Duolingo facts for kids
.svg){kind=logo} |
|
Duolingo home page visited while logged out in March 2024
|
|
| Type of business | Public |
|---|---|
| Available in | |
| Traded as |
|
| Founded | 2011 |
| Headquarters | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Founder(s) |
|
| Key people | Luis von Ahn (CEO) Severin Hacker (CTO) |
| Industry | Online education |
| Products |
|
| Services | Language, music, and mathematics courses and language assessment. |
| Revenue |  US$531 million (2023) |
| Operating income | ▲ US$−13 million (2023) |
| Profit | US$16.1 million (2023) |
| Total assets | US$954 million (2023) |
| Total equity | US$656 million (2023) |
| Employees | ≈ 850 (September 2024) |
| Advertising | Yes |
| Registration | Yes |
| Users | 113 million MAU (Q3 2024) |
| Launched | November 27, 2011 (private beta) June 19, 2012 (public release) |
| Current status | Online |
| Native client(s) on | Android, iOS, iPadOS |
Duolingo Inc. is an American company that creates apps to help people learn. It offers courses in 43 different languages, from common ones like English and Spanish to less common ones like Welsh and even made-up languages like Klingon. Duolingo also has courses for music and math.
The app makes learning fun by using a game-like approach. You earn points and rewards, and lessons are interactive. They use a method called spaced repetition to help you remember what you learn. Duolingo encourages short, daily lessons to help you practice regularly.
Besides the main learning app, Duolingo offers the Duolingo English Test, which is an online test to check your English skills. There's also Duolingo ABC, an app for young children to learn reading. Duolingo uses a "freemium" model. This means you can use most features for free, but you can pay for premium services like Super Duolingo or Duolingo Max to remove ads and get extra features. Duolingo also runs a Mexican taco restaurant called Duo's Taqueria in Pittsburgh.
Duolingo is the most popular language learning app in the world, with over 110 million people using it every month. Users complete more than 13 billion exercises each week! Studies have shown that people enjoy using the app and feel it helps them learn. The company is also known for its smart marketing and strong connection with its users.
Contents
About Duolingo
How Duolingo Started
The idea for Duolingo came about in 2009. Luis von Ahn, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and his student Severin Hacker wanted to create something related to education. Luis von Ahn saw how expensive it was for people in his home country, Guatemala, to learn English. Severin Hacker believed that "free education will really change the world." They wanted to make learning available to everyone.
The first funding for Duolingo came from Luis von Ahn's MacArthur fellowship and a grant from the National Science Foundation. At first, they thought about making Duolingo a nonprofit organization, but they decided it wouldn't be able to last that way. They started by offering a service where users helped translate texts. Later, they changed their way of making money to include the Duolingo English Test, advertising, and paid subscriptions.
Duolingo officially launched to the public on June 19, 2012. It quickly became popular. In November 2012, they released an iPhone app, and an Android app followed in May 2013. By July 2013, Duolingo had 5 million users and was the top free education app in the Google Play Store.
By 2015, Duolingo had grown to 100 million registered users around the world. In 2017, it reached over 200 million registered users. By 2018, that number grew to over 300 million.
What's New with Duolingo?
In 2021, Duolingo stopped using volunteer contributors to create language courses. Now, professional language experts develop and update the courses. This helps make sure the courses meet high standards.
In August 2022, Duolingo changed how its app looks. Instead of a "tree-like" path where you could choose different lessons, it became a straight, linear path. This change was made to make the app simpler for new users.
In 2023, Duolingo announced Duolingo Max, a new subscription level that uses AI to offer more features. They also launched math and music courses for iOS users in October 2023.
In 2024, Duolingo continued to add new things. They started using AI for some tasks, launched their widget feature for Android, and introduced "Friend Streak," which lets you keep a learning streak with your friends. They also brought math and music courses to Android users. At their Duocon 2024 event, they showed off new features like Video Call and mini-games called Adventures.
Duolingo's Products and Services
Duolingo offers several ways to learn and test your skills.
Learning Courses
Duolingo has many courses to help you learn.
Language Courses
Duolingo offers 43 different language courses. You can learn languages like English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and many more. Some courses are for speakers of different languages. For example, if you speak English, you can learn Arabic, Chinese, German, Italian, and even made-up languages like Klingon or High Valyrian.
Duolingo Math
Duolingo Math is an app that helps you learn elementary mathematics. It was announced in 2022. The app teaches math topics step-by-step. It starts with basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. You can also learn about fractions, decimals, and how to compare and convert them. Geometry lessons cover shapes, area, and volume. The app also helps with measurements, like using and converting different units of length and time. You can even play math games!
Duolingo Music
Duolingo Music was officially launched in October 2023. It's a new part of the Duolingo app that teaches basic music skills. You can learn how to read sheet music and play the piano through fun, game-like lessons. As of April 2024, it's available on both iOS and Android devices. Since August 2024, you can even practice music by playing popular songs.
