Duolingo's New Approach: Can It Finally Teach You to Speak?

Duolingo's Success and the Question of Language Acquisition

Duolingo has achieved remarkable success, attracting over 500 million registered learners. Currently, the platform boasts 40 million active users and 1.5 million paying subscribers. In 2020, the company reported $190 million in revenue.

The platform’s popularity is further enhanced by its recognizable mascot, Duo the owl, and a creatively designed, engaging learning experience. Ambitious expansion plans are also underway.

However, a central question persists amidst these achievements: Does Duolingo genuinely facilitate language learning?

The Nature of Language and Duolingo's Approach

Sébastien Dubreil, a teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University, emphasizes that “language is fundamentally a social and relational activity.” He explains that language enables communication, meaning-making, and the practicalities of daily life.

Dubreil further notes that effective language use relies on a diverse range of resources beyond just vocabulary and grammar.

Future Goals and Current Limitations

Luis von Ahn, Duolingo’s CEO and co-founder, anticipates that upcoming product enhancements will enable users to attain a professional level of proficiency in a new language within two to three years.

Von Ahn is candid about the platform’s present limitations, stating that Duolingo cannot currently bring a beginner to the same level of fluency as a native speaker.

He acknowledges that this limitation isn’t unique to Duolingo; traditional university courses and language learning books share similar constraints.

duolingo can’t teach you how to speak a language, but now it wants to try

The Value of Consistency

While Dubreil believes Duolingo doesn’t fully teach language fluency, he recognizes its success in fostering consistency. Maintaining regular study habits is often a significant challenge in educational technology.

He suggests that Duolingo can motivate learners to dedicate time to textbook study and reinforce vocabulary and grammatical concepts, something that can be difficult to achieve otherwise.

Motivation as a Key Factor

The company has consistently prioritized maintaining learner motivation since its inception. Von Ahn compares language learning to exercise, noting that consistent, small efforts yield substantial results.

“The hardest part of learning a language is staying motivated,” Von Ahn stated, reinforcing this core belief.

Shifting Focus: From Survival to Improvement

Having established a leading position in the market, Duolingo is now focused on aligning the quality of its curriculum with the high standards of its product and brand.

With growth and monetization already secured, the company has moved beyond a survival mindset and is now dedicated to continuous improvement.

Strategies for Enhanced Learning

This next phase involves exploring various strategies, including course revisions and an initiative called Operation Birdbrain, to enhance the platform’s effectiveness as a learning tool.

Duolingo aims to balance these improvements with the continued need to drive growth and maintain revenue streams as it prepares for a potential IPO.

A Gamified Approach to Language Learning: Contrasting Views

Competitors of Duolingo often perceive the app’s extensive gamification and individual learning format as being at odds with effective language instruction. Companies like Busuu and Babbel, which operate on a subscription model, prioritize real-time conversations with native speakers for their users.

Bernhard Niesner, co-founder and CEO of Busuu – established in 2008 – positions Duolingo as a foundational tool. He suggests it can serve as a stepping stone towards more interactive, human-led learning experiences offered by Busuu.

Niesner believes Duolingo possesses inherent constraints that may prevent users from achieving complete fluency. He stated, “Our belief is that you shouldn't learn a language in isolation, but collaboratively – that is our core vision.” Busuu currently boasts a global user base exceeding 120 million.

Duolingo's Efficacy Studies

Over the years, Duolingo’s effectiveness has been the subject of several research studies. A particularly favorable report, released in September 2020, indicated that its Spanish and French courses deliver learning equivalent to four U.S. college semesters, but in approximately half the time.

Babbel, having sold over 10 million subscriptions to its language learning platform, has expressed skepticism regarding the conclusions of these studies. Christian Hillemeyer, head of PR for Babbel, highlighted that Duolingo’s testing focused solely on reading and writing skills.

Hillemeyer pointed out that the assessment did not evaluate speaking proficiency, despite its crucial role in language acquisition. He characterized Duolingo as “just a funny game that is maybe not as bad as Candy Crush.”

