Duolingo Is Bringing New 'Energy' to Language Learning

Duolingo is on CNET's list of the best language learning apps, and on Monday the free version introduced a new Energy mechanic that could propel your learning experience further. "We want to reward you for doing well and find ways to motivate you via this mechanic, rather than just penalize you for getting things incorrect while you're learning," Moses Wayne told me in an interview. Wayne is a senior software engineer at Duolingo, and he thought up the new system. "We think this is going to make Duolingo a lot more fun and a lot more fair." The new mechanic replaces the Hearts system in the free version of Duolingo. The Hearts system gave you five hearts per day, and if you got a question wrong in a lesson, you lost a heart. If you got five questions wrong, you couldn't continue. There was a way to practice past lessons to get hearts back, but you'd have to finish a whole lesson to get one heart back. The old system could slow your progress or bring it to a standstill if you continu ... Read full article.