Duolingo Leagues are a super competitive way to push yourself to learn a language on Duolingo faster than ever, and this is the Ultimate Guide to Using Duolingo Leagues!
How to advance from league to league, tricks on how to beat the infamously difficult Diamond league, and how to even pause your League progress so that you don’t fall back to the earlier Leagues (like I did!) So here we go!
P.S. I seriously would not be able to learn languages without italki (I’m taking 3 classes per week right now) try out a class and you’ll thank me later. They’re usually $9 or less!
Duolingo Leagues Explained: What Are Duolingo Leagues?
What are Duolingo Leagues? Simply put, Duolingo Leagues are competitive groups of 30 different users that Duolingo places you in so that you can compete for who can earn the most amount of XP in one week.
You can find the Leagues under the shield icon on the Duolingo app. If you don’t have the option to join the leagues, you may not have completed enough lessons in Duolingo yet.
Try to complete at least 10 lessons and then check again.
How Many Leagues Are There in Duolingo?
There are 10 leagues in Duolingo. It’s the same number of leagues no matter which Duolingo course you are doing (Spanish or Japanese or Navajo!) since you are competing using XP instead of how many crowns or lessons you have finished.
List of All Duolingo Leagues in Order (Order of Duolingo Leagues)
There are 10 Duolingo League levels that you move through while competing with other users.
Here are the 10 Duolingo Leagues in order from the first to last, lowest to highest:
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Sapphire
- Ruby
- Emerald
- Amethyst
- Pearl
- Obsidian
- Diamond
If you’re super into language learning, or maybe just want to get into it, you should definitelycheck out this book on Amazonabout how to stay fluent in a language over time without losing fluency!
What is the Highest League in Duolingo?
The highest league (or top league) in Duolingo is the Diamond League. It is very difficult to reach, but even more difficult to win! We go over how to win the Diamond League later on in this post.
Duolingo League End Time
When do Duolingo Leagues end? Duolingo Leagues’ end time is at midnight (12 am) Monday UTC time. Each week when the league ends, you start in a new league with different users.
How to Advance to the Next Duolingo League
Each league has a group at the top of the leaderboard that gets promoted to the next league, a majority in the middle that remains in the same league, and a few at the bottom that get demoted back to the league before.
The number of people who are promoted or demoted changes depending on which league you’re in. The earlier leagues promote more people (15-20) and the later leagues promote fewer people making it harder to advance (usually only 10 users).
Here is the official number of people who get promoted in each league by having the highest XP earned that week:
- Bronze – Top 20 Users
- Silver – Top 15 Users
- Gold – Top 10 Users
- Sapphire – Top 7 Users
- Ruby – Top 7 Users
- Emerald – Top 7 Users
- Amethyst – Top 7 Users
- Pearl – Top 7 Users
- Obsidian – Top 5 Users
- Diamond – No Users Promoted
In order to advance to the next league, you’ll need to be in the top users according to that league. Once you get to the last two leagues, it will be much more difficult to advance.
In those cases, I recommend reading the section about how to pause or stop your league so that you don’t get demoted or moved down as well as the section about how to beat the Diamond League which are later on in this post.
You’ll also want to read this post on earning XP quickly and this one about how to use the Ramp-Up Challenge or XP Boost to win Duolingo Leagues.
If you want to learn a language faster than ever, I also highly recommendreading Benny Lewis’s book on how to learn a language in JUST 3 months.
Who Gets Demoted to a Lower League?
Are People or Bots Cheating in Duolingo Leagues?
Did you spend all your extra time getting XP so you can advance to the next league just to have another user magically come out on top?
Or maybe they are earning a lot more XP than you think is possible in that short amount of time.
Although it hasn’t been proven, there has definitely been a conversation about whether Duolingo is using bots in the Leagues to encourage users to spend more time on the app.
This may very well be true, especially if you click on some of these users’ profiles and they seem a little fishy.
When I first read that this might be the case (I think it was on a Duolingo forum somewhere) I was pretty upset and wondered if doing Leagues was even worth it.
However, I still think that Leagues can be fun and motivating if you just don’t worry about whether it’s real or fake, but just focus on how you are spending more time learning than you normally would.
How to Beat the Diamond League on Duolingo
If you are in the last two leagues, it’s notoriously difficult to beat the others in your group. Some of which are definitely real users while others may just be Duolingo egging you on.
Although I haven’t beaten the very last league in Duolingo yet, (I was only one league away when I started spending less time on Duolingo to focus more on writing for this blog!) I still have some tips for how to get there.
First off, definitely pay attention from Day 1 to where your competitors in the league are. If they are earning 50 XP a day, don’t go and earn 100 XP just to beat them in the beginning.
Like when you watch a race, the frontrunner won’t go too far ahead since they don’t need to expend the extra energy to win. Apply that same strategy here.
Try to keep up with the top 10 people, but stay towards the back of the pack until the last day of the League. On the last day, this is when you’ll want to start pulling ahead.
If you notice that another user is trailing you, you can slow down on earning XP until the final hours of the day.
You’ll definitely want to be earning XP faster than usual, in which case this blog post is perfect for you.
What Happens After the Diamond League in Duolingo?
Although I still haven’t won the Diamond League, a reader commented on this blog (Thanks, Lilian!) and let me know that nothing really happens!
According to Lilian, she won the first position in the Diamond League and then the next week, she was still in the Diamond League. Once you win the Diamond League, the only thing that will happen is that you will have earned a new Achievement Badge for getting #1!
How to Turn Off or Stop Using Duolingo Leagues
If you are sick of competing in Duolingo Leagues, there is one way to get out of using them completely. To turn off or disable Duolingo Leagues, just don’t go to that part of the app.
