At phonics.org, we review educational apps so you can make informed decisions on your child’s education. This is for you if you want to know an expert’s honest Duolingo ABC review for phonics instruction!

What is Learn to Read – Duolingo ABC?

Duolingo is well-known for helping people learn a new language. The Learn to Read-Duolingo ABC app is an offshoot of this well-known language-learning app.

The reading version of this app is tailored for children aged 3-8 to learn language and literacy skills in American English. Remarkably, it offers these educational resources entirely for free, making it one of the standout options in the market. Unlike many free apps, Duolingo ABC is also ad-free.

The app is structured into 10 distinct themed levels, each with clear lesson goals, guiding young learners through their reading journey. Additionally, it features a ‘library’ where all discovered books within the app can be accessed and listened to at any time.

Strengths of the Learn to Read-Duolingo ABC App

Read on to discover the positive aspects of the Learn to Read-Duolingo ABC app.

Usability

Learn to Read-Duolingo ABC is easy to use. It allows parents to choose a starting point in the app for their child. The app’s structured approach ensures children progress systematically through levels. Parents can lock access to certain levels, which prevents children from skipping ahead and maintains a logical learning sequence.

Engagement

Duolingo ABC engages young learners with its charming graphics and easy-to-follow stories. The personalization within the app is a nice touch. Children are prompted to print their own names, adding a sense of ownership to their learning journey and encouraging the practice of a practical literacy skill.

Tip: If your child can quickly and accurately print their first name already, enter their last name in the app and get them to practice this important skill.

Learn to Read-Duolingo ABC uses proximity rewards that are closely connected to learning to read and write. Children move through the app to find books to add to a digital library. This fosters a sense of accomplishment and progress.

Additionally, other rewards, like verbal encouragement from the lovable owl character “Duo” or playful interactions such as a pretend food fight, are simple yet effective in keeping children motivated and eager to continue to learn.

Systematic and Sequential Instruction

Learn to Read-Duolingo ABC provides systematic instruction. The app starts with simple tasks and gradually progresses to more complex activities. This ensures a scaffolded learning experience for children.

Additionally, the scope and sequence of instruction is easy to access and follow. This allows parents and educators to understand the learning pathway and support their child’s progress. For further clarity, lesson goals are clearly stated at the beginning of each level.

*Each ‘level’ clearly states the learning goals.*

Letter Sounds

Learn to Read-Duolingo ABC prioritizes letter sound learning with targeted repetition and practice. Some sounds, such as /l/ and /b/, have an extra ‘schwa’ sound attached, which is not ideal. However, Duolingo ABC does transition between letter sounds, names, and formations that are generally accurate. This alternating or interleaved practice is a helpful technique for helping kids learn foundational literacy skills.

Letter Formation

Duolingo ABC offers accurate and flexible letter formation exercises. The app encourages correct formation while providing feedback to guide learners effectively. Repetition is a cornerstone of Duolingo ABC’s approach and ensures children have ample opportunities to practice and refine their letter formation skills.

Word Reading

Another positive aspect of the Learn to Read-Duolingo ABC app is its inclusion of word reading activities. Letter sounds are presented from left to right and combined into a word. These activities provide valuable practice in phonemic awareness and decoding skills, essential for early literacy development.

However, while these activities are beneficial, they are not as frequent as they could be throughout the app. Increasing the frequency of such activities would further strengthen children’s ability to recognize and decode words, ultimately enhancing their overall reading skills.

*Letter sounds are provided to make a word*

Spelling

Duolingo ABC employs multiple effective methods to teach spelling. Children learn to spell words by printing words and putting a selection of letters in the correct order. Additionally, the use of Elkonin boxes provides tactile and visual aids. These varied approaches enhance children’s understanding of spelling concepts, fostering a comprehensive and engaging learning experience.

