Duolingo Math is debuting soon. Here's how the app works - Technical.ly (2024)

Duolingo has risen to prominence over the past decade with its language learning app offering people around the world a low-cost or free option to learn dozens of languages. With a reported 500 million users as of 2022, the app has found a loyal base among aspiring linguists. Now, the East Liberty-headquartered Duolingo has decided it’s time to branch out and use its expertise to tackle a universal struggle: math homework.

The forthcoming Duolingo Math platform will have two options. If you have a child between the ages of 7 and 12, then you can practice their multiplication and fractions in a game-like fashion. But, if you’ve got a student at home over 13 who needs to work on their mental math — or you want to practice math basics yourself — then Duolingo Math is offering “brain training” to help users improve and apply math to their everyday lives.

The idea, Senior Software Engineer Sammi Siegel told Technical.ly, is to expand on Duolingo’s mission to make education accessible, and to make math a little more fun.

“As a company we’ve learned a lot over the last 10 years about teaching on mobile platforms, from game mechanics like experience points to developing interactive lessons to increase learning, all things which are transferable to other subjects,” Siegel said. “We want to make learning math more accessible and fun, just like we’ve done for language learning.”

Duolingo Math is debuting soon. Here's how the app works - Technical.ly (1)

Sammi Siegel at Duocon 2022. (Courtesy photo)

The development team included Siegel and two other engineers and at one point the team was even able to use Siegel’s coworker’s daughter as a source of feedback. The public got a preview of Duolingo Math last August during Duocon, the free, virtual, pre-recorded conference providing updates on the company’s business strategy and product features. Duocon 2022 is being held today.

Why a math app now? In the wake of learning loss due to the pandemic and pre-existing math anxiety amongst most Americans, Duolingo felt now was the perfect time to address the current need for supplemental math instruction, per the company. Because Duolingo wanted to ensure the lessons were relevant, the team included a math learning scientist whose job it was to provide insight on what kids would be most likely to learn and the best way to teach the subject.

“Our goal to be an educational app that teaches in a fun, gamified way is the same,” Siegel said. “The math exercises are still as interactive (and depending on the concepts being taught, even more so!) as the language app.”

Duolingo Math is debuting soon. Here's how the app works - Technical.ly (2)

Duolingo Math. (Courtesy image)

Siegel added that although math was a favorite subject for her while growing up, she’s not unfamiliar with what it’s like to struggle with it. As the only woman in higher-level math courses throughout her education, sometimes she also found herself feeling downright isolated, she said. Without the support of her math professor father, Siegel recalled that she might have given up on the subject entirely. Still, she’s aware that not every struggling student has a mathematician in their living room to use as a resource so she hopes the app can provide some relief.

“We want to make learning math more accessible and fun, just like we’ve done for language learning,” Siegel said.

Duolingo Math’s tech stack is made up of “primarily Swift and some SwiftUI,” the engineer said. “From a technical perspective, much of the underlying user interface code in the Math app is the same as the original Duolingo language app.”

The app will be available in beta testing on iOS devices and has already gained a waiting list amid plans to launch later this year. Sign up to join it here.

Learn more about Duolingo Math during Siegel’s talk at the virtual Duocon conference, happening today:

Atiya Irvin-Mitchell is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Heinz Endowments.

Companies:Duolingo

Tags: Apps / Business / Software / STEM / Technology

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

Our servicesPreferred partnersThe journalism fund

Engagement

Duolingo Math is debuting soon. Here's how the app works - Technical.ly (3)

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

Venture for America, which bet on entrepreneurship to revitalize cities, has abruptly shut downHarris passed on Shapiro for VP. You can still catch him this fall at a Pittsburgh AI SummitThe top challenges these 5 local orgs can help entrepreneurs faceDid the cheap-money era kill these tech nonprofits?

Share this article

Duolingo Math is debuting soon. Here's how the app works - Technical.ly (2024)

FAQs

Is Duolingo math discontinued? ›

It also featured a daily refresh section and contained around 30 units. However, as of August 2024, Duolingo Math is no longer available and moved to the Duolingo app.

Is Duolingo making a math app? ›

Yes, you read that right. Duolingo launched its math course during the month of September-October of 2023. Students can now make use of the math course in Duolingo to hone their math skills and practice basic math concepts on the go.

