Pimsleur vs Duolingo
Overview
Pimsleur is one of the most established names in language learning with 5+ decades of experience behind it. The scientifically backed Pimsleur Method helps you absorb new vocabulary and phrases and commit them to memory efficiently and fast. There’s a big emphasis on learning by listening and repeating. Games, quizzes and speech recognition technology add variety to what is a very systematic approach to learning a new language.
Duolingo is the world’s most popular language learning app. You can use it for free to learn as many languages as you want with only a few limitations over the paid version. Duolingo combines bite sized activities with gamification to make education fun and to help you set up a daily learning habit. It also uses an algorithm that adapts to your learning and provides material at just the right difficulty level along with content you need to revisit.
Pros
- Scientifically proven “Pimsleur Method” structured to help you learn fast and retain information
- Speech recognition technology with feedback to hone pronunciation
- Flexible learning across all devices, with hands free for on the go learning
- Easy to use with fun review activities including match quizzes, voice coach, and speed rounds
- Strong focus on core vocabulary and structures in practical, real-life conversations
- It’s free with only a few limitations and there’s no limit on how many languages you can learn at the same time
- Gamification keeps you engaged and motivated
- Uses an algorithm that adapts to your level and learning style and provides personal recommendations to level up your skills
- A Practice Hub for reviewing mistakes, correcting pronunciation (Super Duolingo only)
- Fun to use with well structured exercises that target listening, reading and writing
- You can skip lessons and levels that are too easy
Cons
- Basic subscription is audio only
- Core lessons can seem monotonous and repetitive
- No placement test
- Not ideal for teaching grammar and writing
- Weak focus on speaking activities
- Pronunciation of single words is quite robotic
- Quantity and range of material varies by language
- Not brilliant for grammar or gaining cultural insights
Best for
Best for: Beginners and those with limited knowledge of a language who want to get talking straight away. Especially suited to those who learn by listening who enjoy a structured approach to their learning. Also great for people who want to brush up on basic “survival skills” -- those key phrases you’ll need on vacation or travelling.
Best for: Though it’s designed to have a universal appeal, Duolingo is best suited to those wanting to learn a new language from scratch. That said, it could serve as a good refresher for those with some existing knowledge as you can skip lessons and levels that are too easy. Would especially suit those who enjoy a competitive approach to their learning.
Price
From $14.99 per month
From $6.99 per month
Number of users
n/a
5 milion active users
Overall
Overall: A structured and efficient way to learn a new language that gets you speaking more intuitively and understanding quickly in a way that really sticks.
To providerOverall: Duolingo is great fun and can definitely help you develop a secure level of knowledge in a variety of languages. It’s also habit forming, thanks to gamification, so it really motivates you to build a daily learning habit and make incremental progress. But, if you want to become fluent, or just hold more than very basic conversations, you’ll likely need to strengthen your understanding of grammar and your speaking skills elsewhere - or at least sample the paid for version which provides more support in these areas.
To providerSupported languages
Albanian, Arabic (Eastern, Egyptian, Modern Standard), Armenian (Eastern and Western), Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dari Persian, Dutch, Farsi Persian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean Lithuanian, Norwegian, Ojibwe, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese (Brazillian and European), Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Spanish (Latin American and Spain-Castilan), Swahili, Swedish, Swiss German, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Twi, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, English (ESL)
Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Navajo, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Russian, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, Yiddish, Zulu as well as Esparanto, High Valyrian and Klingon.
About
Pimsleur is named after American linguist, Dr Paul Pimsleur. After years of researching the most effective way to commit a new language to memory, Dr Pimsleur developed the Pimsleur method.
This method was first used by the Pimsleur company to produce reel to reel taped language courses which was then transferred to CD.
In the mid 2000s, Pimsleur began to offer digital learning courses before developing their app in 2018. You can also use Pimsleur on your lap or desktop.
There are now millions of users of Pimsleur products.
Duolingo was founded in 2011 with a mission to make language learning accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world.
It’s now the most popular way to learn languages with 5 million people using it actively everyday and the mobile app having 500+ million downloads.