*Learners can place letters in “Elkonin boxes” to spell the word ‘sell’*

Language Comprehension

Duolingo ABC enhances language comprehension through various interactive features. Finding books is a driving goal of the game. Once a book is found the child can listen to it being read to them. Questions are asked during the reading of the book for frequent check-ins of understanding. This is helpful for children who are learning a new language or have challenges with memory or focus.

The app also offers numerous opportunities to improve their vocabulary. Players have exposure to how the English language works by listening to stories, matching words to their pictures, and hearing dialogue between characters.

Studies on Duolingo ABC

A recent study conducted on Learn to Read-Duolingo ABC examined the app’s impact on children’s literacy skills over nine weeks. The study assessed literacy abilities both before and after using the app. Children who used this app for at least an hour a week had improvements in foundational literacy skills. This study shows this app’s potential as an effective educational tool for enhancing early literacy development in young learners.

How Duolingo ABC Can Improve

While a great app, there are a few things the Duolingo ABC app can improve.

Voice Recognition

While Duolingo ABC’s voice recognition feature adds a fun interactive element, it is not without its drawbacks. While it gives feedback on reading and pronunciation, it can be a bit too lenient, often accepting incorrect responses as right. This might not give kids or parents the most accurate picture of their progress.

Another thing to consider is the timing. Sometimes the pressure to read quickly can stress out new learners who need more practice and patience. So, while it’s a cool feature, it could use some tweaks to make it more reliable and less stressful for everyone involved.

Sound It Out!

Learn to Read – Duolingo ABC could improve by introducing more activities focused on sounding out words. Modeling and practice of continuous blending is an efficient method of teaching new readers to decode words and is an instruction that is missing from this app.

Currently, many exercises in Duolingo ABC rely on matching whole words to spoken words. This overlooks the crucial process of breaking down and blending sounds within words. By emphasizing continuous blending, the app could better support young learners in developing strong foundational literacy skills.

*Matching spoken words to written ones isn’t the mo*st *efficient method of word reading*

Put the Word Back Together

An activity has letters in a word scatter and the child is asked to place the letters back in the correct order. The selection of the word in this activity is often well outside of the skills that have been taught so far. For example, words like “monkey” and “ostrich” are challenging when a child only knows a few phonics skills.

Integrating words that align more closely with the child’s current level of reading and spelling proficiency would ensure a more supportive and beneficial learning experience.

*This activity appears early in the sequence of skills in the app.*

Types of Books

Reading books out loud to children for language comprehension is a great and very common activity in Learn to Read – Duolingo ABC. However, this app does not use many books that children can read entirely by themselves. Decodable books use words that children have been taught how to sound out. They are helpful for early readers to move from reading individual words to phrases or sentences and would have been a great addition to the Duolingo ABC app.

Some activities in this app rely too heavily on matching spoken words to an entire written word. For example, the app has children put a sentence back in order when there are words the child can’t sound out and hasn’t been taught. This is not a particularly useful activity for a child learning to read and may teach children to guess at written words instead of sounding them out.

*The words ‘asked’ and ‘hear’ haven’t been taught yet*

Overview of Learn to Read – Duolingo ABC

The Learn to Read-Duolingo ABC app offers a comprehensive and engaging platform for children aged 3-8 to develop language and literacy skills in English. Its cost and ad-free model make it an accessible option for families seeking helpful literacy resources.

The app’s structured levels and user-friendly interface create an easy learning journey, while personalized elements add an extra layer of engagement.

However, there are areas for improvement including:

Increasing the amount of practice with decoding skills
Aligning word and sentence-building activities with the sequence of skills in the app
Introducing decodable books that children read themselves in the library of books

Despite these areas needing improvement, many positive aspects of this app are worth checking out or introducing to your child. To read more reviews on popular phonics and reading apps, check out our reviews page written by literacy experts!

Overall Duolingo ABC Rating

Quality of Literacy Instruction: 3/5
Usability: 5/5
Engagement: 5/5

Learn to Read: Duolingo ABC Review