Free language-learning platform with over 100 courses in more than 30 languages, offering bite-sized lessons for fun and quick learning on phone, tablet, or computer.
Duolingo is a popular free language-learning platform developed by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker. The app offers over 100 total courses across more than 30 languages including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, and English.
Duolingo uses bite-sized lessons to help users learn vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and more. Each lesson involves short, game-like activities such as translation, listening comprehension, speaking, and matching words or phrases to images. This gamified approach aims to make picking up a new language fun rather than tedious.
One of the key benefits of Duolingo is flexibility - lessons can be completed in just a few minutes at a time, which makes it easy to learn a language through quick daily activities on your phone, tablet, or computer. The app also personalizes the learning experience using spaced repetition, ensuring users strengthen knowledge of material they got wrong while also being exposed to new topics.
In addition to its popularity with over 500 million registered users, research shows Duolingo can be an effective language-learning tool. A 2021 study found 34 hours of Duolingo provides a similar level of proficiency as a full university semester of language education. This makes it a compelling free alternative to pricier apps or classroom instruction.
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