Duolingo: Learn Languages

What the app is

Five minutes a day is the unit of Duolingo. Lessons are short, game-shaped and mix speaking, listening, reading and writing, with the streak counter doing the motivational work. More than 40 languages are offered, including Welsh, Hawaiian and Latin alongside the big ones, and all of them are free.

The app has started teaching other things. Chess lessons cover the moves, set puzzles and allow matches. A Math course aligns to school standards from primary level up, and a Music course teaches notation and songs on an on-screen keyboard. Rewards, achievements and leaderboards run across all of it, and the method leans hard on repetition.

How it works day to day

The daily habit is the product. A reminder arrives, you do one or two lessons on the bus, the streak ticks over, and the leaderboard shows whether a stranger in your league is pulling ahead. Each lesson is a run of tap-the-word, type-the-sentence and speak-into-the-microphone exercises.

Progress is slow but steady, and the repetition means phrases stick. Learners who add Chess or Music treat them as a change of pace between language units. Missing a day is the one thing the app is designed to make you feel.

Why people look for it

It's the app people name when they decide to learn a language, which makes the search mostly brand-driven. The free courses and the low daily commitment are what keep them, and the newer Chess and Math courses bring in a second crowd. A 4.7 rating from more than a million reviewers is strong for an Education app with this much reach.

Look and feel

Five screenshots will show a lesson, the course path, a leaderboard and probably the Chess or Music course. Duolingo's look is unmistakable: the green owl, bright flat illustration, large rounded buttons and a vertical path of lesson nodes. It's designed to feel like a game rather than a textbook, and it succeeds at that.

Updates and upkeep

Version 7.146.1 shows a seventh major line with well over a hundred updates, consistent with Duolingo, Inc's reputation for constant experimentation. The 4.7 average over 1M+ ratings confirms a large, satisfied base. The App Store is the only store linked on this page. Nothing in the data indicates how often content for the less common languages is refreshed.

Good for

• Daily language habit

  Short lessons and streaks make five minutes a day stick.

• Uncommon languages

  Welsh, Hawaiian and Latin sit alongside Spanish and French.

• Chess and maths beginners

  Non-language courses use the same bite-sized format.

Before you install

Rated 4+ and free, with every course available at no cost according to the listing. What a paid tier adds, and whether there are ads on the free version, isn't stated here, though the listing doesn't claim an ad-free experience either. An account is needed for progress and leaderboards. Lessons need a connection. Speaking exercises use the microphone. There's no Play Store link on this page.