How to Make Learning as Addictive as Social Media | Luis Von Ahn | TED

Something no one is talking about - his story of being from a poor country and his mother doing her all to give him an opportunity - and then he went on to massive success. She must be so proud, and I hope he takes great care of her as a thank you.

His delivery skill is just brilliant! The intro, storytelling, humor; everything was just on point!

I have received a bilingual education for over 20 years - I am 100% fluent in both Spanish and English. On the other hand, my dad never had the opportunity to learn English. He used to stay up late playing solitaire on his iPad, now I hear the Duolingo app sounds coming from his room all the time. He doesn't really talk about it but I am not exaggerating when I say I hear the sounds at all times of the day, literally, so I KNOW he uses it and I know he enjoys it... and that's what gets me and brings tears to my eyes: he's so consistent with the app because he's happy with his results. So thank you, Luis! For giving my 71-year-old Latino father the opportunity he lacked in his childhood.

Didn’t realize he was the duolingo guy. Thank God for this man. I’m a Korean American who’s struggled to relearn his Mother tongue his whole life. I’ve got 145 days strong on Duolingo Korean and no intent of stopping

The world needs more CEOs and leaders like this! Inspiring, value-driven, and intelligent. Good job Luis and the Duolingo team!

Impressively, his 12-minute Duolingo ad held the audience's attention, highlighting his mastery of communication and English. Well done! 👏😄

I'm Brazilian, I'm learning English on my own and I understood this video almost completely

Short, concise, engaging, smart, genuine, not following the same script as you learned in high school, and funny with a very short introduction in the same theme and not too much "oh wow, look at me, I am so good". Great Ted talk. More of these please! One of the few talkers I wouldn't mind getting stuck beside on a train.

The "making rich people pay for the education of rest of the people" was absolutely amazing. Thanks for mentioning the inequality in education.

I opened this video randomly and i didn`t expect to see duolingo founder and this was great you are brilliant.

he nailed it when he said that its imposible to make learning as engaging as social media he is right about that because when you learn you are using your brain you are thinking but when you are just being stimulated with tiktoks or reels you arent thinking you are just getting stimulated thats why social media decrease concentration

Such a great talk! And also explains why KRplus is one of my favourite platforms. Similar to the point made at 10:39, I can spend hours on KRplus, but I actually feel like I've gained something once I close the app or the browser window. KRplus also helps me be productive by housing creators of productivity, "in-a-cafe" soundtracks, or, let me listen to great TEDTalks while I'm doing my work. Well done DuoLingo (and KRplus!) for showcasing the non-toxic side of social media, online communities, and digital platforms.

Because of this man's vision, I can speak German and Russian language without paying what would have been thousands of dollars.
Thanks Luis ❤

Imagine how different the world would be if the same addiction we all have experienced because of social media, to be be channeled into acquiring knowledge. Furthermore, to *want* to keep on learning, it would be a blessing.
Me emociona y me intriga como se logrará pasar esto, de teoría, a la realidad

always said the inventor of duolingo is so smart, turns out he is humane too, the story behind why he did the application is just amazing. we need more people like him. gonna restart my lessons again

You are my hero!!!
Thanks to your app my Spanish improves every day.
Level 5 almost at 6.
865 days without stopping.
Australian born living in Mexico.
It's my plan to finish Spanish and keep learning.
To my English students it's your app that I always recommend!
Muchas gracias 😊

I'm a Guatemalan and I wrote my PhD dissertation on games and foreign language learning. What Von Ahn said is not only very well supported and corroborated by recent research, but it's very inspirational: some teachers and parents see mobile phones as enemies who keep children wasting their time, while in fact these devices are only tools, and it's up to us to use them for something good instead. Duolingo is a very successful example of how to use modern technologies and techniques to foster learning for everyone.

What makes education simply addictive to me, is pure raw Curiosity. The intellectual satisfaction it provides is so unmatched for me. Thank you for this Ted Talk! Super interesting.

