Duolingo facts for kids
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Duolingo home page visited while logged out in March 2024
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| Type of business | Public |
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| Available in | |
| Traded as |
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| Founded | 2011 |
| Headquarters | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Founder(s) |
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| Key people | Luis von Ahn (CEO) Severin Hacker (CTO) |
| Industry | Online education |
| Products |
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| Services | Language, music, chess, and math courses and language assessment. |
| Revenue |  US$748 million (2024) |
| Operating income | US$63 million (2024) |
| Profit | US$88.6 million (2024) |
| Total assets | US$1.3 billion (2024) |
| Total equity | US$825 million (2024) |
| Employees | ≈ 830 (December 2024) |
| Advertising | Yes |
| Registration | Yes |
| Users | 130 million MAU (Q1 2025) |
| Launched | November 27, 2011 (private beta) June 19, 2012 (public release) |
| Current status | Online |
| Native client(s) on | Android, iOS, iPadOS |
Duolingo is an American company that creates fun learning apps. It helps people learn many different things, like languages, music, math, and even chess! Duolingo offers courses in over 40 languages, from popular ones like English, French, and Spanish, to unique ones like Welsh, Irish, and even Klingon.
The app makes learning feel like a game, with points, rewards, and interactive lessons. It encourages you to practice a little bit every day with short, engaging lessons. Duolingo also has a special English test and an app called Duolingo ABC, which helps young children learn to read. While you can use many features for free with ads, you can also pay for an ad-free experience with extra benefits.
Contents
How Duolingo Started
The Idea Behind Duolingo
The idea for Duolingo came from Luis von Ahn, a professor, and his student, Severin Hacker, in 2009. Luis saw how hard and expensive it was for people in his home country, Guatemala, to learn English. Severin believed that "free education will really change the world." They wanted to create an easy way for everyone to learn. Severin Hacker is even recognized by the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his work!
You might wonder why Duolingo's mascot, Duo the owl, is green. It's a funny story: Severin Hacker actually dislikes the color green!
At first, the project got money from grants. The founders thought about making it a non-profit, but decided a business model would be more stable. They first earned money by offering translation services, but later switched to using the Duolingo English Test, ads, and subscriptions.
Growing Big
Duolingo launched a special test version in November 2011, and by June 2012, it was available to everyone. Many people were excited to try it, with hundreds of thousands signing up before it was even fully released!
The app quickly became popular. In November 2012, it launched on iPhone, and in May 2013, it came to Android phones. By then, millions of people were using Duolingo. It even became the number one free education app in the Google Play Store!
Over the years, Duolingo kept growing. By 2015, it had over 100 million registered users around the world. By 2018, this number grew to over 300 million users! To help it grow, Duolingo received investments from different companies. This allowed them to expand their team and open new offices in cities like Seattle, New York, and Beijing. In 2021, Duolingo became a public company, meaning its shares could be bought and sold on the stock market.
New Features and Changes
Duolingo used to have a program where volunteers helped create language courses. However, in March 2021, they decided to have professional language experts develop and maintain all their courses.
In August 2022, Duolingo updated its app design. Instead of choosing lessons from a "tree" structure, users now follow a single path. This change got a lot of attention from users online.
Duolingo also acquired an animation studio called Gunner in October 2022. This studio helps create the fun art and animations you see in the app and its ads.
In October 2023, Duolingo added new courses for math and music for iOS users. They also started using AI to help create new courses and improve the learning experience. For example, by 2025, Duolingo introduced 150 courses created with the help of AI, especially for non-English speakers learning languages like Japanese and Korean.
Duolingo also expanded its music education by acquiring a company called NextBeat. In March 2024, they acquired a design studio called Hobbes.
Products and Services
Learning Courses
Language Courses
Duolingo offers many language courses. Some of the most popular ones include English, Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and German. There are also many other languages available, like Arabic, Hawaiian, Irish, Klingon, Latin, Navajo, Swahili, and Welsh.
Other Learning Programs
- Duolingo Math: This course helps you learn basic math skills. It was first a separate app but is now part of the main Duolingo app.
- Duolingo Music: Launched in October 2023, this platform teaches basic music skills, including how to play the piano and read sheet music.
- Duolingo Chess: Introduced in beta in April 2025, these lessons help you learn and improve your chess skills. You can play against a virtual coach named Oscar, whose difficulty changes as you get better.
- Duolingo ABC: This is a free app for young children. It helps them learn letters, sounds, and how to read. It's available on iOS and Android devices.
