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Duolingo was part of a free education wave that hit the internet in the early 2010s, as entrepreneurs saw the tools of the web and mobile to as a way to open up entrenched institutions to the masses.

According to Zaria Parvez, Duolingo’s senior global social media manager, the idea stemmed from the company’s routine biannual app icon updates, typically resulting in a spike in new users.

To help users navigate the Mandarin-medium platform, Duolingo even released a humorous tutorial video translating trendy English phrases into Mandarin.

I’m also a big fan of “heel veel,” which means very much. I learned both from Duolingo, the addictive language app I take lessons with daily. So does my 12-year-old daughter, my husband ...