I think one day we will look back on #duolingo and wonder what we were thinking. Saw a video of the boss talking about all the psychological manipulation they have built into their algorithms. As far as I can tell, they do very little in the way of improving the language courses, and a hell of lot improving addictiveness. They seem to get a pass where others don’t, because it is seen as being for a good cause, but I don’t like these algorithms in any form. #languagelearning

@drewmccormack (I work for Duolingo but not speaking for them)

I'm guessing you're talking about the gamification aspects? I get concerns about manipulation for attention, engagement, etc

But I do want to say that there *is* a lot of work that happens in the course content. Of course it's not as visible as new flashy features, but it's happening. It also depends which course you are in - some get much more love than others.

Measuring engagement is also easier than measuring learning, so... :/

@nuthatch @drewmccormack Glad to hear you like the speaking exercises! I don't really know what's going on with Kanji, but I do know that it's a tricky thing to teach and that there are multiple different ways people go about it (I was a big fan of Remembering the Kanji by James Heisig when I did it forever ago)

@cjwirth I have some ideas! I will give them away for free haha

I tried Heisig too, but the reference standard today is probably wanikani.com