a Thursday, and all of a sudden I
realized I had the prospect of my record being thrown

(01:19):
on the scrap peep through no fault of my own.
One of my great educational regrets is that I cannot
fluently speak multiple languages. I've always loved the sound of languages.
I love what they reveal about culture, and I get
such a thrill from being in a place and speaking

(01:41):
something other than English and connecting with another person. Honestly,
I will admit it, I am one of those utterly
insufferable travelers. I swear that when I dragged my family
to Latin America last year, you could hear my wife's
eyes rolling in the back of her head as I
cleared my throat and began attempting to converse with the

(02:01):
guy and the customs booth. But while I've kind of
ebbed and flowed and gone up and down, back and
forth with my Maudi and my Spanish over the years,
I've never got to fluency. I don't think. And it's
one of those, you know, kind of slightly embarrassing things
about New Zealand. I looked it up. So roughly twenty

(02:21):
percent of US can speak two languages, a figure that
has actually been increasing as our population becomes more diverse.
But when you travel, you quickly come to appreciate that
not only can most Europeans breezily switch between at least
two languages, many people in developing countries with limited formal
education opportunities also have impressive language skills. So two thirds

(02:45):
of Europeans are multi lingual. Indonesia has roughly two hundred
million people who can comfortably switch between languages, let alone
people in the subcontinent or sub Saharan Africa. And it's
not just being able to converse in two languages. For
many people, it's five or six. It's funny because I

(03:07):
think the lots of people multilingualism is a utility, and
English skills are vital for economic reasons. And for those
of us who've grown up in anglophone countries, the case
for learning can seem less urgent. Your whole livelihood doesn't
depend on it. As far as I'm concerned, I can

(03:27):
see competing forces and trends when it comes to language.
So while like Today or Mahudi, for example, has recorded
an incredible surge in interest over the last decade, new
language tools make it a lot easier for those of
us who are also interested in foreign languages to opt

(03:50):
out of doing the hard stuff of learning the grammar,
of getting the vocap. Real time live translation tools are
amazing when they work, and they're only going to get better.
It's just not inconceivable to think that in a few
years time, live translation will become the default way that

(04:11):
many people travel. I mean for many it already is
no more blind pointing at a menu and hoping for
the best, no more language barriers charades. I can see
how those tools and that technology might make someone like
me give up and throw in the towel. After all,
what's the point in a Duolingo streak if you can

(04:34):
open up a different app on your phone that will
perfectly communicate on your behalf. But I really hope not.
I really hope not. I just think the connections you
form with another person when you communicate in their language
are ultimately unreplicable with technology. There are some things that

(04:56):
technology and AI can't do. And what's more, there's something
nourishing about trying to form and sustain a habit in learning.
It's like you can feel the neural pathways trying to
fire in real time. I reckon, there's something humbling, too,

(05:17):
There is there's something humbling It's twenty five years since
I started learning Spanish, twenty five years and here I
am again confusing a verb conjugation. I just think, from
time to time being humbled isn't such a bad thing.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks d B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.