Duolingo is reportedly working on a music learning app

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Duolingo might be expanding into music soon. A job posting by the company shows it has a small team working on building an app for teaching music. The job ad is looking for an "expert in music education who combines both theoretical knowledge of relevant learning science research and hands-on teaching experience." 

Whoever gets the job will ensure the app is "well-grounded in learning science." They need to translate "research findings into concrete ideas" that can be used for "learning by doing" activities the company is known for. The one who takes the position will also need to take the lead on curriculum development, suggesting the app is in its early stages.

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Duolingo wants to help your kids learn math

Source: Duolingo

You may know Duolingo for its language-learning app, but the company is looking to expand beyond that. According to TechCrunch, Duolingo is working on a new app that will help kids learn math. The company's CEO, Luis von Ahn, mentioned it in a recent interview, saying we will learn more about it later this month during Duocon, its annual conference.

Hints about this new app were seen around May when Duolingo posted a new job opening for a learning scientist with a Ph.D. in mathematics. According to the job description, the employee will work with a "small cross-functional team" to develop a new app, which will likely be focused on younger students between the 3rd and 8th grades. The company wanted candidates who know about teaching K-12 level math.

Duolingo to soon offer Korean and Klingon

According to the sign-up page for Korean for English speakers on Duolingo, there are—at the time this was written—216,343 people interested in taking Korean lessons on the language learning app. And it seems that time is almost here. Android Police reports that the course is finally launching. While we don’t see it in our app just yet, it’s best to keep your eye out for it. As expected, it follows the same style as other Duolingo courses with the use of associations, listening skills, and fun cards. There is a gamification aspect to the app to keep you coming back to polish your language skills.

On top of that, Trekkies better keep your eyes out for the launch of Klingon on the app as well. You can sign up to get notified here. The Klingon course is expected to on September 15^th.

Duolingo finally has a Japanese language course, available first on iOS

It took a while (or at least it seems that way to us) but finally Duolingo has a Japanese language course on its service. But at the time of its launch, it’s currently available for iOS users. An Android version is expected to drop soon—but there isn’t a specific date said yet. The language course will teach you to understand 100 Kanji and all the Hiragana characters and will focus heavily on real-world interactions like how to ask for directions and how to order food. So, if you’re planning a trip to Japan in the near future, now will be the time to start learning.

The new course is said to teach all the grammar and vocabulary you need to pass the JLPT N5, a popular Japanese language proficiency test, and it abides by the JF Standard, a Japanese language education framework for describing language ability. There’s also a new “language assistant” for iOS called the “Duolingo bot.” Much like the chatbots in Facebook Messenger and Google Assistant, it’ll respond to your language questions conversationally and provide you with corrections and suggested responses where appropriate. It can even boost the complexity as you progress with your learning.

Source: Digital Trends