This is the story of my 10-year experiment with Duolingo: streaks, emotional damage, and accidental growth.

In 2016, I downloaded Duolingo because I wanted to learn Korean and Russian. In my head, they felt “close enough” to Mongolian to be easier: Korean sentence structure is familiar, and Russian uses Cyrillic like Mongolian does.

I thought that logic would carry me. It didn’t. I quit quickly. Back then, Korean was actually easier and more fun when binge-watching K-dramas. Duolingo felt like homework. Soap operas like Goo Eun Jae (Үнжээ), Full House, or Descendants of the Sun didn’t. 

In 2018, I returned to Duolingo because a few friends (including my dearest college roommate) were taking French. I wanted to join the fun of speaking a beautiful language with people I loved. We even had a bit: speak French, don’t smile.

I quit again. When we stopped spending as much time together, the language stopped meaning anything. My motivation wasn’t French. It was a connection.

In 2022, I started Italian. I kept a 200-day streak, which was the exact length of my relationship with an ex-boyfriend from Italy. When the relationship ended, I let the streak end too. Continuing felt like touching a bruise every day.

In 2023, I started Spanish because I was planning a move to South America when my training period in the U.S. was up. It also became a social language during handball tournaments. I’d practice with new friends while waiting on the bench between matches: una banana y dos bananas, etc.

I switched between Spanish and French depending on who was around. The real goal wasn’t learning the language. It was life happening around it.

In 2026, I reached an 800-day streak. I’ll hit 1,000 days in August. The realization surprised me: the language I was studying didn’t matter as much as I thought. The big win wasn’t fluency. It was consistency.

Duolingo didn’t just teach me vocabulary or impractical sentences like “my cat is on the table eating a cake.” Slowly, it helped me build trust in myself and proved to me that I could show up every day even when progress was invisible and even when motivation changed. No matter the reason: fun, love, or connection. Even if it took me 10 years to get consistent. 

A Duolingo lesson takes 2–3 minutes.

That’s when a new thought sparked: If I can do this every day… I can commit to something else too. 

I’ve wanted to meditate consistently ever since I was introduced to transcendental meditation in 2017. It has been my New Year’s resolution for the past 5 years. A month ago, I decided to treat meditation the same way I treated Duolingo: a daily micro-practice.

So I started on February 1, 2026. If I keep going, I’ll reach my 100-day streak on May 11, 2026. In February alone, I did more than five hours of meditation not because I suddenly became a disciplined person overnight, but because I stopped looking at consistency like a personality trait and started treating it like a practice or ritual for the day. To strengthen the mental stamina.

I didn’t realize how I accidentally became a streak freak when I reached my first 100-day Duolingo streak 4 years ago. After my first 100-day consistency, I felt confident about studying for 300 hours for the CFA level 1 so registered for the exam. Around the same time, I started my commitment to working out at a studio called solidcore. By my 100th class, I could tell my core was as strong as rock.

Now, my hypothesis is that doing something for 100 days validates self-trust.

Today, I want to invite you into a 30-day streak journey. Not for something you’ve been meaning to do for a week. For something you’ve been wanting to do for 10+ years. For yourself.

Start small. Make it 2 minutes. Track it. 

You don’t need a transformation. You need a streak. Start today and let the time compound.

On the streak journey,

~ Soka ~