2023 is going to be your year! The year you achieve all of your goals… including a perfect Duolingo streak. That means no Streak Freezes 😳 which may sound intimidating, but is actually totally doable. If you need help building accountability, making learning fun, building a daily lesson into existing habits, or fitting Duolingo into busy days… we have 23 creative tips that will help you keep the flame alive for the entire year.
To build accountability for yourself…
1. Follow friends on Duolingo so you can compete in Friends Quests! These weekly challenges reward you for completing a shared goal with a randomly paired friend.
2. Book a trip in 6 months to a country that speaks the language you’re learning. Future You is now depending on Current You to learn some basic vocabulary and grammar to make that trip go smoothly! (But don’t worry about learning everything—just being able to put in your best effort is enough!)
3. Split a Family Plan with a group of like-minded learners. The Duolingo Family Plan doesn’t require you to sign up with relatives—you can split the account with any 5 people you want! Form an accountability group with friends and split the cost to get access to premium Duolingo features that will level-up your study game. (Plus, now that you’re paying for Duolingo, you might be more likely to use it!)
4. Join a Streak Challenge! You can up the ante right on Duolingo. Click on the flame icon at the top of your screen, and scroll through the top menu until you see Streak Challenge. Wager gems and keep a 7, 14, or 30 day streak! No Streak Freezes allowed.
5. Set an alarm for 11:50pm or near your bedtime. Sometimes the day gets away from you and you’ve ignored all the notifications and reminders to do your lesson. On busier weeks, set an alarm for the very, very end of your day—whether that’s your typical bedtime or 11:59 p.m. Label the alarm “Did you do your lesson?” to ensure you have a final, pressing reminder before you go to sleep!
6. Put a meeting with Duo on your calendar. If you’re someone who loves to schedule tasks, then add in time for Duolingo just like you would any other activity! Put a fake meeting on your calendar during the workday so you can get a 15-minute break to do a few lessons… we won’t tell your boss 😉
7. Create a Duolingo study group. Find friends who are studying the same language as you on Duolingo and create study schedules together so that you can review what you’ve learned as a group and ask each other questions!
To make things a little more fun…
8. Reward yourself for a perfect week. Order your favorite dinner, pick up a fancy coffee, buy that sweater you’ve been eyeing… do something to treat yourself for keeping the flame alive for 7 days.
9. Try a new language for a little variety. Even if it’s not the primary language you want to learn, enroll in a new course and take a few basic lessons here or there! You’ll keep your Streak alive and give your brain something new to puzzle over.
10. Keep a record of the new words you learn. Jot down the new vocabulary in a notebook or app on your phone and watch the list grow as you move through your course. This physical tracker of progress will feel extremely satisfying!
11. Set up an IRL competition. Create a real-life Leaderboard with friends or coworkers, and whoever has the most XP by the end of the week wins. You can decide as a group what the prize is! (Ice cream, anyone?)
12. Trade lessons with a friend. Find a friend learning a different language from you and try completing a lesson on their account, while they complete one for you! You’re still technically practicing, and you get exposed to a new language.
To create a habit that sticks…
13. Set your alarm for 5 minutes earlier than your usual wake-up time. Do your lesson first thing in the morning with these “extra” few minutes—you’ll get that sweet Early Bird bonus, too!
14. Add a lesson to something you do every day. Put a note by the coffeemaker to remind you to do a lesson while you make coffee, or start adding a Duolingo lesson to your morning walk. Think of it like “habit bundling”!
15. Swap the position of Duolingo’s app icon on your phone. Muscle memory is very strong. If there’s an app you’re constantly opening and refreshing (like Instagram, your email, or your text messages), try switching the position of that app with Duolingo. Bringing Duolingo to a highly-tapped place on your screen makes it hard to forget your lesson!
16. Add the Duolingo widget to your homescreen. If you’re not ready to make a full switch, add a Duolingo widget to your homescreen. The widget will remind you whether or not you’ve extended your streak that day. On iOS, simply hold down any app on your iPhone or iPad home screen, tap the “+” button in the top left corner, and search “Duolingo” to add the widget. Android users don’t have widgets, but just adding Duolingo to your first page of apps is a good reminder!
17. Set duolingo.com as your default homepage. Stay logged into Duolingo on your desktop computer and you’ll be reminded to do a lesson each time you open your computer!
18. Make sure you’re subscribed to our emails and notifications. We know, this one seems obvious. But having those extra nudges is a good way to remind yourself to practice! We put a lot of effort to make sure the notifications are sent at the perfect time. Not sure how to subscribe? Follow these steps.
To fit it in on days that feel too busy…
19. Review a gilded node for a quick lesson. Once you complete a node along the path, it turns gold. After, you can choose to go for Legendary status on that node or you can complete a quick review. Though you don’t earn many XP, the quick practice round still counts towards your Streak!
20. Do one level of a Side Quest. Along the path you’ll notice the World Characters go from gray to full color as you progress through a Unit. This is because each character is associated with a Side Quest, which you can complete as you progress through the course. In one of these one-off challenges, there are checkpoints within the activity where you earn XP before completing the challenge. Completing the first checkpoint doesn’t earn you a lot of XP, but does count as a step towards your streak—as long as you hit that first checkpoint before you end the session!
21. Complete a round of Match Madness. Match Madness is a timed challenge that requires learners to match vocabulary words and their meanings. One round of Match Madness is less than 2 minutes long! You can find Match Madness by navigating to the Leaderboard tab.
22. Look for hidden pockets in your day. The average Duolingo lesson takes 5 minutes—can you think of 5-minute intervals in your day where you’re not doing anything? We’ll start: Do a lesson while in line at the grocery store, while waiting for the pasta water to boil, while waiting for the elevator, or even while in the bathroom 😳A friend running late for dinner? They just gave you the gift of time to learn!
23. Just… ask for a minute! Don’t be afraid to ask friends if you can have a minute to do a quick lesson during a hangout. They’ll understand—and it might motivate them to do the same!