I'm about the same in, and I can now read (or get the gist of) most French signs and posters, and generally understand simple written and basic clearly spoken French.
It's what you make of it. That said, I've clearly hit a wall of usefulness, and I'm looking elsewhere to continue learning. I'm going to be starting a French course next month - in person - because a huge aspect of what's missing is immersion, conversation, and thinking about the language in a way that's more than just repeating things.
Some people seem to have a real talent for languages. Others less so.
I had 4 years of high school French many years ago and was a pretty good student overall.
But I never really used it much afterwards. I've forgotten a lot and was never really any good at understanding spoken French. Mostly I could get a sense for a French newspaper.
On the other hand, I travelled to Paris with a friend a few years backwho had zero exposure to French and the amount I know was actually at least somewhat helpful.
If I were looking to spend some extended time in France at some point, I'd look to do a refresher with some of the modern language study courses.
When I say basic I mean like if someone clearly and not too quickly told me "le magasin est a deux pates de maisons", i would be able to understand it. But if someone said something more complicated like "the store is, well, you must go two blocks past the red statue and then turn left onto the diagonal road", I would probably get lost. And I think that's where DuoLingo tops out at, at least for me. It's a great language intro but what it's lacking is a funnel into more immersive and challenging courses.
Also, I cannot speak the language at all. Or, barely at least. That is why I'm moving on from DL
I'm at about that level for both French and Spanish. The French I learned in high school, the Spanish on Duolingo. And honestly, the methodology for both was similar too, except Duolingo is more fun.
It's useful enough. I can read the signs to not get lost and navigate the supermarket, and it's a good base for if I ever wanted to properly learn the language with an actual course and immersion.
Oh, I don't disagree. Although at this point, I doubt I could realistically parse normal spoken French at all although I can get the gist of simple written.
I do think that, for most people, a relatively low effort introduction to a language may be useful to set a minimal foundation. But you probably need serious immersion to get anything even close to fluent.
It's what you make of it. That said, I've clearly hit a wall of usefulness, and I'm looking elsewhere to continue learning. I'm going to be starting a French course next month - in person - because a huge aspect of what's missing is immersion, conversation, and thinking about the language in a way that's more than just repeating things.