University of Zakho

Faculty of Humanities

Dept. of English Literature

Sub: Computer Skills

Duolingo

Prepared by: Supervised by:

Sherivan Sakvan Omer MRS.Media Sabah
 Introduction

Facts about Duolingo

 The website was launched on November 30, 2011, and was

created by Luis Von Ahn, a Guatemalan-American
entrepreneur, and Severin Hacker, a Swiss computer
scientist.

 There are over 120 million students.

 Statistics show that 75% of English speakers take Spanish

as their second language, followed by French and Mandarin
Chinese.

 Duolingo won Apple's iPhone App of the year in 2013.

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How does the app work?

 The app is available for both Androids and iPhones.

 There is no age restriction or fees, besides the ad-free
version.
 Create a profile and pick your language!
 Take a placement test or start from the basics.
 It's used like a game. The more answers you get right, the
more "coins" you earn. If you get something wrong, you lose
a "life."

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Pros:

 Keeps track of progress made

 Easy to access
 Free resource
 Interactive, provides different methods of teaching
 Can be done on phone or computer

Pros and Cons

Cons:

 Could not be paying attention

 Battery life
 Poor connection
 Some vocabulary doesn't add up
 ex) socks in Spanish
 ex) Duolingo = Dorothy in Mandarin Chinese

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How can teachers utilize Duolingo?

 Students should be in high school to use the app.

 Teachers can set goals their students need to meet every
week as supplementary homework.
 They can grade their progress made by what goals they
meet.
 It is an easy way to prepare for tests.

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Why would someone use Duolingo?

 Easy on-the-go access

 It's a free resource!
 You learn the language you want at the speed you want to.
 Teachers can track the progress made
 Can assign homework based off of the topic learned
 Fun test resource
 Collaborative and interactive!

How can Duolingo be used in Public Relations?

 It never hurts to learn a second language.

 More employers are looking for publicists that know more
than one language.
 Duolingo is a good aid, but not a lone language course.
 Oral communication and understanding is an important tool
to have as a PR expert, especially with foreign tabloids.

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 References

Munoz, Juan Andres (15 October 2013). "Duolingo 'incubator'

aims to crowdsource language teaching". CNN. Retrieved 18 April 2022.

"Real World Swift – Making Duolingo Blog". making.duolingo.com.

7 January 2015.

Siegler, M.G. (12 April 2011). "Meet Duolingo, Google's Next

Acquisition Target; Learn A Language, Help The Web". TechCrunch.
Retrieved 21 November 2014.

https://www.duolingo.com/comment/18362598/10-Fun-facts-
about-Duolingo

http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2014/02/27/duolingo-
gets-users-to-translate-buzzfeed-articles.html