Duolingo

hello and goodbye

Do you know which languages these hellos and goodbyes are in?

Do you know how to say hello or goodbye in any other languages?

If you could know one of these languages (without putting in the hours of effort required to learn), which would you choose?

Hello

Hola

Bonjour

Hallo

Ciao

Olá

こんにちは (Konnichiwa)

你好 (Nǐ hǎo)

مرحبًا (Marḥaban)

Goodbye

Adiós

Au revoir

Auf Wiedersehen

Arrivederci

Adeus

さようなら (Sayōnara)

再见 (Zàijiàn)

مع السلامة (Maʿa as-salāma)

Have you heard of this app before? Have you used it? Do you know anyone who has used it?

How many users do you think the app has?

Why do you think the app is so popular among newly-arrived migrants in the US?

Do you think the founder is a native English speaker or no?

Now read the first part of a news article below and check your answers

Perhaps no app has mastered user loyalty quite like Duolingo, the gamified language-learning platform 34 million people a day can't put down. Here, CEO and co-founder Luis von Ahn tells the BBC why their insistent owl works so well.

The day I started working on this story about Duolingo it seemed to be everywhere. I heard from a friend who was celebrating her 800-day Spanish practice streak on the app. I read about a journalist from The Guardian who became addicted to learning Italian. A Sri Lankan waitress in Brooklyn switched from English to Spanish when she heard my mother and I speaking, crediting Duolingo for her skills.

But my deep interest in the world's most downloaded language-learning app truly began last year when I saw first-hand its significant impact on new migrants to the US, a country undergoing one of the largest migration waves of the decade. At some point in their long journeys, Duolingo becomes an essential tool for these people on the move.

John Jairo Ocampo, a former bus driver from Colombia, recalls struggling to find work in his first days in the US in 2023, when a boss at a construction site in New York City explained simply, "More English, more money." He used Duolingo to learn. Now, the family lives in Indianapolis, and John’s wife is using the app to get along better at her job in an elementary school kitchen; she says her boss is using it, too, to learn Spanish.

The migrant experience is not foreign to Duolingo's CEO and co-founder, Luis von Ahn, who was born and raised in Guatemala, a Central American country with over 55% of its population living in poverty.

34m daily users - are you surprised by that figure?

I've heard of similar apps, like Busuu, Pimsleur and Babbel. Have you heard of these?

"More English, more money." Do you think the main reason why people learn English is economic?

How do you think Luis von Ahn's experiences growing up shaped how Duolingo works?

"In a Latin American country, and in Guatemala in particular, if you have money, you can buy a very good education, but if you don't have money, sometimes you don't even learn how to read and write," Von Ahn told the BBC in a recent interview at Duolingo's brand new office in downtown New York. "That made a big impression on me."

So when non-native English speakers Von Ahn and Severin Hacker, Duolingo's CTO and co-founder, started their company in 2012, they knew that learning languages, and in particular learning English, has the potential to change people's lives. "This is why we've worked really hard to keep Duolingo free, because we want to give access to education to everybody."

To maintain the promise of an open and free app, Von Ahn and Hacker developed a hybrid business model that combines ad-supported access and "freemium" elements, while also offering a paid subscription with extra benefits, like an ad-free experience and a family plan. And it worked. "The main way in which we grow is by word of mouth, so people tell their friends," he says. One such word of mouth moment came from Bill Gates, who said in a Reddit chat back in 2015 that he regretted not speaking more languages and had tried Duolingo.

In the intervening years the app has found its way onto many, many screens. According to Duolingo's shareholders letter, in 2023 the company's revenue was $531m and the forecast for the full-year 2024 is $731m. Roughly 8% of Duolingo users pay for a subscription, contributing to 80% of the company’s revenue. Meanwhile, the vast majority, 90%, use the free version and see ads, which account for only 8% of the earnings.

"This is why we've worked really hard to keep Duolingo free, because we want to give access to education to everybody." Do you believe him?

"The main way in which we grow is by word of mouth." Do you believe him?

Yearly evenue of $731m in 2024 for an app where only 8% pay for a subscription (making up 80% of the revenue). Do you think this is fairly common?

What percentage of the users do you think are learning English?

What makes the app so appealing? Language learning isn't really THAT MUCH fun, is it?

The app combines short, engaging lessons and game-like elements to help users develop speaking, reading, writing and listening skills in 41 languages. Around half of users are practicing English, and Duolingo can be used to learn other major world languages like Spanish and Chinese, as well as some lesser-spoken languages, such as Esperanto, Navajo and even High Valyrian, a fictional language developed for HBO's Game of Thrones. There was some controversy last year when Duolingo paused its Welsh language course. The app now offers maths and music courses, as well.

To keep people coming back daily, Duolingo created a streak system and fashioned characters with strong personalities, such as the infamous green owl, Duo, and a goth purple-haired teen, Lilly. These characters send daily practice reminders and, based on social media posts, are magnetic to users.

The brand has taken advantage of Duo's popularity as evidenced by its TikTok videos, where it does "very strange stuff", as Von Ahn described. "At first it was just this owl, then I think it started getting a life of its own when the notifications from the phone started coming from the owl. People started giving it a personality, and then I think people started memes for the owl, because the owl is very insistent," he added. Still, he sees the appeal.

"I cannot speak French to another person, but I can speak French to her," Von Ahn says of Lilly, opening his phone to demonstrate Duolingo's new product released at Duocon this summer, which allows conversational practice. The CEO, who claims he is shy when speaking new languages, talks enthusiastically with the app in good French with a bumpy accent (he says he spends 30 minutes a day in the app and is also learning Swedish and Japanese). "Most people are like me," he says, explaining why this is his favourite feature. "When they're not very good at a language, they just don't want to speak to another person. So it's going to let people actually practice."

What are your thoughts on Duolingo expanding into things like maths? Do you think it can be just as effective teaching other subjects?

As a language learner, can you sympathise with the idea that it's so much easier to get some speaking practice with a digital character than a real person?

So the idea is simple - find something that is useful but a bit boring to learn, and then gamify it so that it becomes fun and even addictive. Can you think of any other aspects of life where an idea like this might work?

Now take a look at these ideas. Which, if any, do you think have any legs?

Personal Finance (saving, budgeting, investing, debt payoff)

Cooking (daily cooking skills, recipes, techniques)

Home Maintenance (DIY, repairs, preventative maintenance)

Public Speaking (confidence, presentations, communication)

Networking (meeting people, maintaining relationships, professional

Reading Books (daily reading habits, comprehension, retention)

Physical Therapy & Mobility (rehab, stretching, posture, flexibility)

Emotional Intelligence (social skills, empathy, difficult conversations, self-awareness)