Transcript

LEARNER 1

To get to the level I want to get to more in learning German, I think probably between one and two years. I've been using duolingo now for nine months. I'm making good progress. I'm enjoying it, which is really important. But I think if I'm going to make much more progress, I'll need to do some more formal study, which helps me understand the structure of the language rather than just-- as good as duolingo is, it's not as basic as the old fashioned tapes where you're just repeating phrases or something.

It's very interactive and I'm learning a lot with it. But I think if I'm going to meet my goals, I need to move from that sort of informal learning into a more formal context and actually study the language to some degree.

LEARNER 2

I'm learning Chinese at the moment. And I would love to be able to get to a point where I can hold a conversation with a native speaker. But unfortunately, I think this is going to take quite a long time to achieve. It's going to take many, many years I think, because you have to take into account the speaking and the listening aspects of this. So I think and the fact that I'm not living in China I think just means I have to take it gradually. But it's going to take me a number of years to get to that point.

LEARNER 3

I'm learning Spanish. The level I'm at currently is beginning advanced. I would like to continue until I have real fluency so I can speak and listen with confidence. And I hope one day to be able to return to Spain and work there.

LEARNER 4

I'm learning Japanese. And I'm hoping to be able to understand what my grandchildren say, because they are being brought up bilingual. I would like to be able to have a conversation with them. I can understand quite a lot of what they're saying. But I would like to be able to speak to them in Japanese as well.

Oh, it'll take me ages. I'm useless at remembering the vocabulary. I think I've started it all too late, but it's still, it's very good because I can understand a lot more than I did when I started.