Duolingo Made Learning Fun, But Killed My Motivation

So one night my friends and I met up in our favorite local bar for drinks. We were laughing, swapping stories, and enjoying the music.

Then, almost without thinking, I pulled out my phone and opened Duolingo. I tapped “Practice German” not because I was genuinely itching to conjugate “sein,” but because I didn’t want to break my streak

That tiny flame icon, with its bright red number counting my consecutive days showing how many days in a row I’d studied. That’s when it hit me: Was I learning German because I loved it, or was I just trying not to break my streak?

A few months later, I finally missed three days in a row - busy work travel, a dead phone battery, and my streak vanished. I never went back to my beloved duolingo German lessons. Meanwhile, my 12-year-old sister, who used to compete with me, is now on a 338-day streak. And yet, if you ask her to say a German sentence, all you get is “Ich mag…” and a shrug.

For her, duolingo was a game; she’s “learning” three languages at once (why Arabic? Beats me). But her only goal was to keep the streak alive. That made me wonder: Do streaks really show success, or do they hide the fact that we might not be learning at all?

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation: What’s the Difference?

At the heart of this dilemma lies a classic concept from motivational psychology: Intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation.

1. Intrinsic motivation means doing something because it’s inherently satisfying. Think of the joy a musician feels when noodling on a piano just for fun, or the thrill of solving a puzzle because you find it intriguing.

2. Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is driven by external factors: grades, trophies, badges, or in Duolingo’s case that precious streak flame. You learn German not because you can’t wait to chat with Berlin taxi drivers, but because you don’t want to see that flame die out.

Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (SDT) teaches us that intrinsic motivation flourishes when three basic needs are met:

1. Autonomy: If we feel free to choose

2. Competence: if we believe we’re improving

3. Relatedness: if we feel connected to others

We’re more likely to stick with an activity for its own sake. But too many controlling, extrinsic rewards like flashy badges or penalties for missing a day, can actually undermine these needs, leaving us less internally driven than before (Deci & Ryan, 1985).

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation: What’s the Difference?

At the heart of this dilemma lies a classic concept from motivational psychology: Intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation.

1. Intrinsic motivation means doing something because it’s inherently satisfying. Think of the joy a musician feels when noodling on a piano just for fun, or the thrill of solving a puzzle because you find it intriguing.

2. Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is driven by external factors: grades, trophies, badges, or in Duolingo’s case that precious streak flame. You learn German not because you can’t wait to chat with Berlin taxi drivers, but because you don’t want to see that flame die out.

Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (SDT) teaches us that intrinsic motivation flourishes when three basic needs are met:

1. Autonomy: If we feel free to choose

2. Competence: if we believe we’re improving

3. Relatedness: if we feel connected to others

We’re more likely to stick with an activity for its own sake. But too many controlling, extrinsic rewards like flashy badges or penalties for missing a day, can actually undermine these needs, leaving us less internally driven than before (Deci & Ryan, 1985).

Gamification in Duolingo: How Streaks Hook Us

Duolingo is often praised for making language learning “fun,” and much of that fun comes from gamification. Here’s how they pull it off:

1. Daily Streaks Every day you open Duolingo and complete at least one lesson, your streak counter increments. Miss a day, and it drops to zero, well unless you’ve purchased a “streak freeze” (more on that later).

2. Level-Up Badges & LeaderboardsYou earn crowns and badges for completing skill trees, and you can compare your XP with friends. Watching your rank climb can feel exhilarating… until you slip behind.

3. Lingots/Gems/Arena Wins Currency for buying in-app cosmetics or streak freezes; feel-good confetti when you win a weekly league.

On paper, these elements are brilliant. They tap into our brain’s reward centers, an immediate hit of dopamine each time we “win.”

But the danger is that learners start chasing the reward rather than the learning. When your main goal is “keep the streak alive,” you might mindlessly blitz through easy exercises just to keep that streak flame burning, without actually absorbing new vocabulary or grammar.

When Gamified Streaks Become a Hollow Achievement

Let’s get back to my sister’s 338-day streak. Impressive? Absolutely. But does it tell us she can speak German? Not really.

Duolingo’s own data suggest that long streaks don’t necessarily correlate with proficiency. You could log in, hit the “easy” lessons, collect your XP, and call it a day. Meanwhile, the app’s lucrative “streak freeze” feature lets you pay to maintain that streak after a missed day. In effect, if you have enough money, you can simply buy those streaks to keep your ego intact while learning stagnates.

A few big problems emerge:

1. Illusory Progress Streak numbers look like “success metrics,” but they’re really just measures of consistency, not mastery. You might be consistently doing one 5-minute exercise every day, but that doesn’t mean you’ve internalized the language.

2. Demotivating Breaks If life gets in the way; travel, work, personal stuff, many learners feel they’re “starting over” when they miss a day. That emotional hit can be demoralizing, especially if the rest of life is chaotic. Rather than returning after a long break, they often quit altogether.

3. Perverse Incentives “Streak freezing” costs money. So, in theory, learners with deeper pockets can keep up perfect streaks even if they’re not actually learning. Does that validate their skills? Of course not. In fact, it can be demotivating for low-income learners who see streaks as a status symbol they can never quite afford.

Studies on gamification (e.g., Deci et al., 1999; Mekler et al., 2017) have repeatedly shown that relying heavily on extrinsic rewards (points, badges, streaks) can undermine intrinsic motivation. When learners start feeling controlled by these rewards, their passion for the subject itself often diminishes. They’re learning for the wrong reasons; well, largely that’s what happened to me.

So What Do We Do About This?

If gamification is here to stay (and Duolingo proves it can be hugely successful), how can we design it so that learners stay intrinsically motivated, even when they stumble? Here are a few approaches:

Separate Habit from Mastery

1. Keep a global streak (for habit building), but also introduce language-specific mastery badges.

2. Earn a “German Badge Day 26” instead or a mere Global streak

3. Give learners a chance to keep their German Badge after a break by passing a quick quiz revisiting key concepts from previous levels. That way, badges show true learning and keeps them motivated after life breaks.

2. Foster Relatedness Through Reciprocal Learning

1. Instead of merely “following” someone’s profile or racing up a leaderboard, learners actively help each other refine their accents;

2. Match learners who are at the same level in a language so they can review each other’s pronunciation.

3. Also match each of them with native speakers who are learning the learner’s own language (for example, a native German speaker learning English reviews you, and you review someone learning German).

4. After each lesson, the app gives a short prompt. You record your answer, then send it to your partners. They give feedback on pronunciation and clarity. This kind of social learning makes you feel more connected and keeps you accountable.

These tweaks aim to keep learners engaged because they feel a real sense of progress, community, and personal relevance, not just because they’re afraid of a little red flame disappearing.

Conclusion: Measure Success by Real Impact, and Intentional Design

In today’s world, where new apps are gamifying everything from sports and learning to healthcare, understanding Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and intrinsic motivation is more important than ever.

When we design features; whether they’re streaks, badges, or leaderboards, we’re creating “materials” that shape user behavior, so we must be intentional about rewarding the right actions: those that build genuine skills, healthy habits, and long-term engagement and wellbeing. By focusing on autonomy, competence, and relatedness, we help people form better habits sustainably whether that’s practicing a foreign language, sticking to a fitness plan, or tracking their well-being.

Because they feel personally invested, see real progress, and stay connected to a supportive community. In the end, true success comes not from inflated metrics, but from the positive, lasting behaviors we inspire.