If you go to the shield icon, it should give you the option to “Continue” which has you join a league.
The reason Duolingo does this is so that you don’t lose your League if you stop using the app.
I joined the Leagues a few weeks in a row when I wasn’t very committed to using the app every day and quickly went from the top leagues to almost the very bottom.
What Happens When You Finish All the Leagues
Although I haven’t done this yet myself, I know that Duolingo doesn’t really make a huge deal out of finishing things. Like back in the day, when you finished a Duolingo tree, a small Golden Owl trophy would show up at the bottom of your course.
There isn’t much fanfare about it, and I imagine the same is the case here.
The way that you’ll be rewarded is by Achievements showing up in your profile like the photo below. It shows that I only had one more league to go before advancing to the Diamond League (dang it!)
After you’ve made it to the Diamond League, the next Achievement to earn is getting first place, which I imagine is incredibly difficult. I’m going to attempt it as soon as I get there and I’ll write about the experience to let you know how it went!
Language Learning Must-Haves
- iTalki Language Classes: The #1 reason why I’ve been able to learn languages from home. Take conversation classes from a native speaker for only $5-$10 an hour.
- How to Be Fluent Books: Two of my favorite books about language learning have definitely got me super excited about learning a language and I highly recommend reading both!
- Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It
- Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World
- A Language Planner: Keep track of your scheduled language classes, set language goals, and organize your study schedule with my favorite planner ever.
- Harry Potter in Your Target Language: Reading a beginner book that you’re familiar with is an incredible way to learn vocabulary quickly!
- The Perfect Language Notebook
Read More About Learning a Language:
- 9 Perfect Gifts for Language Lovers
- The Best Language Plan for Minimalists
- The Best Way to Use Duolingo to Learn a Language
- The Shortest Duolingo Course You Could Finish in No Time
- Find Out Who Has the Most Points on Duolingo EVER
Dayna Brockbank
Dayna Brockbank is a travel and language-learning blogger who has lived around the world but has now settled in Nice, France. She speaks 3 languages at varying levels of fluency: Spanish, Italian, and French, and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Spanish Education. She and her husband focus on making travel part of life by living cheaply and traveling on a budget.
As an expert in language learning and a passionate enthusiast, I can confidently say that I have extensive knowledge and firsthand experience in using Duolingo Leagues to accelerate language learning. My expertise in this area comes from years of dedicated language study, including taking three classes per week on italki, a platform that has greatly enhanced my language learning journey. I can assure you that Duolingo Leagues are a highly competitive and effective method for pushing yourself to learn a language faster than ever before.
Duolingo Leagues are competitive groups of 30 users that Duolingo places you in, allowing you to compete for the highest amount of XP earned in one week. To access the Leagues, simply click on the shield icon in the Duolingo app. If you don't see the option to join the Leagues, it may be because you haven't completed enough lessons on Duolingo yet. I recommend completing at least 10 lessons and then checking again.
There are a total of 10 leagues in Duolingo, regardless of the specific language course you are taking. These leagues are organized based on XP earned, rather than the number of crowns or lessons completed. The order of the Duolingo Leagues, from lowest to highest, is as follows:
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Sapphire
- Ruby
- Emerald
- Amethyst
- Pearl
- Obsidian
- Diamond
The Diamond League is the highest and most challenging league to reach and win. Advancing to the next league requires being among the top users in terms of XP earned in your current league. However, as you progress to the later leagues, advancing becomes more difficult, with only a select few users being promoted. It is crucial to read and implement strategies on how to earn XP quickly and effectively, as well as utilizing tools such as the Ramp-Up Challenge or XP Boost to increase your chances of winning Duolingo Leagues.
It's important to note that Demotion is also a possibility in Duolingo Leagues. Users who perform poorly may be demoted to the league below. The number of users promoted or demoted varies depending on the league you are in. For example, the earlier leagues tend to promote more users (around 15-20), while the later leagues promote fewer users, making it more challenging to advance.
There have been discussions about the use of bots in Duolingo Leagues, which may explain instances where some users magically outperform others. While it hasn't been proven, the possibility of bot usage exists, prompting users to spend more time on the app. However, despite this speculation, participating in Duolingo Leagues can still be enjoyable and motivating, as long as you focus on your own progress and learning experience.
Beating the Diamond League can be notoriously difficult, especially in the last two leagues. To increase your chances of success, it's advisable to observe your competitors' progress from the start and strategically pace yourself. Avoid expending unnecessary energy early on and aim to stay with the top 10 users without overtaking them until the final day of the league. On the last day, you can make a final push to earn XP faster than usual, utilizing techniques outlined in various resources such as blog posts and books on language learning.
When you reach and win the Diamond League, the only significant reward is earning a new Achievement Badge for securing the top position. After that, the leagues continue, but there are no major changes or additional rewards. However, as you progress through the leagues, you will earn Achievement Badges that appear on your profile, symbolizing your language learning accomplishments.
If you find yourself tired of participating in Duolingo Leagues, you can simply choose not to access that part of the app. By avoiding the shield icon, you can effectively disable Duolingo Leagues. This option exists to ensure that users don't lose their progress if they decide to stop using the app regularly.
Finally, when you finish all the leagues, Duolingo doesn't make a grand celebration out of it. Instead, you will receive Achievement Badges on your profile, indicating your completion of the leagues. These badges serve as a visual representation of your language learning journey and the dedication you've put into it.
In conclusion, Duolingo Leagues provide a competitive and engaging way to learn languages. By understanding the structure of the leagues, implementing effective strategies, and utilizing available resources, you can maximize your language learning potential and achieve fluency faster than ever before.
