Battle of the Apps: LingQ Premium Vs Duolingo

Over the years I’ve used a number of Mandarin Chinese learning apps with mixed results.

Some of them, I credit with playing a significant role in enabling me to reach conversational fluency in the language. Others, I found to be largely a waste of time.

In this post, I’m going to compare the two apps I’ve spent the most time using and therefore feel the most qualified to comment on: Duolingo and LingQ.

At the end of the post, having compared them across a range of different categories, I’ll give each app an overall score.

Both apps are very popular among Mandarin learners, although they function very differently from each other and promote very different approaches to language learning.

So if you’re thinking of signing up or purchasing premium subscriptions to either LingQ or Duolingo, read on for a comprehensive review of both apps and find out when to use which one at what stage of your learning.

Table of Contents:

1. Overview of Main Features
2. Price & Value for Money
3. User Experience
4. Learning Efficiency
5. Quality of Content
6. Main Strengths
7. LingQ Premium vs Duolingo Final Score
8. Is Communicating Clearly in Mandarin Important to You?

Overview of Main Features

LingQ:

LingQ is a language learning platform – available in Desktop and app form – founded by polyglot Steve Kaufmann.

It is designed to help users improve their reading and listening skills through exposure to authentic content.

The core philosophy behind LingQ is rooted in the linguist Stephen Krashen’s Input Hypothesis, which states that we acquire languages when we understand messages.

The more we read and listen to target language content that’s appropriate to our level, the better our comprehension and production capacities become.

Steve Kaufmann himself has provided a comprehensive breakdown of his technique below:

In short, LingQ facilitates the acquisition process by providing a vast library of content for Mandarin learners of all levels.

Most of this content has both audio and text. As you read the text, you can click on new words or phrases you don’t know to discover their meaning and highlight them in yellow.

These yellow words are called ‘LingQs’. When you create a LingQ, the word shows up in yellow in any future readings. Eventually, after encountering LingQs enough times, you mark the word as ‘learned.’ Over time, the platform keeps track of statistics indicating your progress, including the number of words you’ve read, how many LingQs you’ve created and how much vocabulary you’ve learned.

At a lower intermediate level, I spent hundreds of hours reading and listening to content on LingQ. I found it motivating to have a system that tracked my progress and facilitated my ability to look up and save words at the click of a mouse.

I consumed tonnes of Mandarin content that would otherwise have been out of reach. Although I have some criticisms of LingQ, particularly of the user interface, (of which more later) I credit LingQ with playing a significant role in enabling me to reach reading and listening proficiency in the language.

Duolingo:

Duolingo Chinese is a language app designed to help beginners and lower intermediate learners build foundational skills in Mandarin through gamified lessons.

Lessons are categorised by different topics – such as travel and food. Each lesson is structured in bite-sized, interactive exercises that can be completed in minutes and teach skills like translating sentences and matching characters to meanings. The app also introduces learners to pinyin, Chinese tones, and basic sentence structures.

Duolingo’s engaging design and user interface uses rewards, streaks, and competitive leaderboards to motivate consistent practice. Its adaptive algorithm adjusts difficulty based on user performance, reinforcing areas where learners struggle.

I wouldn’t exactly describe it as fun – the tasks are often boring and repetitive – but it is undeniably addictive.

As a beginner I’d heard a lot of hype about the app and really wanted to find out for myself: does Duolingo work? I ended up completing the entire tree of lessons and can confirm from personal experience that Duolingo will not make you fluent in Chinese.

That said, many beginner learners find Duolingo Chinese a convenient tool for learning their first few words and developing an initial foundation in the language before moving on to other more efficient apps.

Price & Value for Money

LingQ:

LingQ offers a freemium model where users can access basic features for free. However, you’ll need a premium subscription to unlock the platform’s full potential.

With the free version, you can only access a limited number of lessons and create a limited number of “LingQs”. This becomes unlimited when you pay a subscription to access LingQ Premium. The Premium version also enables you to import content from other websites into the app, such as YouTube videos.

LingQ’s pricing structure includes monthly, six-month, or annual plans, with discounts offered for longer-term subscriptions. Prices vary, but at the time of writing, a one-year subscription to the app costs £103.99 or £8.69 per month in the UK (which equates to around $127 USD or $10.59 USD per month. This is pretty competitive compared to similar Mandarin learning apps. Check out the LingQ website for up-to-date information about pricing options.

Duolingo:

Duolingo also allows users to access the majority of its language-learning content for free. The free version includes lessons, gamified exercises, and basic progress tracking, supported by occasional ads.

If you’d like to do away with the ads and benefit from additional features, Duolingo offers a paid subscription called Super Duolingo (formerly Duolingo Plus).

With a Super subscription, users gain benefits such as unlimited hearts (to keep practising even after mistakes), the ability to review mistakes with a personalised practice hub, and offline access to lessons.

A 12-month subscription currently costs £4.99/month in the UK (which equates to around $6 USD) making it pretty cheap compared to other language learning apps.

That said, in my opinion, most of the most valuable features of Duolingo are available on the free version, so unless you find the ads intolerable it may be worth sticking with fremium.

User Experience

LingQ:

LingQ’s user experience has some drawbacks. The system of reading content and creating LingQs is powerful and effective for those learners willing to take the time to get used to the app, but the interface can feel unintuitive at first.

Navigating the interface takes time to master, as the design is less streamlined compared to other modern language apps. As a result of these issues, I ended up trying out the app and giving up several times before I finally took the plunge.

One notable issue is word segmentation, which is especially a problem for Chinese. The app’s reader often classifies combinations of two or more characters as ‘words’ when it shouldn’t and fails to do so when it should.

