Duo, We Need to Talk: How Duolingo Went From Fun to Frustrating (and Why ADHD Brains Take It Personally)

After seven years, I decided to give Duolingo another try. Just downloaded the app again. Maybe I’d brush up on my Japanese, maybe even build a new routine.

First thing I noticed? Ads. Everywhere.

After every lesson, there’s a popup — “Go Premium!” “Unlock Super Duolingo!” — or, worse, a full-on mobile-game-style ad when you need more hearts or tries.

Then I realized some types of lessons are locked behind a paywall. Not just a premium membership — the highest tier.

And just when I thought I’d adjusted, Duolingo changed its heart system to a battery system. Now every answer (even correct ones) drains your energy. Sure, streaks of right answers give you some energy back, but never enough to keep going. Translation: you can do maybe two or three lessons before the battery runs out. Sometimes, you can’t even finish a lesson.

I get it — Duolingo is a business, not a charity. But the way this was implemented felt… well, like a paywall in disguise. After a week and a half, I said goodbye to Duo — probably forever.

Gamification: the good, the bad, and the rage-quit

Duolingo has always used gamification — streaks, leaderboards, experience points — to keep you coming back. When it works, it’s great: those little “ding!” sounds are a dopamine drip, and watching your XP bar climb feels like levelling up a character.

But then comes the dark side:

• Streaks turn into an anxiety minefield: miss a day → lose your streak → fall into the all-or-nothing spiral of “Well, guess I’ll uninstall the app and pretend I never tried.”

• Leaderboards become shameboards: you’re competing with strangers who somehow have 14,000 XP in one week. Are they even human?

• Reminders feel less like encouragement and more like a passive-aggressive roommate: “Hey, you didn’t practice today.” Thanks, Duo. I know.

Instead of making language learning fun, it starts to feel like you’re feeding the app instead of feeding your brain.

ADHD + language learning = a complicated questline

For ADHDers, language learning isn’t just about memorizing words. It’s an emotional boss fight.

Hyperfocus mode: unlocked (temporarily)

When we start, we’re unstoppable — hours of vocab drilling, binging Japanese dramas “for study purposes,” maybe even buying a fancy notebook for all those grammar notes. Then… the dopamine fades. Suddenly, opening the app feels like opening an old save file you don’t want to deal with.

The all-or-nothing trap

ADHD motivation loves extremes: either we’re fluent tomorrow or we’re giving up forever. Streaks and competitive systems feed that black-and-white thinking — miss one day, and it feels like you’ve failed the entire quest.

The boredom debuff

Grammar drills? Flashcard repetition? Listening to the same basic dialogue on loop? Our brains revolt. We crave novelty and story — which makes the “repeat after me: this is a pen” phase painful.

The RSD + conversation anxiety combo

And then there’s speaking. Oh boy. The idea of talking to a native speaker (even on apps like HelloTalk) can feel like walking into a PvP zone naked. For ADHDers with rejection-sensitive dysphoria, the fear of making mistakes or sounding “stupid” can be paralyzing. So we… avoid it. Which kind of defeats the point.

Hello Lily, I like your attitude but not your green boss

So what now?

Does this mean we give up on language learning entirely? Nope. It just means finding tools that work with our brains, not against them.

• Turn Duolingo into a warm-up, not the main questline. Two quick lessons, then switch to something you actually enjoy — like watching anime with subtitles, or reading a manga.

• Reward yourself for progress that matters to you, not what the leaderboard says. Celebrate the fact you can order ramen in Japanese, not that you have a 53-day streak.

• Practice talking in safe spaces. Language exchange apps are good, but even just talking to yourself out loud or voice-noting a patient friend helps lower the “PvP anxiety.”

• Mix learning with your interests. Like games? Play in Japanese. Like music? Translate lyrics. Turn studying into exploration.

Mission debriefing

Duolingo was fun when it felt like a game. But when the game mechanics start to feel like a cash grab wrapped in guilt, it’s okay to uninstall. Your language journey doesn’t have to be a leaderboard race or a streak to maintain — it can be a slow-burn side quest, with plenty of respawns, detours, and side missions along the way.