How Duolingo Gamified Language
The green owl is very fluent.
Duolingo’s mascot, Duo, at company headquarters in Pittsburgh. Photograph by Ross Mantle for Bloomberg Businessweek
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Hola, it’s Bill. Like millions of people around the world, I started using Duolingo during the pandemic—mostly because my then-13-year-old stepson was also using the language-learning app for school. I soon got hooked, studying Spanish every day… even though, frankly, I had no real need to do so. It seemed a better use of time than doomscrolling social media, that’s all.
And it felt more like playing a game than like studying, with colorful cartoon characters, easily completed lessons and, of course, the app’s mascot, Duo the owl, who needed me to keep my daily “streak” going. I couldn’t let that silly owl down—it might make fun of me on Duolingo’s bonkers TikTok account. Eventually, I got curious about the company behind the app, and that’s when things got really interesting.