Meet Duolingo. An easy and fun way to learn a language
Duolingo is an American platform that includes a language-learning website and mobile app, as well as a digital language-proficiency assessment exam. The company uses the freemium model; the app and the website are accessible without charge, although Duolingo also offers a premium service for a fee.
As of November 2019 the language-learning website and app offer 94 different language courses in 23 languages. The app has over 300 million registered users across the world.
Duolingo mimics the structure of video games in several ways in order to engage its users. It features a reward system in which users acquire “lingots”, an in-game currency that they can spend on features such as character customizations or bonus levels (both available on the mobile app only).
On public leaderboards people can compete against their friends or see how they stack up against the rest of the world. The level system that Duolingo uses is XP (experience points), a numerical system that represents a user’s skill-level. Badges in Duolingo represent achievements that are earned from completing specific objectives or challenges.
The study process in Duolingo combines various methods such as: listening to the pronunciation, reading sentences, talking with language bots and voice recording, forming phrases by ordering words, matching images to words.