What an absolute genius! I never knew you were one of the masterminds behind Duolingo. The app really is designed to make learning addictive; great job to the whole team behind it all!

00:07 Education in poor countries can perpetuate inequality.
01:46 Equal access to education for everyone.
03:15 Duolingo uses a freemium model to support itself
04:57 Delivering education through smartphones requires making it addictive and engaging.
06:33 Streaks and notifications are powerful mechanisms to keep users engaged in educational apps
08:10 Duolingo uses passive aggressive notifications to get users to come back to learning.
09:43 Learning can be made as addictive as social media
11:21 Make learning addictive like social media

As a current user of Duolingo, i got so happy knowing that he is the founder and what his intentions are.
I related so much when he mentioned the passive aggressive approach of reminders cause when i recived those notification, i felt like damm! the whole crew of Duolingo is judging me now.

As an active Duo Lingo user learning French with a streak of 546 days I can totally relate to how streak works😊 I keep coming back everyday for at least one lesson because I do not want it to be reset😅 Thanks DuoLingo team and Luis

i love how he's moving so much when asked a question at the end, it's his way of processing the information

Congratulations to this man and to the whole Duolingo project, it is so important to improve education all over the world and to get people to enjoy while learning

My father, 67, last year before going into a heart surgeon, reminded me to continue his Duolingo streak which was 1.137 days :)

I'm on my 77th day on Duolingo learning Italian after watching this. Thank you so much! Sucn an inspiration 🎉❤

This wasn’t a “TED Talk”. This was a Duo Lingo ad - a 12-minute ad.

00:07 Education is seen as a source of inequality rather than equality.
01:46 Equal access to education for everyone
03:15 Duolingo uses a freemium model to make language learning accessible to everyone
04:57 Delivering education through smartphones is challenging due to addictive apps, but Duolingo has made it engaging.
06:33 Streaks and notifications are effective in making learning addictive.
08:10 Passive aggressive notifications are effective at getting users to come back and learn.
09:43 You can make learning as addictive as social media
11:21 Make learning addictive like social media for all subjects

Love this lecture, in order to get immersed even in the most difficult concepts- you have to treat it like a game.

I'm so close to my 1000 day streak, at 981 rn 😭 Thank you Luis for this amazing app and I really do hope we get more apps like this on other subjects. 🖤

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us. I'm brazilian and my duolingo streak is on 1263 days (studying french) and I finished the english course few months before starting the streak on french. My mom also uses it to study english, she has doing it for almost 3 years starting from zero but now she knows a loooot of things, so thank you one more time 😁😁😁

This is not an ad for Duolingo but how educators can motivate their students to learn without "nagging" them. As and educator, I found this most interesting and plan to use some of these techniques to help my students learn more willingly but enjoy the learning process at the same time.

Hello, I am from the Middle East, specifically from Yemen. I did not know before that you were the owner of the idea and application before. I carried it in my phone and I am practicing it to learn the English language. It is a really wonderful application.

What an amazing educator and person. Really inspiring. I can listen to him all day and not get bored!

One of the best TED talks I've listened to in a long time. As a professor, this has been truly amazing and gave me some thoughts about how to help students. Definitely sharing this in my class. Thank you!

My native language is English. I started learning French in highschool, but it never stuck. It's a relatively easy transition to go from one latin language to another, but it never held my attention.
Today is my 201st day streak on duolingo, learning Arabic. I'm certainly still a beginner, but I actually remember and retain the things I have learned from it, because it's *properly engaging*. Duolingo has made something that is extremely difficult, so accessible and without causing frustration or losing motivation.
I absolutely loved this ted talk, and just like Luis here says, I hope we culture a world where learning becomes as engaging as social media.

Probably the best TED talk I’ve ever watched! Sincere, informative and entertaining! Well done Luis!

Thank you so much! I stopped using Duolingo because it had a lot of bugs and I couldn't learn as much as I'd like, but someone that says these things is someone to follow and be inspired by to make the world a better place.

