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

When technologist Luis von Ahn was building the popular language-learning platform Duolingo, he faced a big problem: Could an app designed to teach you something ever compete with addictive platforms like Instagram and TikTok? He explains how Duolingo harnesses the psychological techniques of social media and mobile games to get you excited to learn — all while spreading access to education across the world.

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[ChrisFoli]

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

[tobypark]

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

[dehri]

I can't believe that I can fully understand a lecture given by the creator of the tool I first used 10 years ago to learn English. I'm so f*cking grateful to this guy for giving me the chance to learn this language. I'm also proud of myself for being a self-taught learner and for not giving up on my dream of becoming bilingual. Greetings from Brazil!

[CheeseCriminal]

So originally I clicked on this video hoping to get told how to make studying/homework more engaging and fun. And a few minutes in I realised he's not really talking about what you can do, he's talking about what he did to make Duolingo. But as students we can apply some of the techniques he mentioned:

- Keep a streak for study. For example, have a calendar for a subject and every day just do 10 minutes of that subject which you are trying to improve at, and then tick that day off.

- Have notifications on your phone to remind you to study at a time that suits you most days.

- Try to have some kind of progression which you can see. If it's a subject where you get a lot of marked assignments, hopefully over time you see an improvement which will motivate you. If your teacher doesn't mark much work, still try to have concrete short-term and long-term goals to work towards.

Having really though about all this stuff I'm gonna try implement these points above for English because I suck at it lol.

[キラキラくりくり頭]

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.

[ste]

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

[nath]

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

[ado]

I was always wondering who made duolingo and now by a random recomendation and 5min in I find out its this legend. Enabling free education is really one of the gratest things a person can do. Big respect to this man.

[marisolvalerin]

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.

[karaoke_kaushal]

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

[ArabicSpellingmistakes]

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.

[fay-hwoi]

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

[andreandy]

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

[khadigakhashaba]

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

[adjdiwjwbs]

This video is the simplest smooth and actually comprehensive i ever watched.

[emirhandemir]

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

[julioareck]

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.

[sheikhxenos]

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. 🖤

[yostinanassef]

I didn't know who the founder of Duolingo was, I really respect him. He and his co-founder did a really good job with such good intentions. And sir I'm going to take my french lesson thanks for the reminder.

[oluwasegunnicholas]

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