Duolingo vs. Rosetta Stone? Well, this may be the most commonly asked question in the world of language learning apps. And it is a fair question, if a little bit difficult to answer.
Learning a new language is an intimidating process, whether you’re going it alone or learning in a classroom setting. Luckily, useful language learning apps like Duolingo and Rosetta Stone can help you improve your skills and continuously learn new vocabulary and grammar. Both of these language apps have both a mobile and desktop app, making it easy to continue your learning from wherever you are. Although both apps will help you toward your language learning goals, they do so in different ways.
Both companies are incredibly popular with their smart, modern approaches to learning, and as a result, trying to decide between them can be really tough. While Duolingo tries to gamify the learning experience and make it fun, Rosetta Stone leans on visual exercises and killer voice recognition software. So, how do you choose?
Well, in this guide, we will explain the pros and cons of each, and ultimately, help you make a suitable choice.
Duolingo vs. Rosetta Stone: Overview
Duolingo presents available languages to learn to you based on what your native language is. For example, if your native language is French, you’ll have six different languages available to choose from. English speakers, by far, have the most options to choose from when selecting their next language to learn, with 38 different unique languages available.
English speakers can choose from many popular languages, including Spanish, French, Japanese, German, Korean, Italian, Hindi, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, and more. Then, Duolingo also offers its English users more niche fictional languages for fun, like Klingon and High Valyrian.
Rosetta Stone also presents users with 25 different languages to choose from. A few of the most popular languages here include Chinese (Mandarin), French, Spanish, Korean, Russian, German, Greek, Italian, and Vietnamese. You can even learn Latin through Rosetta Stone. However, you can only access these lessons through the web browser app, not the mobile app.
Duolingo lessons overview
Duolingo’s lessons are short; each one only takes about 5 to 10 minutes to complete, and they go by super fast. This is generally the case as each lesson is made up of just a few quick-hit, interactive exercises.
These exercises include listening drills, fill-in-the-blanks, matching pairs, verbal practice, and writing full sentences.
Essentially, Duolingo is a language learning game that takes the monotony out of learning by gamifying grammar exercises like fill-in-the-blank, multiple-choice, sentence-reordering, and speaking activities. It is a fun way to build your vocabulary before you commit to a more rigorous program (if you even want to go down that route, that is).
You also have the option to learn through other languages aside from English.
When you first use the app, you can take a placement test so you can jump right into the correct lessons for your level. This will consist of the kind of exercises you will be doing frequently while using the app, such as the “tap what you hear” activity.
Even though it’s a game, Duolingo is actually structured well as a learning program. Modules and levels are organized into a tree to help you see your progression. And like any game, you have to successfully complete a level to unlock the next.
Other than these personal gaming goals, you have the opportunity to compete with others, join competitions, and fight your way to the top of the leaderboard.
For additional reading and listening comprehension, some languages have a Stories section. Each story will earn you a certain amount of XP, moving you further up the leaderboard. Duolingo also has some podcasts for intermediate learners if you’re looking for long-form listening practice.
Rosetta Stone lessons overview
Each Rosetta Stone learning module contains one core 30-minute lesson that can be broken down into three 10-minute mini sessions if you would like, followed by 3 to 15 supplemental drills. These exercises that follow the core lesson are typically 5 to 10 minutes in length and cover things like pronunciation, listening, grammar, and writing.
In terms of timing, if you sit down with the goal of completing an entire lesson, it will likely take you right around an hour or so.
However, more broadly speaking, when you really break down the Rosetta Stone lessons, they are essentially a combination of images and audio.
You spend most of your time listening to a word or phrase, repeating that word or phrase, and then matching it up to a corresponding image. Essentially, the lessons and drills are all variations of interactive flashcards.
For example, let’s say you’re learning Portuguese. You’ll listen to a native speaker who says “o homem corre,” and then you’ll click an image of a man jogging.
The whole idea here is that you have to rely on visual cues, intuition, and inference as you gradually acquire the language content necessary to move on to the next lesson or unit (regardless of whether you are learning Spanish, French, or Italian).
