August of 2020, I began using the Duolingo app to learn
French. It was mentioned to me in
passing and there was a free learning option, so I decided, “Why not?”
I’d taken two semesters of French for the language
requirement in high school, and, practically starting from scratch, another
semester of it during undergrad. This
time around, after so many, many years of never using it, not having / not
creating opportunities to practice outside of the class I was enrolled in, I
was, once again, starting from scratch 🙃
Throughout the rest of 2020, every now and then I’d go on
the app, do a lesson, pat myself on the back, and get on with the rest of my
day. I’d receive email notifications
about how I was doing, or reminders to login and do a lesson. But it was a relatively stress free
experience.
At some point in 2021, I began to go on more frequently and
by the end of the year, I was doing at least one lesson a day.
I think it was around the start of 2022 when I noticed/
decided to explore some of the other
“tabs” at the bottom of the app.
One such tab led me to the Leaderboard.
The Duolingo Leaderboard is where you find yourself competing with
others in your league. I write “where
you find yourself” because, I wasn’t conscious of being in a league or being in
competition with others.
Ok, I faintly remember some email notifications
congratulating me for being in something like the Obsidian League. But those were just words; I hadn’t taken the
time to truly understand them. As far as
I was concerned, I was just putting in practice time and learning.
Well, on that fateful leaderboard discovery day, I learned
that I was in the Diamond League. Apparently, I had gone from Bronze, Silver,
Gold, Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald, Amethyst, Pearl, Obsidian, and into the highest
league possible.
From that moment on, I increased the number of lessons I
did per day. And as I accrued points, I
watched myself move up or down the board to see where I ended up at the end of
the week.
Folks who were in places 1-3 got to move on to the next
league. Since Diamond was the highest, folks in that league would stay
there. Those in places 4-24, were fine
and would continue on in their current league.
Places 25 and up were labeled as being in the Demotion Zone.
In a very short amount of time, I got tired. I knew more French. But I got tired of my personal goal of
trying to stay in the top 13.
I was so tired of competing, I began to wonder what would
happen if I was in the Demotion Zone. Answer: I’d be sent back a league.
I got annoyed. I just wanted to focus on learning at my own
pace without being “demoted” because I didn’t meet someone else’s standards.
Duolingo Internet Query:
Can I continue learning at my own pace without being in a league of any
kind?
Answer: Yes!
So, I changed my settings to private and voilà, the
leaderboard (aka unnecessary stress), disappeared.
Admittedly, the first day of going at my own pace without
seeing how many folks were ahead of or behind me felt odd. Periodically
checking in throughout that day’s lessons:
Me: How do you feel?
Body: I’m breathing.
Me: Elaborate please.
Body: Breathing is
more aligned with inner rhythms. No
compulsion to stay on and do extra lessons in order to keep up with whomever.
Me: That sounds great.
Self: It feels…great!
Me: You’re right! It does feel great!
*Fist Bump* 😉
It’s been a few weeks now, and it still feels great to move
at the pace aligned with my own inner rhythms 🙂 I’m glad I made that decision.