掲示板 Forums - What is the comparison between renshuu and Duolingo?

Renshuu is best for Grammar, Kanji, vocabulary whereas duolingo is best for sentence building ( it also teaches weird sentences that no one wants to study about; im still using it). I don't hate it. =)
Renshuu > Duolingo.

If you want to study Japanese, stick with Renshuu.

If you want to study another language, you can try Duolingo.

I joined Renshuu bc Duolingo has the new energy system and I can’t complete my lessons. Still beginner on this app so that’s all I can say

A few points.

No AI on renshuu. All audio and sentences are by native speakers. In contrast, Duolingo fired their native speakers so that they could invest in AI.

No ads or monetization gimmicks on renshuu. There is a pro subscription you can sign up for if you want to support the site, and it gives you a few nice extras, but all the materials are available to everyone for free. With no ads.

No guilt tripping. There’s a community here to support you. We know how hard it is and what you’re going through, and we are here to encourage and support you and offer whatever advice we can.

Thanks for the answers!
I still do wanna hear more about renshuu, so I might go on forums more soon.

Since lots of people are saying renshuu is better over Duolingo, I still think I will go on both, and most likely sticking to renshuu more often, but now I know the difference and I'm proud!!!

I would like to hear more answers, but otherwise I am happy with what I have so far !

My first response is that personally, I would never be one to recommend Duo. Fuggeddaboutit. Not that you can't try to practice with it, but it doesn't even try to teach anything in the first place.

I say this because of my past experience with it, because be it may have been long ago, the description people are telling you here is still accurate. I can't speak for the other languages, though some may be easier that you would be blind to any issues. For Japanese, it's just especially a bad start.

The thing is, you woukd have jumped into stuff on Duo before you actually learn the fiest thing about it. While, like Renshuu, it's enough to try to practice, it hinges on you knowing what you need to do in the first place, unlike Renshuu. You'd be lost as it prioritizes making you drill on the material rather than giving you understanding about what you're trying to do.

In fact, there are actually some copycat apps out there that actually do better in the teaching department than Duo, even if they'll slow you down as it bombards you with ads or locked to a lot of premium paid content. But they would be more likely to actually teach.

That being said, anything else, including Renshuu, is a lot better. Actually, I'd steer clear of AI as well, and Duo isn't helping itself in that case either, since it replaced actual people in that regard. Still, anything else is better than Duo if it actually teaches.

I would say Renshuu is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, better at learning Japanese!!! Before I knew about Renshuu I used Duolingo.

I didn't know anything about Japanese including the "alphabet". So I needed a basic understanding. But, instead of teaching you the symbols Duolingo goes straight to words which is a terrible strategy, I mean how are you supposed to know how to write the words if you don't even know what "letters" their made up of!! On top of that the accuracy isn't very good (especially since they use AI which is most likely based of "Google Translate")

I also found that Duolingo's pressure to keep your streak is really irritating ( and honestly does more harm then good ) unlike Renshuu who actually encourages breaks when you need them!! When I first started Renshuu I felt like I was actually learn things too, it was a different,an almost relaxing feeling when I first started out.

The customization in your learning really allows the users to decide what they learn and at the pace they prefer, unlike Duo who who gives you the same pre-made paths that you are stuck with your whole learning journey.

The community involvement is another bonus too. Renshuu encourages community engagement, whether its playing Shiritori, dissucusing with others in forums, entering Kao-coin contest, or even attending the discord meetings, this all helps the users feel encouraged to keep learning with others. But again last time I checked the only engagement with the community that Duolingo has is the leaderboard... ( which i'll be honest sometimes it feels like I'm competing against bots!)

I'd also like to point out another bonus which is the.... ZERO ads!!! like zero!! Renshuu doesn't force you or pressure you into getting the pro ver. it literally tells you that it is a 100% optional and on top of that gives a free trial (again, FREE) when you first start out!!! I mean how amazing is that ( finally a learning app that isn't greedy!!) Duolingo on the other hand pushes ads to you after every lesson to buy their Super/Max ver. (which I find funny because they say you won''t get any ads if you buy it but the only ads you get are the ads pressuring you to get one of the upgraded ver.)

I would also like to add a comment to the "energy" thing they have going on, you know, the thing you have that lets you complete a lesson. I mean what do you mean I LOSE energy when getting a question RIGHT, like are you really punishing me for learning!! I mean at least you could practice to get a heart (the old "energy") but still why limit the users learning like that, it's almost as if they don't want you to learn!! but it's ok because... Renshuu comes to save the day again!! Renshuu lets you review materials again and again( in the form of a "focused review" with no limit!!

Not to mention that they use AI to help you learn... I mean really, AI. I mean you might aswell just head on over to Google translate and ask it to teach you Japanese...

Overall Renshuu really is ( in my opinion) the best Japanese learning app there is out there and it makes me happy to see that more and more people are starting to realize the flaws that Duoling has, now that doesn't mean that Renshuu doesn't have it's flaws, but it's pretty darn impressive that all of this was accomplished by two people who wanted to help people accomplish their goals.

( I hoped this helped!! Also this probably has a lot of typos, but I hope my message still comes across, sorry for that!! )

​Yeah that's my point! They keep giving me ads to buy their product, and sure there's nothing wrong with a little adverstisment, except for the fact that it isn't little. It's right in you face like an annoying pop-up add that greets you every single time you complete something ( no, everytime you DO something). " Hey did you run out of hearts?!" "You know that wouldn't happen if you buy our 'Duolingo MAX' addtion!" *it says every lesson* It just gets completely greedy after a certain point you know...

Edit: I probably sound really mad at you but I promise I'm not!! I'm just fed up with Duolingo's antics!!!

​For real, like when I first went to the Japanese course, it started teaching me RICE, GREEN TEA, WATER, etcetera about food like I JUST WANNA LEARN THE BASICS!!!!

Thank you for more answers! Makes me happy when you guys have the time and dedication to write a message for me that YOU answered.

I really love how nice and sweet the renshuu community is too !

I would like to hear more answers but I am even more grateful with your answers!