RT @TaffyLogolept: Welp it happened. @LuisvonAhn made me cry during #Duocon2020 🤣 Mostly because I used to be an IELTS admin and saw how difficult standardized testing can be. There need to be more options, and I'm so glad @duolingo is stepping up to provide something so accessible!!

Aaand that's a wrap on #Duocon2020!  We hope you learned, laughed, and got answers to your most burning Duolingo questions. 

Thanks so much for spending part of your Saturday with us! 

ICYMI or want to rewatch, all talks will be available at https://t.co/JUgVi3FTsZ

Why do we do what we do at Duolingo? 

"I really think that education is one of the few things that can lower socioeconomic barriers. I think if you're able to educate everybody to the same level... that would massively reduce inequality." – @LuisvonAhn

#Duocon2020

Whenever we add a course, we always consider a few things: 

🤝 Amount of interest in learning the language
 If there's a compelling story
 Whether we have a good set of volunteer contributors
 If we think Duolingo is a good avenue to teach the language

#Duocon2020

OK, so @LuisvonAhn's 1700 day Streak is certainly impressive... but still a ways off from the current highest Streak of 2800+ days!  #Duocon2020

"As soon as a country got into lockdown, about one or two days later, our traffic would massively increase." -@LuisvonAhn 
 
Globally, people are using quarantine as a time to learn languages – in China, our learners *more* than doubled! #Duocon2020

Alright, time for some Q&A with @LuisvonAhn and @HelenZaltzman! 

Amid COVID-19, many English testing centers worldwide closed down. As a result, @DuolingoENTest became the most viable, affordable, and accepted option to certify English proficiency.  Test volume has grown 1500% year over year! #Duocon2020

There are many amazing updates from @LuisvonAhn, but did you hear that we’ve been revamping our entire Japanese course?  With ~8 million active learners, it's our 6th most popular course.

A key part of the update is new ways to learn Japanese writing systems! ✍️ #Duocon2020

Did you catch that?! With so many people worldwide picking up new languages during quarantine, we now have 42 million monthly active learners!  #Duocon2020

 This is NOT a drill, folks.  @LuisvonAhn really just dropped the news that @Trevornoah(!) will be speaking at next year's Duocon. At least *one* thing we have to look forward to in 2021. 🙃 

But for now, it's still #Duocon2020. Tune in! https://t.co/VBsR7Vileu

Surprise! We're producing the *first-ever* bilingual true crime podcast for Spanish learners! 

This special season of our Spanish Podcast will be called “El gran robo argentino” – "The Great Argentine Heist". This is the heist of the century, folks! Coming soon. #Duocon2020

RT @CS_Lyons: "We have to meet our learners where they are." #Duocon2020

Braintrust Review 🧠 (def.) - when people with various roles at Duolingo meet and listen to a rough mix of each podcast episode. Members from Learning Science, Marketing, Content, and more all come together to put themselves in the shoes of learners! #Duocon2020

Fast fact: the protagonists featured in each of the Duolingo Podcasts are the people who actually lived those stories. 

Tune in now to hear from Spanish Podcast Host @martinacastro and Supervising Producer Laura Macomber! 🎙️ https://t.co/VBsR7Vileu #Duocon2020

RT @raciolinguistic: Why do people use other varieties in a world where Standard English is so important? @ACharityHudley reminds us that it is because people use their own varieties to preserve their meaning a cultural value! @duolingo #duocon2020

Knowing about Black Language variety is crucial. 

Language is key to professional & economic justice – including education, law, business, & any discipline that allows us to use linguistics to advocate for humanity and civil rights.  

Thank you, @ACharityHudley! #Duocon2020

Mutual intelligibility (def.): when speakers of different but related language varieties can understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort.

.@ACharityHudley: "There is no broken English. Not for Black people, but really not for anyone." #Duocon2020

Three important things to know:
 Black Languages and language varieties exist! 
 What Black Languages look and sound like.
 How Black Languages impact the Black Experience. 

#Duocon2020