Subscriptions
Duolingo offers different subscription options for extra features.
Super Duolingo
Most of Duolingo's features are free, but they show ads on the mobile app and website. You can remove these ads by paying for a subscription called Super Duolingo (it used to be called Duolingo Plus). This subscription gives you benefits like unlimited "hearts" (retries), personalized practice, no ads, and special listening and speaking exercises.
Duolingo Max
Duolingo Max is a higher subscription level that uses advanced AI. It offers features like "RolePlay," where you can have conversations with an AI partner. "Explain My Answer" helps you understand why you made a mistake by breaking down the rules. There's also "Video Call," where you can video chat with one of Duolingo's characters. These features are designed to help you practice speaking and understanding in a more natural way.
Duolingo for Schools
Duolingo for Schools is a special program for teachers. It helps them use Duolingo in their classrooms. Teachers can create virtual classrooms, assign lessons to students, keep track of their progress, and make learning more personal for each student.
Duolingo ABC
Duolingo ABC is a free app made for young children. It helps them learn letters, their sounds (phonics), and other early reading skills. It was released in 2020 and does not have ads or in-app purchases. It's available on iOS and Android, but only in English.
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 done on a computer, and the questions change based on how well you're doing. The test results are scored from 10 to 160. Many universities and programs around the world accept the DET certificate.
How Duolingo Helps You Learn
Duolingo helps you learn by having you actively use the language. You complete lessons by working with new words and phrases. The app uses a game-like approach with lessons that include translating, interactive exercises, quizzes, and stories. It also has a smart system that learns how you learn and gives you personalized tips. Lessons are kept short so you can learn in small, easy chunks.
Duolingo also has competitive features like "Leagues," where you can compete with other users. Your ranking in leagues is based on "XP" (experience points) you earn each week. You can also earn "Badges" for completing special goals.
The app has a "widget" feature for iOS and Android phones. This widget shows your "daily streak," which is how many days in a row you've completed a lesson. The visual symbol for your streak in the app is fire! Duolingo's "Friend Streak" lets you keep a streak going with up to five friends.
Duolingo's Business
Duolingo makes money using a "freemium" model. This means most of its learning features are free, but it shows ads. You can pay for a subscription to remove ads and get extra benefits like unlimited "hearts." The app also earns money from people buying virtual currency (Gems) and power-ups within the app. Another important way Duolingo makes money is from the Duolingo English Test.
In 2020, Duolingo had over one million paid subscribers. By June 2024, that number grew to 8 million paying subscribers.
Duolingo's Characters and Events
Duolingo's Characters
Duolingo uses fun characters to make learning more engaging and to tell stories. The main characters include:
- Bea: A smart and energetic young girl.
- Duo: The green owl mascot. Duo is the face of the app and encourages users to complete lessons and keep their learning streaks going. Duo is famous for sending reminders to practice, sometimes in a funny or dramatic way.
- Eddy: An optimistic character who loves sports. He is Junior's father.
- Falstaff: An older, wise grizzly bear who loves books.
- Junior: A curious and eager young boy.
- Lily: A sarcastic teenager with a clever and sometimes uninterested personality.
- Lin: A creative artist who loves adventure and motorcycles.
- Lucy: An adventurous older lady, who is Lin's grandmother.
- Oscar: A very proper character who loves art and culture.
- Vikram: A calm and responsible professional.
- Zari: A confident and excited Middle Eastern teenage girl. She wears pink and blue clothes and a headscarf. She is Lily's best friend.
All these characters are human, except for Duo (the owl) and Falstaff (the bear).
Duocon
Duocon is Duolingo's yearly conference. It started in 2019 and brings together Duolingo users, people who love languages, and experts in educational technology. At Duocon, Duolingo shares its newest updates, features, and future plans for the app. It also explores bigger ideas about learning languages and technology. Since 2020, the event has been held online.
Duo's Taqueria
Duo's Taqueria is a Mexican taco restaurant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It's run by Duolingo! The restaurant serves many kinds of authentic Mexican tacos and other traditional dishes. They encourage customers to order in Spanish, which fits with Duolingo's goal of making language learning fun and easy.
Where Duolingo Works
Duolingo's main office is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They also have offices in other cities like Seattle, New York, Detroit, Beijing, and Berlin.
In 2024, Duolingo opened a new office in New York City. It has an art gallery that shows Duolingo's characters in the style of famous historical paintings. The gallery features moving images of Duo and other characters in different art styles.
Duolingo has about 850 employees working for the company.
Images for kids
-
Duolingo in 2017
See also
In Spanish: Duolingo para niños
- Computer-assisted language learning
- Language education
- Distance education
- Language pedagogy
