The founder and CEO of Duolingo, Luis von Ahn provided more details on this new venture in an interview with the BBC. He also touched on the goals of this new math variant of Duolingo. Since kids are the main focus of the company’s new venture, von Ahn touched on the competition Duolingo faces from other free apps. He referred to social media apps like Instagram and TikTok, and their impact on children.
The Duolingo app currently has over 40 million monthly active users
“But the problem with smartphones is they are a double-edged sword – they also come with interruptive things, like TikTok,” von Ahn said. “We could add things that don’t have educational value, just to keep people engaged, but we choose not to do that.” Duolingo currently has 40 million monthly users with combined downloads of over 500 million across platforms. “We started with language learning because there was this humongous need around the world to learn English, which can immediately increase your income potential, but we’ve always wanted to teach other things,” he said on the new math feature. The language learning features on Duolingo are designed for people of all ages. However, the upcoming math learning feature is meant specifically for kids. The company hasn’t said if the new maths app will be provided to individuals or entire schools. We do know that this new app will be free to use, similar to the existing Duolingo service. But it’s unclear if there will be a premium subscription with additional features. The language learning app generates a large portion of its revenues from premium subscribers and ads. Von Ahn said the decision to stick with the free model has generated some friction from colleagues and investors. But he acknowledges that this aspect has assisted in the growth of the app, primarily with word of mouth. In August, Duolingo added a new family plan with support for up to six members. It also expanded supported languages with the addition of Japanese, Korean, Russian, or Arabic. The app continues to be one of the best and interactive sources to learn new languages.