I was fortunate to study at Carnegie Mellon and met Prof. Luis Von Ahn. What he had done inspired me to pursue building products to help improve learning and productivity for people. It's good to see him on TED.
00:51 - Education can perpetuate inequality
01:39 - Duolingo's mission is to provide equal access to education
03:49 - Smartphones as a tool for education
04:13 - Freemium model and wealth redistribution
05:18 - Making education engaging like social media
07:30 - The power of notifications and streaks
11:34 - Screen time can be meaningful
12:24 - Gamifying education through repetition

I am a polyglot (speaking 3 languages fluently, understanding a 4th at a mother tongue level, 3 more at a very good level and 1 additional language at an elementary level) and even with my natural inclination towards languages I tried and tried for years to learn Japanese, to no avail. Then, 872 days ago I started using Duolingo and I can proudly say that I am finally confident that I can learn this language too. It works. The trick is to trust the process and not get discouraged by the new words and sentences thrown at you apparently out of nowhere. It's learning like you would if you were suddenly catapulted in the country and had to figure out what is what and how it works in this language. My 77 years old mother has even learned some fairly good English over the past 2 years or so

You are my hero!!!
Thanks to your app my Spanish improves every day.
Level 5 almost at 6.
865 days without stopping.
Australian born living in Mexico.
It's my plan to finish Spanish and keep learning.
To my English students it's your app that I always recommend!
Muchas gracias

This man is a one of a kind! What a great storytelling and sense of humor! As a brazilian and a Duolingo Japanese student, I see that I was manipulated by this man, but in a good way. Differently than with TikTok or Instagram. Thank you for creating such a good app to learn languages, my girlfriend is learning french and my friend is learning spanish in your app, things that they wouldn`t do because they don`t have money and time now.

Because I could pay. I paid. Knowing that paying is helping someone who can't afford to pay made me feel good. Duo Lingo Greek isn't very comprehensive nor is it responsive to my needs any more but it's a minority language and even though it wasn't very useful after six months of intensive work, I had become addicted and after 18 months I am beginning to have a more useful understanding of the language.
Thanks Duo

Amazing, never knew this was the story behind Duo Lingo. Love this presenter and love that Ted is still generating such incredible revelations after so many years of excellent content ❤

The title made me remember when as a kid, I found learning much more interesting so social media was so boring for me although I always had free access to it. But when school got much harder and demanding, I full on turned to a social media addict😅

Some of the best officers I worked with in the military were those that came from the enlisted side of the field (non-officers to start). The worst, were the ones who went to ROTC. Some of the best managers I had in my years of work were the ones who worked from the floor to the office (started there as a regular employee and worked their way up). The worst, those who had a degree and came off the street with nothing but that degree. It's no wonder Dr. Luis von Ahn went into the creation of Duolingo with the attitude of "pay if you can." Not growing up with money, he could see the injustices and remembered where he came from. Just like officers in the military or managers at the store, the best people to lead are those who didn't start with a silver spoon. We need more leaders like him!
Thank you for the video.

this is one of my fav TED talks,very insightful and joyful,I really wish and pray that parents watch this so they get an idea on how to teach their children and educate them in a meaningful manner whilst they play,Thank you Professor, im definitely watching more of your interviews/talks to learn more from you🙏🙏

‘I hope screen time in the future isn’t a bad thing’ I totally stand with this because it’s undeniable internet connects the world. And Duolingo 🎉🎉

Love this. So glad I got to see this. I love Duolingo. Amazing idea. And amazing mom for giving him this opportunity! Bravo!

Your public speaking skills (that too without hand notes) is beyond excellent

Amazing Ted Talk, this is exactly what's missing in the current education system that Duolingo fixes , passion and emotion.

Not only how to make learning more addictive, but we can also learn how to make an excellent presentation through this video.

I'm having chills watching this video. Just amazing.

