Blitzed Duo, but…

What does it take to really learn a language?

So, I just finished Duolingo Spanish. It took me six years. The truth is more complicated.

Right before the COVID lockdown started, my family went on a trip to El Salvador for a wedding. I realized I was going to need to speak Spanish and felt rather rusty (or less than I was in my earlier essay on visits to Puerto Rico). Enter Duolingo… I did limited amounts each day and didn’t feel motivated to really do much more than the minimum.

I needed to expand my vocabulary and remember how the various verb tenses worked. And that little bit I did was helpful during the wedding festivities — I chatted with people, felt comfortable enough with the basics, and listened. I’m not saying that I was 100% fluent, but I wasn’t terrible.

When we got back, the COVID lockdown started, and I did minimal practice for a while. Then, I switched to French and math, dabbled in Dutch and Italian, and even tried Polish and Russian.

What I wasn’t getting, though, was much outside practice. I wasn’t reading or watching videos much in other languages. There’d be the occasional chat with a friend in Spanish or French to test things out, but it wasn’t immersion.

Last year, I wondered, “What would happen if I actually finished the course?” I had quickly zipped through the math and figured that it was doable. So, every day, I racked up tons of time doing the exercises — far more than the minimum. And, gradually, the units — and then the sections were completed.

By March of this year, I was in the homestretch. And then, one day a few weeks ago, I finished the final unit in the last section (in Spanish, there were 8 sections).

An image of the Duo owl icon congratulated me. Yet, it felt hollow in much the same way I’d felt in school when I got through a test but didn’t really understand the subject better.

I went out to the used bookstore and picked up a couple of Spanish books. The vocabulary is intense, and there are certainly many things I need to look up on each page. However, it feels like a real test. It also made me realize that I need to do more — getting out in public to talk to people, watching movies and shows, and pushing myself to engage and think in Spanish first.

Have you had a similar experience? I’d be curious what you tried and what worked!

Ⓒ 2026, June Capulette.

Note: June is working on a memoir in parallel to preparing for her next career pivot.