Duolingo combines bite sized activities with gamification to make education motivating, easy and fun. You earn rewards (such as gems and badges) for achieving different objectives and gain points to help you scale the rankings on a leaderboard of other randomly selected users. It also uses an algorithm that adapts to your learning and provides material at just the right difficulty level, as well as resurfacing content you need to revisit.
How it works
Pimsleur is a subscription service with a number of options to fit your budget and needs.
Each language contains a variety of levels ranging from 1 (beginner) to 5 (expert). Some languages only have 3 or 4. Each level contains 30 half hour lessons which should be taken daily.
Whatever language or level you’re on, Pimsleur teaches you using “The Pimsleur Method.” What is this? Well, Dr Paul Pimsleur’s years of research in the field of applied linguistics led him to conclude that effective language teaching course needed to combine the following key elements:
Graduated interval recall
Dr Pimsleur discovered that when words and phrases are presented at gradually increasing intervals, students’ memories improve each time. He then figured out the best spacing sequence to move new learning from short to long-term memory. This spaced repetition method is at the heart of all Pimsleur’s programs.
The principle of anticipation
Our brains are hard-wired to predict, or anticipate, correct responses. So, if you’re given a chance to predict an answer, it enters your memory even before the lesson presents it. If it’s correct and then reinforced, new connections are made in the brain.
Core Vocabulary
Learning a little at a time with a chance to internalize it speeds up the learning process. So, since you can communicate in any language with relatively few words and structures, Pimsleur focuses on this core. This, in turn, provides a framework to keep adding new words and phrases to.
Organic Learning
To help your brain pick up tone, rhythm and pronunciation, all new vocabulary and phrasing is introduced in a conversational context.
With all this in mind, Pimsleur lessons and review activities:
- Introduce you to core words and phrases at gradually decreasing intervals
Require you to participate by giving you time to recall and respond in a meaningful exchange
So though there is a strong focus on aural learning, you’re not listening passively. You are actively involved in what you’re listening to and required to respond, just as you would in real life situations.
Duolingo offers a freemium model and a subscription (Super Duolingo) which provides additional features and does not show ads.
To get started, you simply select the language you want to learn, answer a few questions about your goals, then sign up for a free account using Google, Facebook or an email account.
Duolingo then presents you with a learning path divided into units such as:
- Greeting people and Introducing yourself
- Using the present tense and talking about activities
- Days of the week
Saying what you want, etc.
Each unit contains a series of ‘stepping stones’ that hold a series of fun bite sized lessons and challenges designed to meet the unit objective.
Some languages have a placement test meaning that you can skip the easier units. But you always have the choice to start at the beginning, skip ahead or redo units you’ve already taken.
Units follow a curriculum based on an international standard and activities are designed to make sure that new learning gets embedded in long term memory.
As you progress Duolingo’s algorithm will adjust to your learning and vary the level of challenge. To make sure learning ‘sticks’ you will revisit earlier learning at optimum times. New words are highlighted and you often need to figure out intuitively what these might mean.
You can review what you've learned by clicking on the dumbbell icon which provides a practice test.
What a lesson is like
Level 1 lessons all begin with listening to a conversation. Pimsleur then deconstructs this conversation and teaches you to say the elements out loud.
To help make it easier for you to fully grasp new words, Pimsleur breaks them down syllable by syllable. Interestingly, it starts with the last syllable and works backwards when teaching a new word.
Words and phrases are spoken frequently and slowly. This means you’ll be able to fully grasp what to say and how to say it.
However, as the course progresses, the repetition speeds up; you’ll be surprised at how quickly you won't need the time or repetitions you did at first!
In Pimsleur German 1, I learned and increased my German vocabulary and conversation skills by:
Listening to dialogues
Repeating words and phrases aloud
Using the Voice coach voice recognition software to correct my pronunciation
Using flashcards to revise new vocabulary
Completing quick match quizzes and speed rounds
Reviewing learnt words or expressions until I was confident using them
During my week completing the course, I noticed a considerable improvement in both my pronunciation and understanding of German. In fact, I could sometimes predict the meanings of conversations even before Pimsleur began to break them down.
