Duolingo wants to tap into SEA’s growing language-learning market

Haina Xiang, Duolingo’s regional marketing director for Asia Pacific at a recent event in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam / Photo credit: Duolingo

US-based language app Duolingo plans to deepen its presence in Southeast Asia, a crowded edtech market where the company has about 1 million daily active users.

Its fastest growing markets in the region are Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand, where learners spend about 13 to 15 minutes daily on the app, according to Haina Xiang, Duolingo’s regional marketing director for Asia Pacific.

“There is a lot of room for us to grow in Southeast Asia,” Xiang said in an interview with Tech in Asia. “We are not saturated or mature just yet. There are still a lot of learners who haven’t heard about Duolingo.”

Founded in 2011, Duolingo was valued at about US$2.4 billion and had 500 million registered users at the time it went public in 2021. The platform started out with an aim to make learning new languages fun with gamified and bite-sized lessons, but in September this year, it announced its decision to also offer math and music lessons. 

Despite fierce competition from edtech companies in Southeast Asia, especially in the language learning segment, Duolingo wants to leverage its expertise in gamifying online lessons instead of focusing on test preparations, according to Xiang.

“Everyday you open the app, you don’t feel pressure. Fun is what sets us apart from other competitors,” she added.

About 7% to 8% of its total user base are paid subscribers, while the figure is lower in Southeast Asia. Duolingo’s annual subscriptions cost 599,000 dong (US$24.3) in Vietnam, 949 baht (US$25.9) in Thailand, and 419,000 rupiah (US$26.3) in Indonesia – all significantly cheaper than the monthly Duolingo Plus plan in the US, which is priced at US$12.99.

One of Duolingo’s most notable competitors in Southeast Asia is ELSA, which stands for English Language Speech Assistant. It just raised a US$23 million series C round led by UOB Venture Management, and it recently launched ELSA AI Tutor, a voice-based tool designed to boost learners’ English skills. The new funds will be used to accelerate the firm’s growth, especially in Southeast Asia.

Xiang didn’t disclose whether Duolingo intends to acquire a local edtech startup in the region but said that its team closely monitors the market for such potential.

Currencies converted from Vietnamese dong, Thai baht, and Indonesian rupiah to US dollar: US$1 = 24,612 dong, US$1 = 36,54 baht, and US$1 = 15,928 rupiah.