Duolingo Sees Massive Increase In Interest For Learning Ukrainian Amid Russian Invasion

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, language learning app Duolingo is witnessing a massive spike in the interest of users learning Ukrainian.

Duolingo Sees Massive Increase In Interest For Learning Ukrainian Amid Russian Invasion/Getty

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, language learning app Duolingo is witnessing a massive spike in the interest of users learning Ukrainian which was initially denounced as a peasant dialect, the company has announced. Duolingo also mentioned that will donate all of the ad revenue from people studying Ukrainian on the app towards humanitarian relief in Ukraine.

"Since the invasion of Ukraine began, we’ve experienced a large spike in people learning Ukrainian on Duolingo. While it’s wonderful to see that show of support and appreciation for Ukraine’s culture, it would not be right for us to profit from it. We will be donating all of the ad revenue from people studying Ukrainian on Duolingo to Ukraine relief," Luis von Ahn, CEO and Co-founder of Duolingo wrote in a blog post.

The funds coming through advertisement revenue from people who learn Ukrainian on Duolingo app will support its partners at the UNHCR, IRC, and other organisations working to help refugees from Ukraine. "Through these partners and others, we will also distribute codes for Duolingo Plus so refugees and their hosts can use the premium version of Duolingo for free," von Ahn added.

The CEO added that the company was devastated by the ongoing war in Ukraine, and stands in solidarity with Ukrainians seeking safety and everyone working towards peace.

Meanwhile, according to Sensor Tower, in the wake of the ongoing conflict in the region, more than 2 million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring nations and are now facing a number of challenges, including language barriers. Ukrainians are in part turning to mobile devices to help where they can, and first-time downloads of the country's top translation apps have grown 71 per cent month-over-month.

Amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, translation and language learning apps are functioning just as they were designed to: helping bridge the gap in communication and connect people from different cultures.