Technology

Addiction to a Language-Learning App Can Be Good for You

Duolingo learns from gaming companies how to keep users coming back.

Luis von Ahn, co-founder and chief executive officer of Duolingo.
Photographer: Justin Merriman

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By Jeff Wise

January 3, 2019 at 12:00 PM UTC

Corrected

January 3, 2019 at 6:49 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the January 7, 2019 issue of businessweek.

ReCaptcha inventor Luis von Ahn introduced Duolingo in 2012, hoping to help users master a new language. In minutes a day, the app promised, you could learn English, Spanish, French, or German—no books required, no instructors. And all for free.

The pitch sounded convincing enough. But in the first year after its debut, Duolingo had a hard time persuading hopeful linguists to keep up with the lessons. For every eight users who downloaded and tried Duolingo, seven never returned.