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Duolingo Raises $45M, Now Valued at $470M

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Re: Duolingo Raises $45M, Now Valued at $470M

#31

Post by melling »

jfoster wrote: post #19
melling wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have a business model where they sell translation services to CNN, etc. I don't have a business model but I'm trying to bootstrap an iOS language software company. Duolingo is really good but I think language learning is difficult enough that there are other good ideas worth pursuing. Anyway, if anyone is learning another language, I'd appreciate any feedback on my apps. Here's my Spanish app: https://itunes.app…

From the article: > As a company spokesperson told me, the company actually tabled its ambitions around translations about a year and a half ago and hasn’t scaled the businesses or accepted new clients (it’s still working with CNN, though).

Well, that gives me a little hope. Consumers don't part with their money as easily a business does. People want technology to change education but they don't want to spend any money.

Re: Duolingo Raises $45M, Now Valued at $470M

#32

Post by organsnyder »

shkkmo wrote: post #25

I am currently in Uruguay learning Spanish and Duolingo is one the the 4 tools I use on my phone for it. The other three are: Ankidroid: A flashcard app for adding vocabulary I need and phrases I want to come more fluidly. Spanish Trainer: A spaced repetition verb conjugation app as Duolingo doesn't give me enough practice with this. Google Translate What would speed things up for me is the ability to easily import t…

> I would love the ability to make a certain drill or word as Finished or Very Confident so I don't have to waste time practicing stuff I already know.

It's my understanding that Duolingo (and similar tools) aren't quizzing you just to make you prove that you know a word. It's actually part of the process of ensuring retention, and the act of recalling the word is actually part of the process of storing the information more permanently in the brain. Therefore, the ability to mark a word as "learned" may be counterproductive long-term. Of course, the algorithm isn't perfect, but it's more advanced than simply checking off a box that you've learned the word and never need to practice it again.

That being said, I do agree that more customization would be helpful.

Re: Duolingo Raises $45M, Now Valued at $470M

#33

Post by organsnyder »

jfoster wrote: post #19
melling wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have a business model where they sell translation services to CNN, etc. I don't have a business model but I'm trying to bootstrap an iOS language software company. Duolingo is really good but I think language learning is difficult enough that there are other good ideas worth pursuing. Anyway, if anyone is learning another language, I'd appreciate any feedback on my apps. Here's my Spanish app: https://itunes.app…

From the article: > As a company spokesperson told me, the company actually tabled its ambitions around translations about a year and a half ago and hasn’t scaled the businesses or accepted new clients (it’s still working with CNN, though).

That makes sense to me. Automated translation software has made huge strides in the past decade, so Duolingo's crowdfunded approach (as cool as it is) will likely be obsolete in the fairly near future anyways.

Re: Duolingo Raises $45M, Now Valued at $470M

#35

Post by loceng »

shkkmo wrote: post #25

I am currently in Uruguay learning Spanish and Duolingo is one the the 4 tools I use on my phone for it. The other three are: Ankidroid: A flashcard app for adding vocabulary I need and phrases I want to come more fluidly. Spanish Trainer: A spaced repetition verb conjugation app as Duolingo doesn't give me enough practice with this. Google Translate What would speed things up for me is the ability to easily import t…

("What sped things up for me" or I suppose you could say "What speeds things up for me;" hope this is received well by commenter HN community in the spirit of helping someone learn/improve their language)

Re: Duolingo Raises $45M, Now Valued at $470M

#36

Post by organsnyder »

therobot24 wrote: post #6
smaili wrote: post #3

Anybody else feel a little nervous when a free language tool is valued in the hundreds of millions?

Nah, they definitely provide value. Have you used it before? For someone who only took a few years of a foreign language in high school, it's a great refresher. If they could also structure the lessons to teach in a similar way to the classroom (e.g., actively showing different conjugations instead of just assuming you'll remember or pick up on it yourself) then they'll be golden.

Same here. I took two years of Spanish in high school, and two semesters in college. I never put much effort into those classes, as I knew I couldn't commit the time to becoming fluent (I was taking them to fulfill core requirements at the liberal arts college I attended). Now, I'm finding myself slowly reactivating and building on that knowledge using Duolingo, to the point that I should be able to strike up basic conversations fairly soon.