Special Features and Subscriptions
Super Duolingo
Most of Duolingo's learning features are free, but they include ads. If you want to remove the ads and get extra benefits, you can subscribe to Super Duolingo (which used to be called Duolingo Plus). This subscription gives you unlimited tries in lessons and access to some special lesson types.
Duolingo Max
Duolingo Max is an even higher subscription level. It uses advanced AI features. For example, you can "Roleplay" with an AI conversation partner or even have a "Video Call" with one of the Duolingo characters, like Lily, to practice speaking. The "Explain My Answer" feature, which helps you understand your mistakes, was once only for Max users but became free for everyone in 2026.
Duolingo for Schools
This program is made for teachers. It helps them use Duolingo in their classrooms, assign lessons, keep track of student progress, and make learning personal for each student.
Duolingo English Test
The Duolingo English Test (DET) is an online test that checks how well you can read, write, speak, and listen in English. It's a computer-based test, and the questions change based on how well you are doing. Many schools and universities accept this test.
Learning Model
How You Learn
Duolingo believes in "learning by doing." This means you learn best by actively participating in the lessons. The lessons are short, so you can learn in small, easy-to-manage parts.
The app uses a fun, game-like approach. Lessons include translating words, interactive exercises, quizzes, and stories. Duolingo also uses smart technology that learns how you study and gives you personalized tips and recommendations.
Making Learning a Game
Duolingo makes learning exciting with "gamification." You can compete with other users in "leagues," where you earn points to climb ranks like Bronze, Silver, Gold, and even Diamond! You also earn "badges" for completing special goals and can create your own unique avatars.
A "daily streak" is a visual reminder to practice every day. The app shows a fire symbol to celebrate your streak! You can even have a "Friend Streak" with up to five friends to encourage each other to keep learning. These streaks help you build a habit of consistent daily practice.
Duolingo Score
The Duolingo Score is a way to estimate how good you are at the language you're learning, based on international standards (CEFR levels). It shows what you've learned and what you can do with the language. For example, a score of 0-9 means you can use simple words, while a score of 130-160 means you can understand almost everything and express complex ideas.
| Duolingo Score | CEFR level | What you can do |
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| 0–9 | very early A1 | Use simple words and phrases in some common situations. |
| 10–19 | early A1 | Talk about yourself and where you live, and ask and answer simple questions. |
| 20–29 | high A1 | Discuss your daily routine, order food, and chat a little. |
| 30–59 | A2 | Have basic conversations about familiar topics like weather, shopping, hobbies, and holiday plans. |
| 60–79 | early B1 | Handle common situations while traveling, ask for directions, and make reservations. |
| 80–99 | high B1 | Share their opinion, tell stories, and navigate most daily situations. |
| 100–114 | early B2 | Have deep discussions about their interests and understand news, movies, and jokes. |
| 115–129 | high B2 | Express themselves in most situations and uses the language in professional and academic scenarios. |
| 130–160 | C1 and C2 | Easily understand all that they hear or read and expresses nuanced thoughts in sophisticated language. |
Business Model
Duolingo makes money through a "freemium" model. This means you can use many parts of the app for free with ads. They earn money mainly from subscriptions, which remove ads and offer other benefits like unlimited energy. They also make money from in-app purchases of virtual currency and power-ups. Another important way they earn money is from the Duolingo English Test.
By June 2025, Duolingo had 10.9 million paying subscribers. In 2023, Duolingo's revenue was $531 million, showing how much the company has grown over the years.
Image and Brand
Duolingo's Characters
Duolingo uses fun characters to make the app engaging and tell stories. The most famous character is Duo, the green owl, who is the company's mascot. Duo is known for encouraging users to complete their lessons and keep their learning streaks going. He has become a popular internet character, often appearing in funny memes that show him persistently reminding users not to miss their lessons!
In February 2025, Duolingo even created a fun publicity stunt where they announced Duo had "died." Users of the app had to work together to earn 50 billion in-app experience points to "resurrect" him! After reaching the goal, Duolingo posted a video of Duo's return. Duo's full name is Duo Keyshauna Renee Lingo, and his "birth date" is said to be 1000 BC.
Offices and Workforce
Duolingo's main office is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They even have a taco stand next door called Duo's Taqueria, where customers are encouraged to order in Spanish!
Duolingo also has offices in other cities around the world, including New York City, Seattle, Detroit, Beijing, and Berlin. As of October 2024, about 850 people work for Duolingo.
Images for kids
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An Esperanto lesson on Duolingo in 2017 being taught to a Spanish speaker.
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A Spanish lesson on the app in 2025 being taught in English.
See also
In Spanish: Duolingo para niños
- Distance education
- Language assessment
- Language education
- Mathematics education
- Music education
