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I started my Duolingo Mandarin practice up again recently, because I do want to learn to speak Mandarin and Duolingo's style really works for me.
Now Duolingo only teaches one version of Mandarin, and it is 100% mainlander simplified stuff direct from Beijing, as the big red PRC flag might indicate. Like basically every other language teaching program, so that's not really unusual. The accent is not particularly obtrusive at least, so it gets significant points over Rosetta Stone where the northern Beijing accent permeates every last sentence from the start.
Imagine an English language program taught exclusively in a thick New York metropolitan accent, and you'll be on the right track. Duolingo is a huge improvement in comparison. The keyboard entry option with the drawing pad even allows me to practice writing a little, and it accepts traditional characters as well.
The problem, of course, is that I am Taiwanese. The version of Mandarin I was brought up with and that forms the basis of my vocabulary is a southern dialect. Even if the pronunciation Duolingo uses isn't terribly off, sometimes the words used are just completely out of left field. It's like tennis shoes vs sneakers, if Duolingo only had a 50% chance of recognizing that sneakers wasthe a correct translation.
Which is the long way to say: every time I hear 在哪儿吗? instead of 在哪裡? I grow one step closer to shanking that owl and wearing him as a festive hat.
Now Duolingo only teaches one version of Mandarin, and it is 100% mainlander simplified stuff direct from Beijing, as the big red PRC flag might indicate. Like basically every other language teaching program, so that's not really unusual. The accent is not particularly obtrusive at least, so it gets significant points over Rosetta Stone where the northern Beijing accent permeates every last sentence from the start.
Imagine an English language program taught exclusively in a thick New York metropolitan accent, and you'll be on the right track. Duolingo is a huge improvement in comparison. The keyboard entry option with the drawing pad even allows me to practice writing a little, and it accepts traditional characters as well.
The problem, of course, is that I am Taiwanese. The version of Mandarin I was brought up with and that forms the basis of my vocabulary is a southern dialect. Even if the pronunciation Duolingo uses isn't terribly off, sometimes the words used are just completely out of left field. It's like tennis shoes vs sneakers, if Duolingo only had a 50% chance of recognizing that sneakers was
Which is the long way to say: every time I hear 在哪儿吗? instead of 在哪裡? I grow one step closer to shanking that owl and wearing him as a festive hat.