Thank you Luis, not only have I started using Duolingo after watching this, I've kept my other daily life habits going for over 2 months now. Once I understand the science behind it I talked myself out of procrastinating. Well done, you've nailed it. Please consider adding Taiwanese for Chinese Mandarin speakers.

Saw this on my feed and clicked not knowing who the speaker was. I literally got goosebumps when he revealed that he co-founded Duolingo! 💚 That owl has a special place in my heart for a decade now. 🦉

This is great, honestly absolutely nailed it, it got me following from start to finish, this is a clear indication that the CEO has learned from the app and taken feedback on how to properly communicate and present your story.

This story was absolutely beautiful and I learned so much from his story as well as how he’s able to have such a successful app.

Brilliant speech aside, this is the most cozy TED talk I've come across so far
The way he's being vulnerable but keep it professional and the humour was on point
I wonder what was behind the remarkable techniques he used

This has become my new favorite channel on KRplus.
Props to you for all the hard work you put into these projects and videos, I've been a member of this amazing society of investors for a while now, and I can't articulate how much it has transformed my life. We're not just here to earn money; we're here to uphold one another, grow collectively, and rejoice in every stride toward our financial aspirations

I've been searching for more on the idea of "Gamification of learning" for some time now, and this was a delightful find. Congratulations on your success, and thank you for the presentation!

You're incredible! The narrative was truly inspiring, and I appreciate it. This has the potential to motivate underprivileged students globally.

It was perfect. Perfect. Everything, down to the last minute details.

Before seeing this talk I loved so many things about Duolingo. Now I can appreciate even more how it levels playing fields for so many. I learned Spanish on Duo and then Mandarin Chinese and now I'm doing Korean. I'm at 890 day streak (but it would be much higher if the device I was using didn't die when I completed 2 years)

Thank you, Luis, for your very informative talk. My daughter was 7 years old when she discovered Duolingo, and we were living in Senegal. She loved learning multiple languages for free on the app. When she broke her tablet, I told her no more screens. But when she uses my computer, she always rushes to learn a new word on Duolingo.
Your talk has encouraged me to buy her a tablet again and focus on educational apps. I also think it's a great idea to create apps that use the same psychology as social media.
Africa would benefit from positioning itself in this market, even though it's very competitive.

This video is great, because it shows me how thankful we should be and not take everything for granted. I will keep this video in mind. Also thanks for your other videos they too are very educational even if it is not your "wisdom", you still are the one who presents it to us in a good package (and nice background)

Thank you Luis. Spanish is totally new to me but I really enjoyed learning it everyday. And I am making progress. I didn’t know how amazing this app is until I actually started using it.

Nothing screams equal access to education like locking most features behind a paywall and only letting you make a few mistakes a day unless you pay. What a saint!

I was working through my daily Duolingo challenges when I started this talk, imagine my surprise when I realized what the topic would center on! We love language learning and the benefits of habitual practice

This was the best Ted talk I've ever watched. When he mentioned Duolingo my mind was blown. This is so true though. I'm 15 and bilingual in Russian and English. And you can't even imagine how much impact learning a different language had on me. Thank you so much for creating such a project, teenagers definitely should be enlighened more about foreign languages. Well, gonna go learn Chinese with Duolingo!

I’ve been learning Korean for a while now, I’ve used duolinguo in the past I’ve stopped because I get discouraged due to nobody to practice with and this video is a reminder to go back. Imma restart today. Thank you

Great talk, lots of fun, full of hope. That being said, as one of those people with a longer than 365 day streak, I wouldn’t say that I’ve learned a years worth of a language. There’s just no substitute for internal motivation and when it comes to learning a whole language, you need a strong one.

It is insane that I was inspired to have a similar idea of upgrading our educational systems years ago after using Duolingo and today I saw that the guy who made Duolingo had the same vision. This is hearth warming and makes me believe that one day such systems will be out there for kids to enjoy freely.

Thank you for your commitment

Almost 13min that I didn’t see passing! Amazing presentation! I’m from Brazil and what he says resonate so much in me! Just awesome!

