Hit 1000 days on my Duolingo streak and felt weird about it

I opened the app last Wednesday and saw I hit 1000 days straight. That's almost 3 years of practicing Spanish every single day even when I was sick or traveling. But honestly I still can't hold a conversation with a native speaker without freezing up. Has anyone else stuck with something for that long and felt like you didn't actually get anywhere?

3 comments

3 Comments

perez.patricia1mo ago

Duolingo streaks just show you showed up, not that you practiced talking out loud. Try using Tandem or HelloTalk for 5 minute voice calls instead, that's where the real progress happens for me.

james_kim1mo ago

Man that's such a good point. I've been guilty of keeping my streak alive for months but barely speaking a word out loud. It's wild how easy it is to hide behind those little check marks. Hearing you say that makes me want to actually try those voice calls instead of just tapping buttons. I think a lot of us need that push to get out of our comfort zones.

jakeb2512d agoMost Upvoted

Started messing around with voice calls on HelloTalk last week and my first one was a total disaster. I froze up and just said "si" about twenty times while the other person kept talking about their dog. But then the next day I tried again with someone else and we actually had a real conversation for like ten minutes about how bad the weather was. It was messy and I butchered half the verbs but honestly that felt way more real than any streak I've ever kept. Now I'm kinda addicted to that awkward rush.