The Role of Linguistic Expertise

“We employ 250 linguists; our process extends beyond simple course translation,” Hillemeyer explained. “The methodology for teaching French to an English speaker differs significantly from that required for a native German speaker.”

He further emphasized that Babbel’s courses are individually tailored for each language pairing, reflecting a deep level of linguistic expertise and customization.

Duolingo: Focuses on gamification and solitary learning.
Busuu & Babbel: Emphasize real-time interaction with native speakers.

Re-emphasizing Educational Rigor at Duolingo

A notable aspect of Duolingo’s development is that, for a considerable period, the creation of its educational content relied heavily on volunteer contributions. This is a situation the company is actively working to address and improve upon.

Following its establishment, Duolingo initiated the Language Incubator in 2013. Mirroring its initial translation-based approach, the company aimed to utilize crowdsourcing for the development and refinement of new language courses. These volunteers initially provided a resourceful method for expanding the content available to the Duolingo user base, and over 1,000 individuals contributed to the creation of new language offerings within the app.

With the passage of time, Duolingo’s internal teams began to provide increasing support to these volunteers. Volunteers focused on sentence creation and native-speaker translations, while employees concentrated on the technical aspects, including curriculum design and data analysis.

This strategy facilitated the rapid expansion of course availability, but it also attracted scrutiny, with some critics questioning whether the emphasis on growth and speed compromised the quality of the educational material.

Once Duolingo established a viable revenue model, the practice of relying on unpaid volunteer work became ethically problematic, alongside existing concerns regarding content standardization. Despite the voluntary nature of the contributions, the fact that the app generated substantial income from courses partially developed by volunteers raised concerns for some.

Consequently, Duolingo officially discontinued its volunteer program earlier this year, characterizing the decision as a “proactive move” to ensure fairness and ethical conduct. The company extended job offers to select volunteers and also established a $4 million fund to support them.

As volunteer contributions have decreased, the company has been compelled to strengthen its internal curriculum team, which now comprises 8% of its total workforce. However, the majority of Duolingo’s employees – approximately 70% – are directly involved in the development and maintenance of the app itself.

Concurrently, Duolingo is undertaking the essential task of revising its courses to align with internationally recognized language learning standards, specifically the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Currently, between 30% and 40% of Duolingo’s courses are undergoing CEFR alignment, with in-house curriculum designers ensuring adherence to both the guidelines and the app’s gamified learning approach.

Duolingo offers over 100 courses covering 40 languages, but a significant portion of its user base – roughly 75% to 80% – focuses on just three languages: English, Spanish, and French. This creates a disparity between courses benefiting from extensive data and those with lower enrollment. The company reports that 74% of its U.S. learners and 49% of all global learners are currently using CEFR-aligned courses.

“We are determining the best way to bring these hundreds of courses in-house, manage them internally, and ensure they receive the necessary attention,” stated Karin Tsai, Director of Engineering, who was instrumental in launching the Language Incubator. “This is an ongoing process, but I believe it’s a crucial step, and I anticipate positive outcomes.”

An Adaptive Learning System at Duolingo

Duolingo utilizes algorithms and artificial intelligence to guide content delivery, much like conductors directing a train. Burr Settles, the director of research, is instrumental in designing these systems – both the content pathways and the underlying technology.

Settles explains that while personalized, one-on-one tutoring is arguably the most effective language learning method, it’s inaccessible to most individuals globally. Therefore, Duolingo focuses on leveraging AI and machine learning to broaden access to a comparable learning experience.

This highlights a core challenge for Duolingo, as previously discussed: a balance must be struck between maintaining user engagement and achieving genuine educational outcomes.

“Our aim is to present content that is challenging, yet not so difficult as to discourage learners,” Settles clarifies. “This represents a significant challenge for us. Simplifying the material led to complaints of it being too easy, despite improved retention, while more difficult content risked driving users away.”

The research team’s recent development, Birdbrain, was launched coinciding with the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns. It functions as a personalized recommendation system, analogous to Netflix’s movie suggestions based on viewing habits.

