How can I get my Chromebook microphone to work with Duolingo?
October 3, 2013 3:44 PM Subscribe
I am happily working my way through the Spanish lessons on Duolingo.com, but I am disappointed to find that I cannot get the "record" option to work on the lessons. I can click the button to record, but once I stop it, it always says that Duolingo couldn't hear me / couldn't understand what I was saying. I have an acer Chromebook and I am using Google Chrome to access the site. I've tried using the microphone on the computer and also a microphone attached to my headphones, but nothing works. I can't find anything helpful through web searching. What steps can I take to fix this issue?
Are you getting the animated "waveform" display while you're speaking? That would indicate that at least the sound is getting as far as Chrome. If so, try plugging in an external mic (or a webcam with a built-in mic) -- some built-in netbook mics have pretty high noise levels. Check the Flash settings as wnissen says. Also, try asking on Duolingo's own forums. The mic works for me with Chrome on Ubuntu Linux, which suggests that it should also be OK with Chrome on ChromeOS (which is Linux-based), so I don't think that this is an inherent problem.
Finally: don't fret too much if you can't get it working. I ended up disabling it because the voice recognition is so unreliable. Sometimes I'd have to repeat a sentence half-a-dozen times in a clipped, unnatural robot voice with gaps between the words to have it approved. And sometimes I'd stumble over my words and stop halfway through the sentence, only to have it declared correct! (However, this was a few months ago and DL is improving all the time so it might be better now.)
posted by pont at 11:08 PM on October 3, 2013
Finally: don't fret too much if you can't get it working. I ended up disabling it because the voice recognition is so unreliable. Sometimes I'd have to repeat a sentence half-a-dozen times in a clipped, unnatural robot voice with gaps between the words to have it approved. And sometimes I'd stumble over my words and stop halfway through the sentence, only to have it declared correct! (However, this was a few months ago and DL is improving all the time so it might be better now.)
posted by pont at 11:08 PM on October 3, 2013
FWIW, I've had a helluva time getting the voice recognition working for me, so even if you figure out plugin issues on your end, it'll probably still be kinda buggy/irritating.
posted by missmobtown at 11:29 PM on October 4, 2013
posted by missmobtown at 11:29 PM on October 4, 2013
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posted by wnissen at 5:06 PM on October 3, 2013