Anonymous
My interest in Duolingo starts with my experience as a user, a language lover, then as a fan of this “magic” Duo on social media, and now have a passion to help develop Duolingo. I used to learn my first Deutsch (Germany) and Hanyu (Chinese) on Duolingo app along with my textbooks, and the learning experience with these two types of materials was a difference. While learning on textbooks was resourceful and more detailed, it was sometimes quite boring, overwhelming, and disorienting for a self-learner like me. Personally, I feel Duolingo made me better memorize words and sentences thanks to a clear journey on the streak map, repetitive practice intertwined with new knowledge personalized for each learner, in combination with “competitive factors” like streak, ranking, minigames, and challenges. Using Duolingo to learn new languages not only helped me understand the basics of these languages, but also demonstrated how effective a well-designed, user-friendly app can be in breaking down big topics into digestible parts, make learners less burnt out in the long term, and render an engaging learning experience for their users.
As someone who has been involved in making education more accessible throughout my personal educational projects with The STEAM Project and as a tutor in English classes for children living in underpriviledged back in Vietnam, I really appreciate Duolingo’s commitment to democratizing language education worldwide. With my skills, experience, and a big passion for language, accessible education, and technology, Duolingo’s values and engineering impact really aligns with my values.
