Problem
Who started Duolingo? Why? Will it stay free? How do they decide what to update?
Answers
I just watched a video on how Duolingo started. The motivation was to provide free education to the world's poor people, teaching them English as a second language, enabling them to get better paid jobs.
I wondered who funds it. I gathered that an already entrepreneur started it. What confused me was that I keep getting pop up ads for entrepreneurs, so I am switching between one video and another.
Another video explained how testing Duolingo has increased usage.
The testing seems to be done for two purposes:
1 To persuade people to sign up. (Very interesting if you are interested in SEO, which is short for Search Engine Optimisation, basically marketing by helping people find your website. (Aside. SEO is the business of my son - his father insists I say our son - not sure why Dad has to be dragged into every blog - I am not mentioned in all of his. )
2 After websites attract readers to the website, next task is to get readers to sign up, then return and read regularly. For language learning, little and often, daily practice, is believed to be the key to learning.
Everything is done on testing what works. Sometimes trying one thing and seeing if it works. Sometimes trying two things and seeing if either of them works, and which works better. What surprised me is that there was no mention of feedback from forums.
The complaint I have been following on forums is on the rewards system. I could not care less how many 'badges' I or friends have earned. (Apparently, I am unusual in this.) I want a simple statistical evidence that I have taken the course, and how far I am progressing. I want to know that I have completed 5 of 100 tests and to see that I am gradually making progress and estimate how many I can complete by the end of the year (or the holiday when I will use the language).
I'll add links later.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Who started Duolingo? Why? Will it stay free? How do they decide what to update?
Answers
I just watched a video on how Duolingo started. The motivation was to provide free education to the world's poor people, teaching them English as a second language, enabling them to get better paid jobs.
I wondered who funds it. I gathered that an already entrepreneur started it. What confused me was that I keep getting pop up ads for entrepreneurs, so I am switching between one video and another.
Another video explained how testing Duolingo has increased usage.
The testing seems to be done for two purposes:
1 To persuade people to sign up. (Very interesting if you are interested in SEO, which is short for Search Engine Optimisation, basically marketing by helping people find your website. (Aside. SEO is the business of my son - his father insists I say our son - not sure why Dad has to be dragged into every blog - I am not mentioned in all of his. )
2 After websites attract readers to the website, next task is to get readers to sign up, then return and read regularly. For language learning, little and often, daily practice, is believed to be the key to learning.
Everything is done on testing what works. Sometimes trying one thing and seeing if it works. Sometimes trying two things and seeing if either of them works, and which works better. What surprised me is that there was no mention of feedback from forums.
The complaint I have been following on forums is on the rewards system. I could not care less how many 'badges' I or friends have earned. (Apparently, I am unusual in this.) I want a simple statistical evidence that I have taken the course, and how far I am progressing. I want to know that I have completed 5 of 100 tests and to see that I am gradually making progress and estimate how many I can complete by the end of the year (or the holiday when I will use the language).
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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