This algorithm assists Duolingo in finding the optimal balance – the “Goldilocks Zone” – by selecting exercises tailored to each user’s past performance, considering both correct and incorrect answers.

Prior to Birdbrain, Duolingo’s lessons followed a more linear and random structure. Users were presented with 14 to 20 exercises selected from a pool of 200 to 1,000 exercises per skill, with a degree of arbitrariness.

“Previously, we relied on a series of heuristics to randomly select exercises while also attempting to ensure variety, preventing an overabundance of translation exercises,” Settles stated. Now, while exercise types and questions remain varied, they are chosen with greater purpose.

For example, based on a user’s prior performance, Duolingo might now offer a translation exercise requiring a complete response, rather than a simple matching prompt.

“Birdbrain represents a key innovation that allows us to move beyond the cyclical tradeoff between difficulty and engagement,” Settles noted. Currently implemented across all courses, the algorithm activates only after a user has accumulated sufficient historical data for meaningful analysis.

Approximately 40% of daily sessions now utilize Birdbrain in some capacity, according to company data.

The Limits of Duolingo's Pedagogical Approach

Duolingo presents a unique challenge: balancing user engagement with optimal learning outcomes. While the platform aims to provide a compelling learning experience, it frequently encounters the difficulty of aligning what learners need with what they want.

According to CEO Luis von Ahn, user requests don't always translate to practical application. Features deemed desirable during the planning phase often fail to gain traction once implemented. A prime example is the Chatbot feature, intended to facilitate conversational practice.

Despite significant user demand, the Chatbot saw limited adoption, with approximately 80% of users choosing not to utilize it after launch. This highlights a discrepancy between expressed desires and actual usage patterns.

Similarly, increased emphasis on grammar exercises proved detrimental to user engagement. Duolingo recently introduced immersion exercises, aiming to help adult learners grasp broader linguistic concepts beyond isolated vocabulary.

Duolingo Stories represent a more intellectually stimulating component of the app. These short, guided dialogues incorporate on-screen text, audio, and comprehension questions. Currently, Stories boast 1 million daily active users.

However, user behavior indicates a preference for the platform’s core functionality. A significant portion of users remain within familiar sections of the app, neglecting features like Stories, in-app purchases, and experimental tools.

The design team is actively exploring methods to organically guide users toward these less-visited functions. The challenge lies in attracting attention without disrupting the established user experience.

A key distinction between Duolingo and traditional classroom settings is user agency. Unlike students compelled to attend, Duolingo learners voluntarily engage with the platform. This limits the ability to mandate challenging exercises, even if pedagogically sound.

Consequently, when faced with a choice between maximizing engagement and prioritizing learning efficacy, the product team generally favors entertainment over strict educational rigor. Maintaining user interest remains paramount to the platform’s success.

Is Duolingo Effective for Developing Conversational Skills?

A frequent point of contention regarding Duolingo centers on its limited focus on developing actual speaking ability in a foreign language. The application’s primary design emphasizes individual practice, naturally leading to exercises that concentrate on reading, writing, and listening comprehension. This approach adequately serves individuals aiming to understand international video content or read literature in another language.

However, many language acquisition experts contend that simultaneous training in all four core skills – reading, writing, listening, and speaking – is crucial for optimal learning progress. While the platform includes some pronunciation exercises, access to detailed feedback requires a Premium subscription, and current performance is reportedly inconsistent.

Settles explained that the company initially utilized readily available speech recognition technology from iOS and Android. Currently, however, significant investment is being directed towards building an internal team and a dedicated “Speech Lab” focused on advancing speech technology capabilities.

Repertoire skills, designed to facilitate initiating conversations, are slated for imminent release, as stated by Von Ahn. Furthermore, audio lessons, currently available for French on iOS, are being introduced to provide users with opportunities to enhance their listening skills and practice speaking. Expansion to additional languages is anticipated, contingent upon successful implementation.