This can lead to errors in vocabulary tracking and frustration for users. While these quirks don’t overshadow the app’s immense potential for self-directed learning, they make it less user-friendly and require a learning curve to get the most out of the platform.

An excuse that might be offered for this is that the app is a small family-run business rather than a large corporation.

However, niche Mandarin learning websites like Hack Chinese, run by Daniel Nalesnik, have demonstrated it’s possible for smaller Mandarin learning businesses to offer first-rate user experience. Hopefully, LingQ can follow suit with future updates.

DuoLingo:

Duolingo is one of the most user-friendly language apps available, offering an intuitive design that’s easy for anyone to pick up and use. The colourful cartoon graphics and gamified approach make the learning process feel engaging. Features like daily streaks, leaderboards, and rewards keep users addicted and coming back.

Whatever criticisms users may have of Duolingo in general – and I have many – ease of use is not one of them. That said, while Duolingo’s tasks are simple to complete, they can feel repetitive and lack variety. The exercises focus heavily on translation and matching activities, which, whilst addictive and superficially rewarding, are not exactly fun.

User Experience Score:

Learning Efficiency

LingQ:

If you’re willing to invest time in overcoming its initial interface challenges, LingQ is an efficient and effective language learning system for improving your Mandarin comprehension skills. Comprehensible Input really works. The more you immerse in Mandarin content you enjoy that’s appropriate to your level the better your listening and reading skills will get.

A couple of caveats are worth mentioning here. The first is that LingQ’s review system for revising words you’ve previous learned or turned into LingQs is not the most intuitive and I prefer to use other apps like Hack Chinese of Anki for this. Second, LingQ is probably not the most efficient system for new learners who have zero (or close to zero) foundation in the language.

It assumes that you already have some character recognition abilities and doesn’t provide a systematic way to learn Chinese characters. The system is, therefore, of limited use to new learners and most efficient for learners who have already learned their first 1000 or so characters.

Also, while the ability to import your own material is a huge bonus because it means you have complete freedom to choose what you consume, some students may be put off by the lack of structure. LingQ doesn’t tell you what to do. It provides you with a platform to consume content in your target language and leaves you to it.

DuoLingo:

Duolingo’s efficiency as a language learning system is limited by its lack of advanced tools for vocabulary retention and personalised learning. Unlike platforms such as Anki, Duolingo doesn’t integrate a true spaced repetition system (SRS) to optimise retention of vocabulary over time. Additionally, the app doesn’t allow users to create your own flashcards or customize your learning content, which limits its ability to cater to individual interests or specific learning goals.

Another problem with DuoLingo is that it exposes learners to hundreds of wacky sentences which no native speaker would ever say. DuoLingo does this deliberately, claiming that the wackier the sentences, the more memorable they are for the learner. I don’t find this argument convincing. For a language like Mandarin, whose sentence structure is so different from English, it’s best to expose yourself to memorable sentences that native speakers would actually say using techniques like sentence mining which I’ve written about in-depth elsewhere.

That said, Duolingo does provide some efficiency for pure beginners seeking an easy, low-commitment way to get acquainted with their first few Mandarin words. Its gamified lessons and intuitive design make it accessible for those new to language learning, offering a gentle introduction to vocabulary and basic grammar.

Learning Efficiency score:

Quality of Content

LingQ:

The quality of LingQ’s content varies depending on the learner’s proficiency level. For beginners, the platform provides an adequate range of simple texts and audio designed to introduce basic vocabulary and structures. While these resources can help new learners get started, they lack the variety and depth offered by other beginner-focused apps. However, LingQ truly shines from the lower intermediate level onward, where you can access a wealth of authentic and semi-authentic materials that provide meaningful exposure to real-world language use.

A highlight of LingQ’s content for intermediate learners is its collection of podcasts created specifically for learners, such as the Wolfe and Hua Hua LinGQ Chinese podcast in which two friends discuss their daily lives in Beijing. These podcasts deliver natural conversational Chinese, bridging the gap between textbook dialogues and native-level materials. During the pandemic years, I used to listen to these podcasts on repeat and it worked wonders for my comprehension skills.

DuoLingo:

Duolingo’s content and lessons are passable for beginners, offering a structured introduction to basic vocabulary and grammar. However, as mentioned above, the app is notorious for its quirky, sometimes bizarre sentences that learners are unlikely to use in real life. While these wacky examples might add humor and memorability to early lessons, they fail to provide the meaningful, context-rich exposure that’s crucial for language acquisition.

Beyond the beginner stage, Duolingo’s content becomes increasingly limited compared to other resources. It does not offer the real-world language exposure found in graded readers, LingQ podcasts, or curated intermediate-level materials from other platforms. If you’re looking to move beyond the textbooks, Duolingo struggles to compete with systems that prioritise authentic and engaging content.

Quality of content score:

Main Strengths

LingQ:

LingQ’s main strength is its focus on immersive, input-based learning through authentic content. The platform provides you with a world of articles and podcasts, fostering natural exposure to vocabulary and grammar in context. Its customizable approach, where you can import your own content or choose from a vast library, means you can study topics that genuinely interest you, which is key to maintaining motivation.

DuoLingo:

Duolingo’s main strength is its accessibility and ease of use, making it an excellent starting point for language learners. It’s often said the best language learning method is the one you’re most likely to stick to and DuoLingo will likely succeed in getting you hooked. The app’s gamified lessons, intuitive design, and short, bite-sized exercises encourage consistent practice without overwhelming beginners.

LingQ Premium vs Duolingo Final Score