Learning a new language isn’t easy, even for the multilingual mavens among us. Duolingo can help, setting you up to master the basics and beyond in as many languages as you wish.

Consistency in your practice is key, and Duolingo has a number of hidden features that can help ensure you never miss a day, get the most out of every session and build your conversational confidence.

Learning to read a new language is one thing, but perfecting your pronunciation when speaking aloud is another challenge entirely. Go to the Preferences menu under the Settings icon on your profile (tap the cog) to show pronunciation of words – you can even choose how the individual characters are displayed. Forcing yourself to read characters in the language you’re learning can provide an extra opportunity to refine your knowledge.

Need a quick recap of a past lesson? Tap the book icon next to a unit’s title in the coloured bar to get a rundown of key phrases and helpful tips summarising what you’ve learned. The key phrases are ideal for bitesize reminders of how to discuss the time, weather or food and drink, without having to do a whole lesson all over again, while the tips can help you get a deeper understanding of a language.

Working your way up Duolingo’s ranking leagues is a great way to stay motivated. Accelerate your gains by using items such as timer boosts, which grant you extra time during challenges, and XP boosts to maximise your weekly score. While keeping up your streak is important, sometimes missing a session can’t be helped – a streak freeze can stop you losing momentum. Tap the gems icon at the top of the screen to buy items using gems you’ve earned from completing lessons.

When particular words or phrases are proving tricky, there’s an easy way to help you master them. Tapping the dumbbell icon at the bottom of the screen gives you a targeted practice, focusing on mistakes you’ve made in lessons, specific words and other areas you want to concentrate on. Not only will this help you get over common errors, you’ll also earn bonus XP for reviewing your mistakes.

Achieving an unbroken streak of daily lessons is one of the best ways to keep your learning going. Be sure to set an achievable streak goal, whether that’s seven days, two weeks or even a month. Tap the flame icon at the top of the screen to access your streak page and join a streak challenge. You can also check your calendar to see the days you practised, or when you missed your target. Racking up a streak also grants you extra rewards, on top of the greatest reward of all: making progress in your learning.

For languages that use their own characters, such as Japanese and Chinese, learning to write characters correctly is a key step in mastering your language skills. To get some extra practice, tap the character icon on the bottom bar to find dedicated learning, including step-by-step lessons on how to correctly write characters in hiragana, katakana, pinyin, hanzi and more. The lessons cover pronunciation and character tracing, getting you up to speed on everything you need to know.