Lessons are short and sharp - usually only about 3-5 minutes long. They mainly focus on translating - either from your native into your target language or vice versa.
To do this you might:
- Match spoken or written words with their meanings
- Type words and phrases using the keyboard/keypad
- Place words from a selection in the correct order
- Tap or type what you hear
- Provide missing words
Identify the correct spelling of a word from a choice of four
You will also use flashcards to learn new vocabulary, take quizzes, review content and be given the option to make things harder or easier.
For some languages there are stories with comprehension activities as well as podcasts. In the podcasts, native speakers tell stories but with simplified vocabulary and grammar and at a slower, clearer speed. These are supported with some assistance with unusual words or context.
There’s not a strong focus on speaking activities. Where they are available, AI voice recognition grades your pronunciation. During my two weeks using Duolingo, I came across a few speaking activities in French but none in Welsh, despite completing several units.
Who is it good for?
The Pimsleur method would suit anyone who’s:
- Looking to learn a new language from scratch
- Keen to start talking straight away and hold a conversation in 30 days
- Has some grasp of a language and wants to improve
- Learns best through a structured repetitive method
- Wants to improve their listening skills
- Wants to learn flexibly across all devices
Duolingo is an appealing, fun language learning platform that would best suit the following learners:
Anyone who’s:
- Learning a new language from scratch
- Wants to refresh or level up existing basic skills
- Appreciates short, sharp bite sized lessons
- Is strongly motivated by gamified features such as leaderboards, streaks, rewards etc
- Needing to learn flexibly on any device
Features
- 50+ languages
- Hands free learning
- Speech recognition with feedback
- Review quizzes, flashcards and speed rounds
- Cultural differences reflected in course material
- Mobile and web based
- Gamification
- Science backed methodology
- Gamification
- Personalized approach
- Practice Hub for reinforcing learned content
- Podcast series to aide language immersion
- Flexible learning with offline mode
- Speech recognition technology for pronunciation practice
Is it worth it?
Yes, as long as you are clear about what Pimsleur is good for, and how it works.
You need to take on board that Pimsleur is highly structured and systematic, and that it’s this approach that makes it work. But it may not be to everyone’s taste.
Also, if you’re an analytical learner or a grammar nerd, Pimsleur is unlikely to suit your style.
But if you’re a beginner, or want to brush up your conversational skills for travel purposes, Pimsleur is definitely worth considering. Especially if you learn best by listening, don’t have time in your day to ‘sit and click’ and want to learn hands free and on the move.
The Pimsleur method cements new vocabulary and phrases into your memory in a way that helps you speak almost intuitively without thinking, and the Voice Coach (voice recognition and feedback system) develops great pronunciation.
Pimsluer’s emphasis on recall and repetition will have your conversational and listening skills up to a great standard in no time!
A seven day free trial will give you more than enough time to decide if the Pimsleur Method is right for you. If not, you just cancel within that time and no payment will be taken.
So what have you got to lose?
Well, it depends on your goals.
If you want to develop a solid foundation in a language and enjoy an element of competition in your learning, Duolingo is likely to suit your purposes. It’s super fun and its extensive use of gamification makes it very habit forming - which is great for making steady progress in a language. What’s more, its algorithm learns what works for you and calibrates lessons appropriately.
I found I had committed a good range of words and phrases to memory during my trial of Duolingo and certainly got as far as being able to introduce myself and ask and respond to simple questions like, how are you? What is your name? Etc.
But if you want to become fluent or hold more complex conversations, I don’t think Duolingo will help you achieve that. At least not the free version. Speaking activities are not available in all languages. And even where they are, they do not feature prominently. The Practice Hub in Super Duolingo provides more in the way of speaking opportunities. But if you are willing to commit to a subscription you may find that other apps like Babbel or Mondly are better value.
My advice is to try the free version. If you love it, there is a 14 day free trial for Super Duolingo which gives you a decent amount of time to find out if it’s the right learning platform for you.