Is Duolingo math good for adults? ›

The updated course includes more advanced real-world math skills, like calculating tips and hourly wages, to sharpen adult learners' mental math. There's more to learn than ever before on Duolingo. Learners can access the app's most fun features, from completing Quests to climbing the leaderboard, in any subject.

What is the target audience for Duolingo math? ›

The audience it was originally designed for was literally 9-year-olds. It's also intended for adults who are lost with math.

Why was Duolingo removed from China? ›

Its removal from the Chinese app stores comes after Beijing last month issued rules barring curriculum-based tutoring for profit and barred foreign investment in the sector, dealing a blow to the country's $120 billion private tutoring industry.

Is Duolingo losing users? ›

The company said daily active users (DAU) rose 55% to 31.4 million, more than double what it was 18 months ago, but only narrowly above the average analysts' projection of 31.1 million.

What grade level is Duolingo math? ›

DuoLingo Math is a great app for having your student work on math skills! We recommend this app for any student in grades 3 through 5.

Is Duolingo a Chinese company? ›

Duolingo, Inc. is an American educational technology company that produces learning apps and provides language certification. Duolingo offers courses on music, math, and 43 languages, ranging from English, French, and Spanish to less commonly studied languages such as Welsh, Irish, and Navajo.

Is Duolingo checked by AI? ›

We've combined human expertise with the power of AI for a comprehensive approach to exam supervision. Every test session is recorded via the computer, microphone, keyboard, and mouse, and then reviewed by multiple rounds of trained professionals in order to be certified.

Can people become fluent with Duolingo? ›

Will Duolingo make you fluent? No. Duolingo won't likely make you fluent if used on its own. However, when you use Duolingo combined with other resources, activities and tools that work for you, then yes, Duolingo will play a part in making you fluent.

What age uses Duolingo the most? ›

Duolingo has users in over 194 countries around the world. The top 5 most popular languages on Duolingo are Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Italian. Duolingo users have collectively translated over 7 billion strings of text for the Duolingo course incubator. 56% of Duolingo users are under the age of 24.

Can 7 year olds use Duolingo? ›

“This app is excellent…the confidence that my daughter has in reading now has increased, it definitely has made her even more interested in learning!” “Our 7 year old has struggled to learn to read… but the app is subtly helping him with that without making him feel bad about it which is great!

Do you have to pay for Duolingo math? ›

duolingo math

Our free, bite-sized approach — but for math! Fun lessons help students get ahead in their math classes, while adults can brain train to boost their mental math skills.

What country uses Duolingo the most? ›

Duolingo is mostly used in the United States, with 144,152,500 users leaving in the U.S. amounting to 25.07% of the total Duolingo Users around the world.

Why is Duolingo valued so high? ›

Duolingo offers a long history of product innovation, marketing efficiency and attractive profitability/unit economics.” Growth stocks are those that are either growing their revenue in mid to high double or triple digit percentages or those who trade at significantly higher prices when compared to their earnings.

Did Duolingo get rid of progress quizzes? ›

The progress quiz is no longer available in the lingot store after being eliminated in the site rebuild in the summer of 2017.

Can you download Duolingo math? ›

Duolingo Math is an educational app from Duolingo Inc. It's designed to make math fun and engaging for kids, focusing on third-grade level topics. This Android app is free to download and joins the family of the well-known Duolingo language learning suite.

How old is Duolingo math? ›

In October 2023, Duolingo released math and music courses in English and Spanish for iOS users. In March 2023, Duolingo officially announced the planned Duolingo Max, a subscription tier above Super Duolingo, in their blog. In July 2023, Duolingo launched a feature using the iOS widget feature.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Stevie Stamm

Last Updated:

Views: 6225

Rating: 5 / 5 (60 voted)

Reviews: 83% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Stevie Stamm

Birthday: 1996-06-22

Address: Apt. 419 4200 Sipes Estate, East Delmerview, WY 05617

Phone: +342332224300

Job: Future Advertising Analyst

Hobby: Leather crafting, Puzzles, Leather crafting, scrapbook, Urban exploration, Cabaret, Skateboarding

Introduction: My name is Stevie Stamm, I am a colorful, sparkling, splendid, vast, open, hilarious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.