Duolingo is the most popular language learning and translation service in the world today. And this is not just in terms of how many people use it but also the type of people who use it. If you care about celebrities, then you might want to know that Bill Gates, the Kardashians, Von Ahn, and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey all use Duolingo.
Released to the public on 19 June 2011, the service has evolved over time, constantly introducing new features to excite, reward, and motivate its users. Such features include Streaks, points, stories, treasure chests, and outfits.
The most popular, and perhaps important of these features is the Duolingo Streak. The Streak is a thing of pride for Duolingo users as it shows off your dedication, consistency and competency in your language learning journey.
Users show off their Streaks on social media and it can get really competitive. There are currently over 6 million users on a 7+ days Streak, according to Duolingo.
Your Streak measures how many consecutive days you complete tasks on Duolingo. It is represented by the flame icon on your profile.
When Did Duolingo Streaks Come Out?
It is hard to tell when the Duolingo Streaks feature was introduced as there seems to be no official history or announcement of it. However, our research shows that the longest Streaks go as far back as June 2012. This, of course, does not mean that no user could have had Streaks before then; they may have lost the Streak over time or simply did not publish it.
How Do Duolingo Streaks Work?
Duolingo Streak records how many consecutive days you complete language-learning tasks on the Duolingo app or website.
When you complete the task or target for the day, your Streak increases by a day. That is, one day of completed tasks equals one Streak.
Your Streak is determined by your meeting your daily points target. This point is represented by XP. You determine your daily XP target when you create your account. Duolingo only gives you the day’s Streak when you have reached your daily points XP target.
There are several ways to earn these points, which makes your learning experience more flexible. They include:
- Individual lessons = 10 XP
- Skill practice (when you reach all 5 levels in a skill) = 10 XP for first practice in the day, 5 XP for the second practice in the same day, 0 XP for subsequent practices in the same day
- Practice (accessible via the barbell icon via desktop web or Hearts tab in the iOS/Android app) = 10 XP
- Skill Test-out (when you tap the key icon to level up in a skill) = 20 XP
- Ramp Up (Available on iOS and Android app) = timed exercise where you can earn up to 40 XP
- Checkpoint Quiz = 50 XP
- Placement Test = 100 XP
- Duolingo Stories (this is not available for all languages)
- Duolingo Events
Remember that you are the one to set your daily XP target. You must have set this up when creating your new Duolingo account.
The different daily XP targets available are:
- 10 XP = Casual
- 20 XP = Regular
- 30 XP = Serious
- 50 XP = Intense
If you want to change this daily target, either to increase or decrease it, please follow the steps below:
1. Navigate to your profile by tapping the face icon
2. Tap Settings
3. Tap Edit Daily Goal
4. Increase or decrease your daily goal as desired
It is only when you meet this daily goal that you achieve the day’s Streak. Duolingo helps you maintain your Streak by sending out daily reminders to continue your learning, through “Duo the Owl”.
Streak Freeze
On a day you are unable to use Duolingo but do not want to lose your Streak, you can use the Streak Freeze. However, you must acquire the Streak Freeze prior to the day you will miss your lesson. When you miss a day, the Streak Freeze automatically activates to save your existing Streak. This means that, while you will not lose your Streak, you will not gain a Streak for that missed day either.
The Streak Freeze is an item in the Duolingo Lingot Store. Go to the Shop Icon on the web or the Shop tab on the mobile app to purchase a Streak freeze. You can purchase a minimum of 1 Streak freeze and maximum of 2 at a time.
Lingots
An interesting fact about the Streak freeze is that you can only purchase them using the Lingots you have acquired. And the Lingots you acquire depends on how much points you earn from completing skills. This interdependency ensures that you stay committed to completing your tasks daily. If you are using iOS, you may see Lingots as Gems. Some ways to earn lingots or gems include:
- Completing a skill for the first time (two lingots/50 gems per skill)
- Reaching your daily XP goal.
- Completing a lesson without losing any hearts.
- Reaching the next XP level (number of lingots earned correspond to the level achieved)
- Inviting friends: if the friend accepts, you both receive 1 lingot each.
- Maintaining a Streak: every ten days of a Streak, you earn increasing number of lingots
Losing the Streak
Now that you understand how to earn and preserve your Streak, you need to also learn how you could lose your Streak:
1. Missing your lesson for a day or two (maximum), depending on the number of Streak freezes you have
2. Not meeting your daily XP target
3. Your XP was not recorded because of internet connection problems you experienced
Any of these will reset your Streak to 1.
In a case where your XP was not recorded because of a fault from Duolingo servers, Duolingo has introduced ways to preserve your Streak.
It uses a feature called the Big Red Button (you may have come across this during your use of the app). This feature suspends your actions on the app, inform you of this suspension and then works to restore the functionality. When this is completed, it restores Streaks that may have been broken during the period.
Who Has The Highest Streak on Duolingo
There are no public records from Duolingo on who has the longest Duolingo Streak. One has to rely on records provided by users on social media and other websites to collate and determine this information.
The highest Streak on Duolingo we have found so far from extensive research is by a user Christi with 3408 Streaks as at 11 May 2022. This Streak goes back approximately 10 years (started 8 June 2012).
