duolingo (back when I used it years ago) also made it pretty difficult to even get questions wrong. They seemed to shy away from questions where I had to type in the answer (ie come up with the translation out of my own head) when I was out near the edge of my knowledge in favor of multiple-choice (ie they give you the translation but you pick it out of a couple wrong answers)
Typing in the answer is difficult from a UX perspective (on Android at least):
Barring Gboard, all Android keyboards that I've tested do not support automatic switching of languages[1].
Even with Gboard, you need to explain to the user how to install the language for the keyboard. This is not trivial.
You then may have to deal with another input method, and recommending one to use (for example: do you want Pinyin/Cangjie/Zhuyin). This is different for each language.
You'll probably need to deal with Android manufacturers doing ridiculous things to lock down their devices. I would not be surprised if some restrict you from changing the default keyboard.
And if you make your own virtual keyboard, you've got a lot of accessibility to think through.
Just went back and did a lesson. They also have a “translate this sentence” but you are selecting from a word bank and there’s only one verb (declined one way) in the bank…
That is the kind of thing I’m talking about. Just not challenging at all.
The second lesson was a story which was a lot better than what I was seeing before, but I still think they adjust the difficulty so you are missing fewer questions so that you’ll stick around.
