Actually, that's a lie. I just popped a tea cup into my Keurig to try and cure the onset of this sudden cold. But that hasn't stopped me from furthering my self-education!
I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to games of any sort. Back in my youth [hold for cynical laughter], I frequented such role-playing games as Assassin's Creed and Halo. These games often required players to complete a series of tasks or challenges in "Story Mode" that would eventually lead to an achievement of some sort. In addition, these games would feature side projects that, while not required in order to beat the game, would give players access to special areas and achievements; things you could brag about to your friends. My brothers were always upset when watching me play these games because they could not understand why I would dink around trying to complete every single challenge the game had to offer. I guess I just felt that letting a challenge go lingering left me with a sense of incompletion.
I am quickly finding that I am taking the same approach to Duolingo in my attempts to learn German. To elaborate on my previous explanation, Duolingo awards experience points and health points the more you practice and hone your language skills. During each level, you have a set of lives, and every time you answer or respond incorrectly, one of your lives is taken away. I feel that when I am completing a level that I need to pass without losing a single life in order to feel satisfied about moving on to the next level. This might explain why it has taken me almost two weeks to get passed the "Beginner" module.
However, this might be working at a disadvantage for me. Due to my insanely busy schedule, I do not have an excessive amount of time to tackle this web app. I would say that I am able to log about an hour a week of trying to learn German. That's like one lesson a week, which is not the framework to learn a language speedily. Yet at the same time, I feel that taking my time with the content is helping to ease my way into the German language. Rather than speeding through and trying to pass as many levels as possible, the gamer-perfectionist in me wants to ensure that I get every aspect of every lesson thoroughly understood before moving on.
The system is working so far, and I am really enjoying my time learning and using this app. I am starting to get curious if there are any apps I can use in tandem with Duolingo to help create an even firmer foundation for my learning.