Mumbai: Duolingo the world’s leading mobile learning platform, hosted its fourth annual Duocon, the largest free global event at the intersection of language, learning, and technology. This year’s conference expanded beyond language with appearances from global celebrities and experts in food, music, math, and dance. For the first time, Duolingo world characters Lily and Zari served as animated emcees for the livestreamed conference.
Featured talks included deep dives into Duolingo’s most exciting new products, including the complete redesign of Duolingo ABC, a literacy app for children aged 3 to 8. Audiences could hear from Sammi Siegel, the lead software engineer behind Duolingo’s first app outside of language, Duolingo Math! Meet Linda Simensky, renowned children’s television executive, who pulled back the curtain on the characters and stories that make up the Duolingo world. Users could also get an early look at new social features including, ‘Friends Quest,’ designed to help learners have fun while reaching their language learning goals.
“We’re proud to host Duocon virtually so that people all over the world can tune in and hear how we’re improving the Duolingo app and expanding beyond languages,” said Luis von Ahn, co-founder and CEO of Duolingo. “We had over 130,000 learners from more than 150 countries stream last year’s event, with huge audiences tuning in from India and Brazil. We hope this year’s Duocon helps people around the globe feel more connected and engaged with the Duolingo learning community.”
The event also brought together impressive global talent to explore the ways people communicate and connect beyond language. Duolingo’s CEO will interview Chef José Andrés, one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People,” about his favorite childhood dishes and how food became his life’s mission. Viewers enjoyed performances from Angelique Kidjo, a five-time Grammy Award winner, and Mary J Lee, dance trainer for the hit Korean reality dance competition Produce 48. Even math can be considered a universal language, as Dr. Tom Crawford (the ‘Naked Mathematician’ to his YouTube followers) demonstrates with surprisingly fun applications of pi.