Learning a new language is not easy, but certainly is an interesting journey. That’s what I discovered when I moved to Mumbai and decided to challenge myself by learning the local language. I have always been fascinated by languages and cultures, but I never had the opportunity to learn a new language in school or college. I only knew Hindi, English and a fair bit of Punjabi, which I picked up from my parents.

I relocated from Dehradun to Mumbai in 2016, it was my first experience of working outside the Northern part of the country. And, believe me it was a wonderful experience. As they say “accept so as to be accepted”, I thought of learning the main language of the place, “Marathi”.

I believe, to learn any language you need to get the environment where you can practice your language skills and enhance your vocabulary. My colleagues were native Marathi speakers, and they were very friendly and supportive.

I thought to myself, “What else do I need to learn the language? I have the environment; I have such supportive people around.”

They were not just colleagues; in fact, we became very close friends. And I think this is what came in between, “the friendship” 😂 😂. They would switch to English or Hindi whenever I was around, so that I could also join the conversation. Though their thought was quite noble, to make me comfortable, it didn’t go in the direction of learning Marathi.

I turned to the internet for some guidance, but I couldn’t find any useful resources. I checked YouTube also, however, couldn’t find anything suitable. I also checked out some Ted Talks to see if anyone had shared any tips or methods to learn a new language. While I was browsing through Ted Talks, I came across a video by “Luis Von Ahn”, who spoke about how he created an app called Duolingo that helps millions of people learn languages around the world. I immediately downloaded the app only to know it doesn’t offer Marathi learning.

Though my quest for learning Marathi couldn’t be fulfilled by this great app, I suggested my daughter to use this as an additional support to her French lessons that she was taking at her school. She liked and had a lot of fun using it.

I don’t know what happened, but somehow, she lost touch with the app after a while. Fast forward to 2023, I have relocated again and in Delhi now, where I have to endure the daily torture of commuting in the metro for hours. I thought of spending this travel time to do something fun and productive. While I was thinking of finding some way to spend my time in learning something new, I stumbled upon the same video by “Luis Von Ahn”. And yes, I immediately downloaded the app. This time it was “French”.

Why French? You may ask. Well, because I wanted to accompany my daughter in her learning journey and at least have an idea of what she writes in her notebooks 😂 😂. I started using the app every day, and I was blown away by how addictive and enjoyable it was. I felt like a kid again, playing games and earning rewards. And the best part? I was actually learning French!

I was so excited that I told my daughter about it, and she was thrilled. She also downloaded the app again. We started competing with each other, sharing our progress and our funny mistakes. It was a great bonding experience for us. And you know what? My mom also got curious about what we were doing. She decided to give Duolingo a try too, and she chose English as her language. She said she always wanted to improve her English skills, but never had the time or the opportunity. Well, now she does!

So, there you have it. Three generations of a family under the same roof, learning new languages with Duolingo. How cool is that? While I am writing this piece, I am already at my 98 days streak on the app.

Kudos to Duolingo team for developing such a beautiful app. I am sure it is helping millions of people learn different languages in such a fun way. The app has this typical sound that it makes when you get a notification. And guess what? That sound is everywhere in my house now. But I’m not complaining. It is awesome. It’s fun, it’s easy, it’s addictive. It makes learning languages a breeze. And the best part is, it’s free.

Please note – This is not a paid promotion 😂 😂. What I have shared is only my experience, since I really liked it and wanted to share with you all.

Love, Amit