The company is also experimenting with podcasts in Spanish, English, and French, offering audio-only learning experiences. This initiative, underway since 2017, has already garnered up to 70 million downloads across all episodes. Duolingo’s podcasts integrate storytelling with language instruction; a host presents narratives at a deliberate pace in Spanish, French, or English, followed by a repetition in the listener’s native tongue.

This method allows Duolingo to introduce cultural nuances and authentic accents to its audience. The potential for extending the podcast series to encompass all languages remains uncertain, representing another area of ongoing experimentation for the organization.

Duolingo’s Expanding Strategic Initiatives

Duolingo is diversifying its offerings beyond traditional language learning, venturing into several new projects that could generate substantial revenue streams in the future.

The Duolingo English Test (DET), originating from a hackathon project led by Settles in 2014, is an online exam assessing English language proficiency. Its results are frequently used for college admissions, traditionally dominated by in-person tests like the TOEFL, which often present logistical challenges due to limited testing locations.

Unlike the TOEFL, the DET is a one-hour exam that can be completed remotely on a computer, with results available within two days. The cost to take the test is $49.

A significant portion of Duolingo’s success during the pandemic was attributable to the DET. Before 2020, 1,000 schools accepted the DET for admissions purposes. However, with the widespread closure of in-person testing centers, over 2,000 additional schools began recognizing the DET.

Furthermore, the volume of test-takers increased by 2,000% between 2019 and 2020. The DET attracts a predominantly international audience, who may also become users of the core Duolingo application as they prepare for the exam.

Jennifer Dewar, director of strategic engagement for the DET, suggested that the company could leverage patterns in test-taker errors to refine the English courses within the Duolingo app. Her vision is to enable users to progress through the app, mastering English from beginner levels to advanced proficiency, and then validate their skills through assessment.

Currently, Duolingo’s English course only supports learners up to a low-intermediate level, according to established international language learning standards.

In addition to the DET, the company launched Duolingo ABC during the pandemic, a free application designed to foster English literacy in children aged three to six. Cammie Dunaway, chief of marketing, highlighted that Duolingo “pursued a challenging path by initiating projects where replicating key learnings from the main app was difficult.”

For instance, the ABC app is entirely advertisement-free. It also relies heavily on voice-over narration, recognizing that young users may be unable to read or have limited reading skills. ABC also eschews engagement mechanisms like streaks or leaderboards, necessitating innovative approaches to maintain engagement comparable to that of the main Duolingo app.

Duolingo's Evolution and Future Prospects

Duolingo has fundamentally altered the landscape of language learning, impacting hundreds of millions of individuals globally. Its success is built upon a highly acclaimed user experience and the industry standards for gamification it pioneered.

Currently, the company is embarking on its next phase, focused on enhancing learning effectiveness and developing innovative products to expand its user base. Reports indicate that Duolingo is preparing for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) within the coming quarters.

However, this remarkable growth hasn't been without its challenges. Duolingo navigates several inherent tensions, including balancing user engagement with educational rigor and generating revenue while maintaining a free core experience.

The startup holds strong convictions regarding areas often considered untouchable within the tech industry, such as establishing reliable learning metrics and defining the ethical limits of engagement and potential addiction in gaming.

Defining success for Duolingo is complex. Viewed as an edtech company, success means transforming Duolingo from a brief daily activity into a lifelong habit capable of significantly improving earning potential.

Alternatively, if considered a consumer subscription technology startup, success lies in cultivating a captivating platform that users consistently choose to visit. In reality, Duolingo embodies elements of both perspectives.

Luis von Ahn, the founder, believes that the most crucial aspect for Duolingo's future is sustaining user motivation through the integration of more robust pedagogical methods into the learning experience. He acknowledges ongoing development is necessary.

Von Ahn emphasizes that continually refining the way education is perceived, experienced, and delivered is a persistent endeavor. “We’ve hired some of the smartest people in the world, and we’ve been working on it for 10 years,” von Ahn stated. “This is not easy.”

This article was updated on May 3, 2021, to incorporate additional details regarding Duolingo’s podcast experimentation.