10 years of completing daily targets is no mean feat and could be a motivation for you to get started or stay on your Streak and learning journey.
Longest Duolingo Streak 2022
We have compiled a list of the longest Duolingo Streaks available on the public domain Duome.eu. These lists have been verified with screenshots.
These figures were accurate as at the time of writing. They are constantly being updated so you might have to check the site out yourself for latest figures
1. Christi, 3408 + days
2. SarkaB, 3408 + days
3. John Arnold, 3404 + days
4. Dee, 3403 + days
5. Jeline, 3402 + days
6. Dany Garcia, 3389 + days
7. David Bohardt, 3385 + days
8. Kenny Tran, 3377 + days
9. JaySilverman, 3369 + days
10. Centime, 3364 + days
11. Sandy, 3363 + days
12. Roger K Davis. 3355 + days
13. Miss Margery, 3346 + days
14. Ante Nox Walpurgis, 3342 + days
15. Lola Grey, 3336 + days
16. Ricardo, 3333 + days
17. F Gilmet, 3327 + days
18. Peter, 3325 + days
19. Wacken2003vegan, 3322 + days
20. IG88, 3306 + days
Longest Duolingo Streak Guinness World Record
The Duolingo Streak is not yet an entry into the Guinness World Records lists. It may be that it is not yet considered to be a relevant feat in human society.
However, given the dedication, commitment, and learning skill it takes to build and maintain Freaks, you may be able to make a case for its entry into the Guinness World Record list. If you want to give it a shot, here’s how:
- Go to Guinness World Records Website to create an account.
- You will receive an email with an activation link.
- Click on the link to activate your account
- On the page that opens, you will find ” Search for Record”
- Enter Duolingo Streak and click search
- It will return results but Duolingo Streak will be absent
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click APPLY FOR A NEW RECORD TITLE!
- Follow the steps to Suggest the Duolingo Streak title and complete the application process
Please note that this application will incur a cost of €5 / £5 GBP / $5 USD (plus VAT).
Is It Possible To Know The Highest Duolingo Streak
Duolingo Streak is only a little part of the Duolingo service. Unlike a wider and more measurable statistic such as the total number of Duolingo users, the Streak only represents how consistently you are completing daily tasks. There is currently no feature that tracks this on the Duolingo servers.
Information about the highest Duolingo Streak can only be obtained from user submissions. The best we can do is to ensure that we verify these submissions. Also, remember that there may be users with very high Streaks who simply do not wish to publish their record.
However, we can be confident that given the length of the highest recorded Streak (which dates back to 2012, a year from Duolingo launch), we have a fairly accurate idea just how high a Streak could be.
How to See Your Longest Streak On Duolingo
Unlike, say Snapchat Streaks, you can only have one Duolingo Streak. The Streak only measures your consistency in completing tasks. To see your Streak, log in to your Duolingo account. Your Streak is represented by a fire or flame icon with your Streak number written beside it, at the top right side of the screen. You can click on the Streak icon to see other details such your XP (number of points earned).
Rewards for Reaching 10, 100, and 100 Days Duolingo Streak
The reward system for Duolingo Streak works in multiples of 10. There is no specific reward for reaching the 1000+ days Streak on its own. Below is a breakdown of how the rewards work:
- When you reach a Streak of 10 days, you get a reward of 1 lingot
- So, for a Streak of 100 days, you receive 10 lingots
- For 1000 days, you receive 100 lingots and so on.
You can then use these lingots to purchase things like Streak freeze and outfits.
Streak Society
Another extremely popular reward system on Duolingo is the Streak Society. The Streak Society is described as Duolingo’s most exclusive club. Only users who have reached the 365 day-Streak and above can become members of the Streak Society. That is, you have to meet your daily XP targets every day for a full 365 days. When you hit this mark, you receive several extra features starting April 2022:
1. New app icon
When you join the Streak Society, you have the option to change your Duolingo app icon just to show you’re different from the rest. This is for users who have Duo Plus or Duo Super.
2. Extra Streak Freezes
When you hit the 365-day Streak mark, you get awarded 3 free Streak freezes. Remember that the maximum Streak freezes a standard user can have at a time is 2. So, this is a cool perk to have.
3. VIP status
In addition to the new app icon, you also get the Streak Society VIP status. The icon is pretty cool and something you would really want to show off.
Note that for now, these features are only available on the Android and iOS apps, but is expected to be available on the desktop site soon.
Maximum Duolingo Streak You Can Get
There is no limit to the number of Streaks you can get on Duolingo. It is a daily reward for consistent use and hitting of targets. Therefore, as long as you continue hitting your daily targets consistently, your Streaks will keep increasing.
How to Get a Duolingo Streak Back
When you lose your Streak, you cannot get it back. You have to start afresh from 1 and build again. The idea is to encourage consistency. If you have a Streak freeze you can use it to hold your Streak for a day or two. Otherwise, missing a day’s lesson or not hitting your daily XP will result in an irreversible loss of your Streak.
It is only when the loss of a Streak is as a result of issues at Duolingo that you have a chance of getting it back as explained earlier.