Duolingo Sucks, Now What?: A Guide

Duolingo Sucks, Now What?: A Guide

Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:

"I just want an identical experience to DL"

Busuu (Languages: Spanish, Japanese, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Korean)

"I want a good audio-based app"

Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)

"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"

Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)

Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)

*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.

"I have a pretty neat library card"

Mango (Languages: So many and all endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)

"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"

AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)

"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"

AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone

"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"

lingory

"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"

ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)

"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"

Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)

SOOSOSOSOOSO PRettyya ahhah

my frankly series, inspired by the great lisa frank

Webtoon Review Chronicles

I don't know if I should actually be calling these reviews, because i hesitate to say that I am in any way shape or form qualified to critique webtoons. So i guess here is a disclaimer *please take everything said in these "reviews" with a grain of salt. I am not a comic artist myself (yet), and I am definitely basing these reviews on my own opinions, not really much else. Art is subjective, enjoyment is subjective. By all means, enjoy any webtoons you want (as long as youre not hurting anyone or yourself ofc).

Last time I reviewed webtoons on here, I believe I had just caught up to Trinity, a canvas comic by stillindigo. I still cannot recommend that comic enough, but it appears to be on an extended hiatus. :( Anyway, since then, I have read... A fuck ton of webtoons. I actually have a spreadsheet made for all of the webtoons I have started, caught up to, quit on, etc. So I'm not really sure where to start with these reviews, but I guess I'll just start with what i finished most recently.

Candid Hearts (by antlerella): This is a super cute webcomic that was just recently released as an original! I actually read another of the artist's comic (Brass n Sass) and that one was amazing. I think you can definitely see the artist's growth between BnS and this comic. The characters are super cute, and the colors are to die for. There are only 4 free episodes up right now, so I don't have much to say, but I definitely look forward to reading more.

Stolen Siren (by Dustiiok): This is a canvas webtoon about siren/mermaid creatures and its a GL! The story is still in it's earlier stages I would say, but the world building and art so far have been super interesting. I love the author's interpretation of sirens and they draw some really great backgrounds/landscapes. Some of the character development/relationship building feels a little rushed to me, especially between the two MCs. The characters seem to be quick to trust and quick to care for each other, not just from an empathy standpoint, but from a "i will put my life on the line to save you" standpoint, which feels a little forced given the events, but the story and characters are still very enjoyable.

Dame Daffodil (by sakura-rose12): Another canvas webtoon, and another GL! Honestly, I get really excited when I see any GL or sapphic comics on webtoon, no matter the genre or art style, but this one made me extra excited. I'm kind of surprised this comic isnt already an original given the quality of art and the premise of the story, but there are so many canvas webtoons that have incredibly high quality, so i guess it should be surprising. This webtoon has a super cute cartoon style and centers around a sweet hyperactive teen girl who is dedicated to becoming a superhero to save others. At first glance, the story seems shallow and cutesy, and it definitely is cute, but after catching up you will find out that there is more to this plot than meets the eye. I can definitely recommend!

That's all for this post. I think I'll definitely have to start making these posts one comic each since I have so much to say, but I hope people actually enjoy these!

carmilla and laura

(art prints)

I forgot tumblr existed but i have so many things I want to say about my webtoons that I'm going to force myself to post about them here. Cuz journaling about them would be pointless since I want like, an semi conversational format. Anyway, see yall (who is yall? idk) soon

Here are my Dungeon meshi stickers! I basically thought "hey. lots of people will have cute food themed stickers. And that good and well, but I want that serious stuff too!" So I decided to make a series for the main gang based on sense of self instead!