Duolingo - a language learning tool

Duolingo is a free language learning service, which I use for refreshing my Spanish. You can also learn German, French, Portuguese and Italian (for English speakers) as well as English (for those who know Spanish, Portuguese or Italian).

In Duolingo you learn a language in small portions (roughly 5 minutes per lessons). There are several skills (like Food, Animals) with a variing amount of those lessons. Every skill is placed in a skill tree and you have to finish certain skills to get to the next, e.g. you have to finish Basics 1 to start Phrases and Basics 2.

Duolingo - Part of the Spanish Skill Tree

It uses gamification elements, which may help learning something. This means you get points for every course you take and level up, if you have enough points. The effectiveness is already proven by a study (though this was funded by Duolingo).

One of the best things: You can do one task perfectly on the go, for example on the bus (with iOS app or web app on Android). The style of the iOS app is very similar to the page and your personal skill tree is shown, after you have signed in with your Duolingo account.

Duolingo iPhone app