The Duolingo is quite fascinating.
I was sharing my progress story with a German student at a high school about my Duolingo German lessons.
With the same addictive strategy that Luis presents, I have literally compressed her over 2 years of learning German into my 1 year dedicated to learning German on Duolingo.

Truly one of the best TED talks for me; delivering value, helping others change their lives at the same time promoting your business. I was hired in my first jobs after finishing college was because I speak several languages and not so because of my degree

There's no trick or tip in this video if you came after reading the title. He just explains how he used the social media to make students learn from Duolingo.

what an inspirational man! it was nice to hear the story behind the crazy green owl :) such a good concept!!

I love how he is such a down to earth person and also really enjoyed the part where he mentions fremium. Anw hope more ppl like him will come out to make learning easier and accessible to all regardless of their identity and background. My best wishes for the ppl aspiring to be like him and also for those who wants to make a difference

This is such an amazing talk - delivered with ease. it shows how important it is to preserve the skill set to learn a language

I loved hearing his story and how duolingo came out, I always read the memes and enjoy them. I learned Turkish through duolingo and went through four years of high school there! Then I learned english and came to US for college and now I decided to go back and learn Japanese! thank you Luis!

I love the initiative, thank you so much Mister❤... I found it really unfair to not afford learning while you got all the potential and willing to. 😢❤❤❤

WOW. Great work. My elderly mother, who never had access to a cell phone before but wanted to learn French is actually addicted to Duolingo and interacts with the green mascot and its notifications as of it were a real person talking directly to her. It actually works. I am impressed!!

one of the best TED talks I have ever watched. Thanks, Professor Luis for inspiring me and I appreciate your mother's effort You should be proud of your mother

Glad to see actual achievers back on TED stage.

One of the best-delivered TED talks

massive respect! the idea and conveyance is amazing but he really earned my respect at the end where he said about how he hopes screentime wouldn't be bad for us one day

I'm really happy to be able to use Duolingo, because the language I want to learn is not taught in my university (Swahili). But I'm also really sad that the comment section got put down. There were really good advice and explanations from others that had more knowledge about the grammar. I really struggle to understand the rules of a completely different language and it would help so much to be able to talk to others about those topics. Grammar sections for every language (and not just a few popular ones) would be amazing too, but the comment section was filling the gap by using the effort of other users. I hope the comment section will be back soon!

Love this talk. Done it briliantly

Been so busy I haven’t used this app for almost a year now and after watching this clip i reopened the app and got an awesome Welcome back message haha 😅. I feel motivated to resume my language lessons. Thanks for the great talk!!

Humanity needs more people like him.

Luis, te felicito, realmente tu charla me resultó muy inspiradora. Estudié alemán bastante tiempo con duolingo. Muchas gracias por hacer un aporte tan valioso al mundo.

I loved this guy. I'm a brazilian poor student of english and I started my journey with Duolingo.

I'm learning Chinese with Doulingo right now and it's really interesting. And always fun. The steaks and challenges are main part yet also.. the lessons are not too heavy and always enjoyable. You'll remember words and sentences even without learning hard. Thank you so much Doulingo Team❤❤

This is the first TED Talk video I watched and it made me subscribed.
I hate most of advertisements and if this was one, would like to have watched it over and over again. That's how great this video is.

That's the kind of business the world needs. Marketing or not, his story inspires. Knowing another language not just opens up your opportunities but develops your brain and allow you to access different knowledge (not everything is translated as fast as people think). I'm a Brazilian that learnt English (starting with Duolingo) and I can say my wolrd just became so much bigger just because of it!

I'm from Yemen I am very excited, and I started learning the English language through social media sites and applications

Great points, well made! Now we just need to apply this to a learning method that actually works!

I used Duolingo on and off since 2019!!! so happy i stumbled upon this TED talk :D Thank you, sir Luis Von Ahn!!!

I just had my very first French lesson on it and it was so good that now I just cant wait for the next session. Absolutely loved it!