As an avid language learner who has used apps like Duolingo for years, I understand better than anyone that learning a new language is filled with twists and turns. Sometimes life pulls you away from studying for a few weeks. Or you take a dream vacation to Spain only to realize your Spanish is far too rusty to keep up.
When these bumps in the road happen on your journey toward fluency, it’s perfectly normal to feel frustrated. You put in effort and time, only to lose progress. The good news is Duolingo offers a fresh start – with just a few quick taps, you can remove and restart any language course.
In this guide, I’ll walk you step-by-step through how to delete and restart languages within Duolingo. Since I’ve done this process myself multiple times over the years, I’ll use my firsthand experience to recommend best practices along the way.
By the end, restarting your chosen language course will feel like an exciting new beginning, not a chore!
An Overview of Duolingo Courses
But before we dive into the step-by-step instructions, let me provide some helpful context around Duolingo courses.
Duolingo uses the concept of “skills” to break down languages into digestible lessons centered on topics like food, animals, travel, etc. You’ll advance through levels by accumulating XP points.
The app tracks your progress each day with a “streak” count to keep you motivated. And if you make errors, you‘ll lose “hearts” which then limits how long you can practice.
Once you‘ve removed a course, all record of your prior progress disappears. So I only recommend fully restarting if you’ve fallen irreparably behind or forgotten everything.
But when the time comes for a fresh start, let’s look at how to do it:
Step-By-Step Instructions to Restart a Course
| Step | Screen | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Open Duolingo and tap on your profile icon at the bottom |
| 2 |  |
Select the "Settings" gear icon |
| 3 |  |
Choose "Courses" under the Account section |
Table: How to Access Duolingo Course Settings
From there, toggle to the language you wish to remove then confirm deletion before starting over!
Want to follow along with me? Let‘s remove and restart a course together.
First, launch the Duolingo app on your device and tap on the profile icon at the bottom of the screen. This opens up the menu where we can access settings.
Next, select the gear icon to enter Settings. Here, we need to locate Courses under the Account tab. Go ahead and tap on Courses.
On the Courses page, you will see a list of all your current and past language lessons. Let‘s scroll and select Spanish. A pop-up will ask us to confirm – go ahead and choose “Remove” so we can start Spanish over from the beginning!
And it’s done! The next time we add the Spanish course, none of our prior achievements or streaks will be restored. So only restart forcibly like this when absolutely essential.
Now that you know how to restart a Duolingo language, let’s explore when and why you might want to use this feature…
When Should You Restart a Duolingo Course?
In my experience learning languages like French, German, and even fictional Klingon across five years of using Duolingo, I’ve found restarting a course can be hugely beneficial if done strategically.
Here are the most common scenarios where pressing the reset button makes sense:
You Took a Long Break
Have you let your 1592-day Italian streak fade after falling out of rhythm? No need to struggler through lessons trying to remember what you forgot. Wipe the slate clean for quicker relearning!
The Later Lessons Confuse You
If you find more advanced Duolingo lessons confusing because you‘ve forgotten earlier vocabulary or grammar, try restarting to shore up your foundation.
You Changed Learning Methods
Attempting to transition to Duolingo‘s new Path structure when you originally learned via the Skill method? Save yourself the headache and restart with Path already enabled.
You Switched Goals
Were you learning Japanese for your long-delayed trip to Tokyo? With COVID still lingering, Spanish for your move to Barcelona may be more practical. Say hasta luego to Japanese through restarting!
As you can see, Duolingo‘s reset functionality is extremely helpful for pivoting your language goals to align with major life events.
Now let‘s weigh the potential upsides and downsides to keep in mind…
The Pros and Cons of Resetting Duolingo Courses
While restarting a Duolingo course offers a fresh start, you should also carefully consider both the advantages and disadvantages before deleting your progress.
Pros
Regain Motivation
Sometimes plowing through a lengthy ignored streak can damage your motivation. Restarting helps recapture that enthusiastic day-one mentality!
Focus on Struggles
By restarting you can hone in on weak points identified from your first attempt without distractions.
Learn New Structure
Resetting allows you to experience new rollout features like Duolingo‘s Path format rather than Skill Tree.
Practice Basics
Returning to basics re-establishes vocabulary and grammar fundamentals essential for fluency.
Cons
Lose Streak
For those demotivated by abandoning a lengthy Duolingo streak, restarting can negatively impact momentum.
Repeat Content
Some lessons you breezed through already must be redone when restarting from scratch. This can briefly feel tedious.
Erase Memories
Taking time away from practicing a language can degrade what you previously absorbed, especially words and phrases.
Risk Burnout
Plowing through early content again quickly may tax patience and contribute to eventual app abandonment.
As you weigh the decision to restart, be honest about what will motivate versus demotivate you most. If you require the psychological "win" of aclean slate, the pros likely outweigh the cons.
Setting Yourself Up for Success After Restarting
Here are my top tips for learning from your previous mistakes and making the most out of your Duolingo restart:
Set Aside Consistent Time
Use calendar blocking or reminders to dedicate routine slots for lessons.
Pair With Conversation
Compliment Duolingo with real dialog practice on sites like Verbling where you chat 1-on-1 with native speakers via video.
Track Your Goals
Use a language learning bullet journal or app to quantify vocab learned, minutes practiced, goals set, etc.
Apply Your Knowledge
Reading children‘s books, watching shows, or listening to music in your chosen language makes lessons stick better!
Stay Patient
Remember language mastery is a marathon, not a sprint. Stick to realistic timelines to avoid discouragement.
Implementing just a few of these practical strategies can vastly improve your chances of success in reaching fluency post-restart!
Exploring Duolingo Alternatives
If you find yourself needing to regularly restart courses, Duolingo alone may not be the optimal tool for you. Fortunately, fantastic alternatives exist! Let‘s compare the pros and cons of other popular language learning apps:
| Duolingo | Babbel | Rosetta Stone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free version available | Subscription required | Subscription required |
| Teaching Style | Adaptive, gamefied | Conversational focus | Full immersion method |
| Languages Covered | 35+ languages | 14 languages | 28 languages |
Table Comparison of Popular Language Learning Apps
As you can see, viable Duolingo alternatives exist to suit different learning styles and language goals.
Babbel‘s session-based curriculum excels at building conversational competence through lesson repetition.
Meanwhile, Rosetta Stone throws learners in the deep end to associate meanings purely from context, sans direct translation.
Testing out apps using free trials is the best way to determine which approach resonates most. Supplementing Duolingo with a secondary app also proves an effective strategy.
Wrapping Up
I hope this guide served you well in preparing to delete and restart troublesome Duolingo courses hindering your language learning journey.
Just remember that any progress "lost" through restarting isn‘t wasted effort. Consider it practice on your winding road to fluency.
Stay motivated by tracking measurable metrics, actively applying your growing skills with native media, and connecting with actual speakers.
You’ve got this! And you can always restart again if needed.
Now go forth and explore language learning to your heart‘s content, whether on Duolingo or elsewhere. And feel free to reach out if you have any other questions arise on your journey!