You’ll start with one- or two-word building blocks and progress to longer, more grammatically complex sentences as you reach the higher levels.
Benefits of Duolingo
The free version
The clear highlight of the Duolingo program is the fact that they offer a free plan. This is what draws most people in, and you have to hand it to Duolingo. It is very commendable that their language programs are accessible to everyone. This makes it a great tool for anyone on a super tight budget.
However, the free version definitely has some disadvantages. For one, it is ad-supported, which can become really annoying and frustrating when you’re using the program. Secondly, the free plan comes with a limited amount of “hearts,” which are essentially just incorrect answers. You start with 5 per day and if you answer a question incorrectly during a lesson, you lose a heart.
Then when your hearts are up, you either need to stop for the day or circle back to old lessons in order to earn some more hearts. Frankly, it can just be very discouraging as you try to learn.
Lastly, free users have a limited amount of “test outs.” With Duolingo, if there’s a skill or topic that you already know really well and you want to skip ahead to keep learning new material, you can take a short quiz to “test out” of that particular topic to keep moving forward.
However, the issue here is that free users only have a limited number of “test outs” they can use.
So bottom line, while Duolingo’s app is free, like most freemium versions of anything, it is definitely lacking.
Gamifying learning
Duolingo’s gamification of the learning experience is another highlight. As you complete each lesson, you earn experience points (or XP points for short), as well as Duolingo currency known as lingots. The XP points relate to your daily goals and allow you to track your progress, while the lingots can be used to purchase additional features within the Duolingo store.
Duolingo’s app and digital platform also come with cool visuals. The dashboard is organized logically easy to navigate, and filled with cool, cartoonish animations. It also includes a daily goal tracker, a scoreboard where you can compete against other users, and other features that make it a fun, collaborative environment.
Here are a few of the best-gamified elements in Duolingo:
- Daily Streak: Much like Snapchat streaks, Duolingo’s daily streak requires you to complete at least one lesson a day.
- Achievements: There are a few fun achievements that inspire you to learn, like keeping up your streak for 365 days or learning a total of 2,000 words in a new course.
- Experience: You earn experience every time you complete a lesson. Typically every month, there’s a new experience challenge to meet and keep you motivated.
- Leagues: Duolingo has different leagues – or gem ranks – that you can compete in, starting with Bronze and ending with Diamond. If you gain enough experience to be in the Top 10 (out of 30 people), then you’re advanced to the next league. If you land in the Bottom 5, you’re demoted to the previous league.
Altogether, the Duolingo program feels much more like a community and game, so they definitely earn some points from that perspective.
Great variety
Another nice perk of the Duolingo course is the variety of lessons, drills and exercises.
Duolingo presents the same content in a variety of different ways, and all in a short time frame. The lessons force you to interact with the material through several different perspectives, which really helps to keep your attention.
This is not the same with Rosetta Stone. Sometimes their matching words to pictures exercises can become somewhat repetitive.
Duolingo lessons are also shorter than Rosetta Stone’s. This makes them great for busy professionals or parents who don’t have a ton of time each day to dedicate to learning a new language.
All in all, you just have to appreciate the swift, interactive nature of Duolingo’s lessons.
Benefits of Rosetta Stone
Better for visual learners
Because the Rosetta Stone lessons focus so heavily on imagery, they’re great for visual learners. I know there are a ton of people out there who learn best by seeing and understanding how each word is spelled, or by making a mental connection between a word and a particular picture or scene.
Then when they have to recall that word, these types of learners either picture the spelling of the word or the corresponding image.
It’s just how some people learn and associate new words. If that happens to sound like you, then Rosetta Stone is the preferred choice to Duolingo.
Voice recognition technology
Another highlight of the Rosetta Stone program is its proprietary TruAccent voice recognition technology. This is something the company spent years developing, and actually, has a patent on it.
When the app asks you to repeat words or phrases, fill in blanks, or describe what is happening in the various images you see during the lessons, Rosetta’s TruAccent technology is listening. Hence, if you mispronounce a word or phrase, it will prompt you to say it again until you get it right (same story with Rocket Languages as well).
