Friendly Intra-Class Duolingo Competition
Free app-based language program has become a favorite way for classes to practice and compete.
March 27, 2025
Each spring Señora Hall presents her students an opportunity to compete against other students as they hone their Spanish skills outside of class. It started in the spring of 2022 when students asked Señora if they could start using Duolingo in their spare time to practice Spanish and has evolved into a friendly competition among the classes.
Beginning each January, Señora Hall assigns every student a weekly goal of 75 XP (points earned within Duolingo). Students log into Duolingo or access it from their phone application and complete reading, listening, speaking, and writing assessments based on vocabulary and grammar. Duolingo activities are not completed in class, so it is each student’s responsibility to access the program during Seminar and/or at home to earn XP points.
At the end of each week, Señora Hall averages the class’s score and adds it to a spreadsheet. This year, the competition ends on April 25, and the class that has the highest average score for the spring semester gets to celebrate their extra practice accomplishment with a pizza party in early May. It has become a beloved new tradition in these Spanish classes and Señora often hears students comparing their XP points with one another at the beginning of class.
For those not familiar with Duolingo, it is a web- and app-based program designed to help people learn a new language (i.e., Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Dutch, etc.). It is free, although it does offer upgrades and ad avoidance by utilizing a paid version. It is available to people, young and old, who provide a legitimate email address. Duolingo also provides some wonderful, free podcasts that Señora uses in upper-level courses to practice auditory comprehension. For more information on using Duolingo or Duolingo podcasts in your home, click on either of the links associated with this article.
