(no subject)

[ysobel]

I can low-key feel myself getting burned out on Duolingo

and on one hand I've been doing it for literally years, largely because it's the sort of thing that works best for me (small commitment plus daily streak plus "streak saver" mechanism to protect against one forgetting), and neither Duo itself nor the Spanish I'm doing is really necessary in the long run

(and I don't really get around to doing things with my Spanish that would actually improve it... I'm kind of sitting at, idk, second year proficiency, but I keep never quite getting around to podcasts or movies en español, or practicing in real life settings)

but otoh I like being able to say what my streak is, and I'm pretty sure that if it breaks I'll just stop entirely but I can't bring myself to do that deliberately

Like, even when I've been too sick to really function, or migrainey, or at dog training camp, I squeezed out a practice (often just a repeat of early lesson), and so I should be able to do it when I'm feeling ok

and I can't tell if the urge to stop is self protective (because burnout) or self destructive / self sabotage

Comments

[ysobel]

The literally years thing: I started in August 2013, so more than ten years ago. My streak is "only" 3215 days. It's been 3244 days since my initial 450-odd streak reset (from two sequential days of no lesson) in Nov 2014, which means I've used all of 29 streak freezes ... in almost nine years. What.

[princessofgeeks]

I suspect you may be talking yourself out of it because some part of your weasel brain has decided it's not USEFUL.

You get to enjoy Spanish any way you want. There is not a rule for how one must do it or if you are doing it wrong. You can't do it wrong.

[ysobel]

Ooh yes you may be right -- there's kind of a feeling of "if I'm not ~invested~ in it why do it at all, which is a perfectionism thing.

<3

[highlander_ii]

when i get in a funk for streaks, i do the 'stories' bc they're short and pretty simple, so fairly low effort.

this works best if you don't care about which 'league' you're in.

[azurelunatic]

I went private while I was in a pretty high league; I think it was ysa who pointed out that particular trick!

[highlander_ii]

the only time i ever really cared which 'league' i was in was when i was trying to hit whatever the top one is just to say i did. after that, i could drop back to the bottom and it wouldn't bother me.

[azurelunatic]

I'm still hoping to get the achievement for top of the top ... at some point. Later. Not this week. Probably not this month.

[ysobel]

Yup! I reeeally don't miss having to care about league though.