As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, communicating in more than one language is proving an invaluable skill. Duolingo launched in 2011 to make language learning easier and more accessible. It takes a gamified approach to studying with a combination of quizzes, stories and interactive exercises. It uses personalised feedback and recommendations with scores and progress trackers. Its mission is to develop “the best education and make it universally available”. Recently it was included in the list of the 200-300 companies the Impact Plan invests in.
What problems are Duolingo trying to solve?
Duolingo estimates more than 1.2 billion people are learning a new language. However, traditional methods can be expensive and inaccessible. It can also be seen only as an interpersonal skill but for many people, it can be far more important than that. Learning a new language can create economic opportunities for individuals and their families. It could open new job opportunities such as those preferring a certain level of language proficiency. Proficient language skills are increasingly important in a globalised job market. The ability to speak multiple languages can be an important asset in creating opportunities. For others, a new language creates more opportunities for travel and community building.
Traditional language studying methods can often be highly structured and time-consuming. Duolingo enables users to learn at their own pace whenever suits them. Offering this flexibility means users can study and retake course units as many times as they like. This flexibility in developing a new language is a core part of Duolingo’s approach. It envisions users making the most of a few spare minutes each day. Engaging users in developing a language skill can be difficult. Many people often struggle with staying motivated. Duolingo has designed its experience to be fun and engaging. Its approach is based on ‘gamification’. This is a way to incentivise learners to pursue their course by gaining points, streaks, and going up levels.
Duolingo also supports uncommon and endangered languages. A Duolingo survey found culture was the number one reason people in the US chose to study an endangered or indigenous language. For languages Hawaiian and Navajo, there are often limited resources to support learning.
How does Duolingo create an impact?
Perhaps Duolingo’s core impact is democratising access to language-learning. Making it free and more accessible has opened the possibility of learning a new language to millions of people around the world.
Since its launch, Duolingo has expanded its tools and initiatives to support development. Duolingo ABC, for example, helps children learn to read and write. It teaches phonics, handwriting, sight words and vocabulary. Like its language app, it also uses a gamification approach to maintain engagement. Duolingo for Schools is a free platform for teachers. Through it, they can create classrooms and assignments. It offers better visibility and management over their students’ learning and progress.
A key goal of Duolingo is eliminating barriers to education for everyone. Refugees are the group most underserved in their access to education. The company has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Together they developed the Duolingo English Test program. The program aims to improve pathways to higher education for refugees. The partnership guides university and financial aid application processes. The aim is to increase refugee enrolment in higher education to 15% by 2030.
The company has the world’s largest collection of language-learning data. It combines unique insights from these with existing theories to continue innovating its approach to studying a language. Duolingo shares its research in publications and data with the wider community studying language learning and development to help advance knowledge in the field.
For some people, a new language helps build community. Duolingo helped Tommy to connect with his Spanish-speaking teammates. Studying Spanish wasn’t simply about communicating instructions or thoughts about games but developing relationships.
The Duolingo English Test helps users certify their English proficiency when applying to a university. It’s accepted by 1000s of universities around the world. For students like Yein, it created new possibilities to apply to study at their preferred university. Yein initially took a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). However, she found the experience stressful in a noisy and distracting environment. The Duolingo English Test enabled her to complete her proficiency test at home and was significantly cheaper too.
What’s the size of Duolingo’s impact?
Duolingo has more than 500 million registered users and over 40 million monthly active users. As of 2024, it offers courses in over 30 languages. These include languages both widely spoken and uncommon or endangered. It also funds and researches the efficacy of its courses. Some results have shown:
- Nine-out-of-ten learners say they feel more confident speaking after using Duolingo for just one month.
- Nine-out-of-ten teachers have said Duolingo’s an effective way to learn a language.
- Eight-out-of-ten new learners say they’re more motivated to learn a new language after just four weeks of use.
Duolingo as a financial investment
Duolingo hit record profitability in 2023. Paid subscribers increased by 57% to 6.6 million and total monthly active users (MAU) increased by 46% to 88.4 million. Duolingo’s total revenue grew by 44% to $531.1 million. Moreover, the company predicts a positive outlook for the end of 2024 with revenue forecasted to rise to $729.5 million.
It has a positive growth outlook and sees several important factors and opportunities. Firstly, it’s operating in the vast market of people studying a new language, where much of this is moving online. Duolingo continues to be the most downloaded language-learning app globally. It also has strong brand recognition with expanding partnerships.
Duolingo’s inclusion in the Impact Plan
Duolingo’s transformed language learning by making it free and more accessible. It continues to innovate and expand into new areas like literacy and maths. For many, it creates new opportunities for careers, travel, education and community building. The company aims to offer the best language education in the world and for millions of learners, Duolingo’s the go-to language learning resource.
Risk warning
As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice
