When it comes to language learning apps, almost everyone has heard of Duolingo. However, there are other options like LingoDeer available on the market. Let’s find out which one is better.
LingoDeer Vs Duolingo: Languages You Can Learn
In this category, I think Duolingo is better. For starters, Duolingo has a much larger selection of languages you can learn.
On LingoDeer, you can learn:
- Chinese
- English
- French
- German
- Japanese
- Korean
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Spanish
- Vietnamese
On Duolingo, you can learn all of the languages listed above, plus:
- Arabic
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
- Greek
- Hawaiian
- Hebrew
- Hindi
- Irish
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Latin
- Norwegian
- Polish
- Romanian
- Scottish Gaelic
- Swahili
- Swedish
- Turkish
- Ukrainian
- Welsh
On Duolingo, you can also learn Esperanto, Klingon, and High Valyrian, which are not technically real languages. Also, Duolingo is constantly adding new language courses. For example, Hungarian, Navajo, and Finnish are currently being developed. So, if you want to learn a language that LingoDeer doesn’t offer, Duolingo is clearly the better choice.
If you want to learn Khmer, Cantonese, Tagalog, or other less popular languages, unfortunately, you cannot learn with either LingoDeer or Duolingo.
LingoDeer Vs Duolingo: Pros And Cons For Each One
LingoDeer
| Pros | Cons |
| A comprehensive resource for students of Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese | Emphasis on speaking exercises is a nice touch, but not without its shortcomings |
| Customizable interface (colors and text size) | A pivot away from its original aim of being a go-to resource for Asian languages could stretch it too thin |
| Inexpensive | No desktop version exists as of now (just for mobile/smartphone) |
| Downloadable lessons for offline access | Not yet available in lots of languages. |
| Lots of different exercise types in the lessons. | Not sufficient for developing oral communication skills. |
| Detailed grammar explanations. | |
| Clear audio recordings. |
Duolingo
| Pros | Cons |
| Offers 95 different language courses in 38 languages | |
| There are a lot of images and symbols which actually have the same effect and help to remember what you have learned | There is no information in the beginning about how the whole course works |
| The operation is very easy and you have a clear overview of the content and different options | If you want to learn a certain topic, you haven`t got any access to it unless you go through all the previous tasks |
| Phrases or vocabulary you learn are always spoken out loudly. There are also recording exercises to improve your speaking skills | Sometimes the language and the example sentences are unusual and would not be the kind of language you use in reality. |
| If you are unsure about a word in a translation task you can retrieve its meaning/translation. Grammar rules are explained in almost every task. | |
| You are able to redo certain exercises or to strengthen the skills you already learned -> this helps to reinforce what you have learned | |
| The whole app is free of charge | |
| Duolingo is set up like a game (as described above). If you have reached your daily goal trumpets sound. |
LingoDeer Vs Duolingo: Which One Is Better For Beginners?
While Duolingo is better for dabblers and beginners, Lingodeer is the better option for people with set goals. For students of Mandarin, LingoDeer’s algorithm can determine whether a student’s pronunciation is on point or off the mark. Unfortunately, this option doesn’t appear to be available for the remaining languages. However, for a tonal language like Mandarin, this is an extremely useful feature, although it’s not without some minor bugs. (Words deliberately mispronounced were deemed correct, and vice versa.)
LingoDeer’s method of learning reinforces the student’s memory better and makes them more likely to retain what they have learned. However, someone who has trouble staying with a difficult task may find that Duolingo is easier and therefore, better for them. Duolingo has made a lot of changes to make it easier for “casual” learners and has sacrificed some of the material that actually helps a student retain the material. However, it’s not impossible to learn with either one and what’s better will ultimately be up to the individual student. So I would suggest trying both and see which one you like better.
The progression of Lingodeer is also much better. A great deal of thought is put into matching vocabulary with grammar, so that (as an example) you’re learning how to do comparatives at the same time as animals which means that you can naturally construct sentences that use both (“The lion is faster than the elephant.”) As opposed to the Duolingo method which focuses on one or the other, with the result being you learn vocab in simple sentences and you learn grammar in sentences that don’t make much sense (“The baby is giving the dress to the cat.”)
Is Lingodeer Really Better Then Duolingo For Learning Asian Languages?
Most people say that Lingodeer is definitely a better option than Duolingo if you want to learn languages from Asia.
I don’t know about Chinese, Korean, or Vietnamese, but I can verify 100% that LingoDeer is better than Duolingo for learning the Japanese language. Not only does it have more content, but it also lets you toggle between kanji, kana, and rōmaji, so you can learn how to read actual Japanese (Duolingo technically teaches you all three, but is seriously lacking in kanji), and it lets you skip the alphabet lessons if you already know them.
With a hand on my heart, I can say that LingoDeer is way better for the Japanese than Duolingo.
The only thing I can think of that’s better for Duolingo is that, in the online version, every question has a discussion section, which can be nice. In general, though, I maintain my point.
LingoDeer Vs Duolingo: Responsiveness To User Complains
As I already said in my Lingvist Vs Duolingo Review, I really don’t like the fact that Duolingo is trying to do too much to give all the options in the world to its users. Sure, it’s nice to have both, a smartphone app and the web app. But, I think that is the main reason Duolingo doesn’t try harder to fix bugs based on users’ complaints. I have sent many reports about the bug on the app and the desktop version in the past year but never received any response from their side… By the way, the bugs I reported back then are still there. I also experienced Duolingo app breaks (sometimes temporarily and sometimes permanently). If you want to learn more about the Duolingo app, you can also check out my comparison between Mondly vs. Duolingo.
But there is one pretty big difference in Lingodeer’s favor in this field. Responsiveness to users’ complain is on a high level when talking about LingoDeer. You can just go on their Facebook page and send them a message about that exact complaint you have and you will probably get a response within 24-48 hours. LingoDeer’s team will mull it over and consider implementing it. LingoDeer prides itself on being an app made by the community for the community and is incredibly receptive to feedback. In my personal experience, they really are since they have responded to every single suggestion I have tossed to them. What’s more, I have even seen a fair few of those suggestions implemented in real-time.
LingoDeer as a language learning app is VERY new. Having that in mind and the fact that Duolingo is most definitely not perfect, many people consider using LingoDeer instead. I suggest you use both of them since each of them has its advantages in different aspects. So, Duolingo can take the good from Lingodeer and on top of the good, it already has to be quite competitive. But there is a few pretty big difference in Lingodeer’s favor as well.
I also add Ling App’s courses on the side for building vocabulary, which might be something to consider.
