Duolingo launches literacy app for kids 'Duolingo ABC' in India

Duolingo ABC is a free app with no ads, and in-app purchases, designed to help children between the age groups of three to eight years learn how to read and write in English independently (Representative Image - iStock)

Duolingo, a United States-based language learning platform, on February 28, launched its kids literacy app called 'Duolingo ABC' in India, years after initially releasing it in countries like the US, the United Kingdom and others, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When we launched in 2020, it was actually a rather quick launch, we launched in the US, because of the pandemic. We knew there was a need for it during the COVID-19 pandemic, so the company very quickly put this out,” Jessica Harjo, Director of Marketing, Duolingo ABC told Moneycontrol, during a virtual interaction.

Harjo added that since the launch the company has been working to improve the app. “We started with our kindergarten content. In the last year, we have added first-grade content. And then just this past year, we added second-grade content. So currently, our app offers an excellent curriculum for kindergarten to second grade,” she said.

The company said Duolingo ABC is available for users in India and can be downloaded from Google Play Store and App Store.

In its current version, Duolingo ABC is a free app with no ads, and in-app purchases, designed to help children between the age groups of three to eight years learn how to read and write in English independently, the company said. The app also allows parents, guardians, and educators to track their child's learning progress, as per the company.

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The learning app offers an array of gamified lessons to help kids. This includes interactive activities such as tracing letters with fingers, connecting images with phrases, identifying objects that start with specific letters, and more, the company said.

In addition, the company said Duolingo ABC has dozens of illustrated short stories for encouraging kids to read out loud and learn from real-time feedback with speech recognition. These stories are designed to help young children develop a love of learning and reading.

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One of the most downloaded language learning apps worldwide, Duolingo offers over 100 total courses across 40 distinct languages, from Spanish, French, German, and Japanese, to Klingon.

The platform launched in India back in 2016. Harjo believes the platform’s experience along with the infrastructure available has come in handy for Duolingo ABC to enter the India market.

“This is our first foray. Duolingo already has the infrastructure of team members around the world. That isn't something that we would have available to us if we were an app on our own without the infrastructure of Duolingo. I would also say that Duolingo ABC is built on everything that the team at Duolingo has already learned over the years,” she added.

“To avoid problems in kids like low reading levels, behavioural issues, school-year repetitions, and school dropouts, a strong literacy foundation is very important. We know that teaching people to read and write can change lives and by taking everything we know about how people learn languages, with Duolingo ABC we want to use our expertise in encouraging and motivating kids to build a strong literacy foundation with gamification and positively impact lives,” said Karandeep Singh Kapany, country marketing manager at Duolingo.