Now, it might not be a perfect system, and is not a substitute for speaking to a real person that speaks the language. But, all things considered, it is actually pretty good and gets the job done, and it is about as close as you can come to getting pronunciation feedback from a real person.
Live classes
If you’re really serious about picking up a second or third language and becoming fluent, Rosetta Stone also offers access to live classes and coaching. This is something Duolingo just doesn’t offer. However, you have to pay, because classes and coaching are not included in their base subscription packages.
That said, there’s often no better way to learn a new language than through 1-on-1 coaching or tutoring. Also, the nice thing about going through Rosetta Stone is that their coaches work in tandem with the core lessons and what level you’re currently at. So, in a way, you are getting customized coaching sessions. The coaches help you perfect your pronunciation, provide clarity around grammar rules, and perhaps most importantly, offer encouragement so you stay motivated.
Overall, it’s just a very valuable service that you should consider taking advantage of if you can spare the extra funds.
Greater flexibility
Rosetta Stone offers more flexibility than Duolingo. With Rosetta, you can jump around from course to course, or lesson to lesson. You’re not forced to follow a strict schedule.
This is in contrast to Duolingo, which dictates the order in which you complete modules. New Duolingo modules only become active once you’ve completed the previous one or you’re able to “test out” of it early.
Additionally, Rosetta Stone also offers more flexibility within its supplemental drills. If you feel you’re weak in any particular aspect, you can focus on practice exercises in that specific area until you gain more confidence (just like the Rocket German course). Duolingo’s review sessions and progress quizzes don’t offer that sort of flexibility.
Bonus resources
Compared to Duolingo, Rosetta Stone provides much more in the way of extra resources for its customers. The first noteworthy resource is the on-demand videos, which allow you to dive deeper into concepts and become more familiar with local culture.
An example of this is a video all about Mexican slang for Spanish learners. This could definitely come in handy if you’re planning a trip to Mexico. The subscription also includes short stories, which give you a chance to improve your reading and listening skills.
You similarly get phrasebooks, where you can perfect your pronunciation using Rosetta Stone’s voice recognition technology. And lastly, they offer a nifty Alphabet tool to become more fluent as a writer and better understand your target language.
Bottom line, Rosetta’s bonus tools and resources are just way better than Duolingo’s.
Duolingo vs. Rosetta Stone: Cost comparison
Duolingo offers a free plan, which however comes with some drawbacks. So if the free plan won’t cut it, Duolingo also offers a Super Plan, which is a paid subscription. It costs $84 per year or $7 per month. Upgrading to the Super Plan removes all of the ads, includes unlimited hearts, allows unlimited test-out attempts, and adds personalized lessons to review your mistakes.
With Rosetta Stone, you have your choice between a 3-month, 12-month, and lifetime subscription. The monthly options only include access to one language, whereas the lifetime plan grants you access to all Rosetta Stone languages (over 20 of them in total).
The 3-month plan costs around $12 per month; the 12-month plan is $8 per month; and the lifetime subscription is usually on sale for around $180.
So if you compare the paid plans from both companies, pricing is extremely close. You’re looking at around $7 to $8 per month for a full year for either company, so it’s just too close to declare a better choice here.
However, both companies give consumers the chance to test their programs before fully diving in. Rosetta Stone offers a 3-day free trial period and a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied, while Duolingo gives consumers a 14-day free trial period to test out the Plus subscription.
Duolingo vs. Rosetta Stone: Final verdict
While Rosetta Stone is old – excuse the pun – it certainly isn’t irrelevant. Rosetta Stone paved the way for companies to combine language learning with technology, so without it, there probably wouldn’t be Duolingo to begin with.
Also, it is still recognized as one of the best online language-learning platforms out there. It may be an oldie, but it certainly still is a goodie.
So to answer the question of whether new players like Duolingo can put Rosetta Stone out of business, it’s a firm no. Each has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. Even though they both have places for improvement, they manage to maintain a strong presence in the online language education space.
Duolingo is impressive for making language education accessible and approachable to the masses, while Rosetta Stone really utilizes the senses to help you build your conversational skills.
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