Re: Duolingo Raises $45M, Now Valued at $470M

#37

Post by therobot24 »

jfoster wrote: post #17
therobot24 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, they definitely provide value. Have you used it before? For someone who only took a few years of a foreign language in high school, it's a great refresher. If they could also structure the lessons to teach in a similar way to the classroom (e.g., actively showing different conjugations instead of just assuming you'll remember or pick up on it yourself) then they'll be golden.

They've found an effective solution for self-study. Anything contextually different (eg. for classrooms) might need a vastly different solution. Suppose they even managed to come up with that classroom solution for language learning. How does what they currently have help them? Teachers, schools & government education departments make the purchasing decision for classrooms, so what students use in their time outside…

> How does what they currently have help them?

It helps the user better understand the language, which I believe is their goal to begin with. For example, their current approach presents a conjugated word in the context of a provided sentence or phrase. When I'm refreshing a language this isn't a big deal, but if I'm starting from scratch I don't have the foreknowledge to understand exactly when and why the word appears as such. I don't really need to argue that learning the language structure is much easier than memorizing a large list of words and phrases.

More simply a better tool for learning, is a better product on their end. They don't have to sell it to schools, but if teachers see that it can work in tandem with their curriculum then it will translate to more users.

> If they came up with something good for classrooms, they might as well axe or install paywalls into their existing stuff.

You're only looking at monetizing and forgetting about growth.

Re: Duolingo Raises $45M, Now Valued at $470M

#38

Post by Grue3 »

rkrzr wrote: post #29
mbesto wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you might ask “how can you make money giving away a learning app?” This past week DuoLingo answered that question with the commercial release of the DuoLingo Test Center. The DuoLingo Test Center is currently free but it won’t be for long. Give it a try if you’d like to see how it works. Once the DuoLingo Test is accepted at schools and employers, the company plans to charge $20 to take its test. There’s an establ…

I hope they succeed in taking away some market share from TOEFL. The TOEFL test is ridiculously overpriced for what they provide and your results expire (no joke) after 2 years. Since clearly you will have forgotten everything you knew about that language in 2 years time... Go Duolingo!

>Since clearly you will have forgotten everything you knew about that language in 2 years time...

They are not wrong. I passed Duolingo Spanish course (it might have been extended since then) and barely remember anything now. I was also studying German in school, and later French by myself to the point where I could even speak with native speakers a little. Hardly remember anything either. English is the only foreign language that I haven't forgot because I use it constantly. But if you're not using a foreign language, after passing the test you will completely forget it in 2 years.

Re: Duolingo Raises $45M, Now Valued at $470M

#39

Post by S4M »

rkrzr wrote: post #29
mbesto wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you might ask “how can you make money giving away a learning app?” This past week DuoLingo answered that question with the commercial release of the DuoLingo Test Center. The DuoLingo Test Center is currently free but it won’t be for long. Give it a try if you’d like to see how it works. Once the DuoLingo Test is accepted at schools and employers, the company plans to charge $20 to take its test. There’s an establ…

I hope they succeed in taking away some market share from TOEFL. The TOEFL test is ridiculously overpriced for what they provide and your results expire (no joke) after 2 years. Since clearly you will have forgotten everything you knew about that language in 2 years time... Go Duolingo!

When I took the TOEIC (it was mandatory to get my diploma), the people in charge of the exams said that the TOEIC score is only valid one or two years (can't remember which) and if we spend some time in an English speaking country it was advised to take a TOEIC again as our score would be likely to increase.

I was thinking at the time (it was in 2005) that they were really out of touch with common sense, and right now I wonder if anybody outside academia gives some credibility to the TOEIC or the TOEFL.

Re: Duolingo Raises $45M, Now Valued at $470M

#40

Post by ghshephard »

loceng wrote: post #35
shkkmo wrote: post #25

I am currently in Uruguay learning Spanish and Duolingo is one the the 4 tools I use on my phone for it. The other three are: Ankidroid: A flashcard app for adding vocabulary I need and phrases I want to come more fluidly. Spanish Trainer: A spaced repetition verb conjugation app as Duolingo doesn't give me enough practice with this. Google Translate What would speed things up for me is the ability to easily import t…

("What sped things up for me" or I suppose you could say "What speeds things up for me;" hope this is received well by commenter HN community in the spirit of helping someone learn/improve their language)

I would have used the form, "What sped things up for me." when describing something that happened in the past. "What speeds things up for me" is a different sense - it's talking about the present.
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