The Duolingo Math app will soon be released on Android to guide users' math problems. This is the company's first foray into a school subject area other than language and literacy education.

Sammi Siegel, the project's main engineer, confirmed that the app includes humorous alerts and nudges from Duo, the app's notorious owl turned into a cube.

It is now accessible on iOS, and Siegel has said that an Android version is expected once the app reaches product-market fit.

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The Aim Is to Alleviate "Math Anxiety" in Both Kids and Adults

In an interview with TechCrunch, Siegel emphasized that the company's focus was not limited to merely facilitating language learning. The developer, who has worked at Duolingo for four years, collaborated with four other employees to create the software in an effort to alleviate "math anxiety" in both children and adults.

Those who download the software have the option of playing the basic or elementary version, which covers topics like multiplication and division. Another choice is the adult version, dubbed "brain training." Though the concept is pretty similar to the basic version, this brain training focuses on the users' mental arithmetic skills.

As Siegel explained, the team just recently released the more challenging, adult-focused version of the program, which was initially designed for youngsters. It may be too soon to say where these trends are headed, but he said they found in their metrics that brain training is quietly beginning to "creep up over elementary."

While Duolingo's elementary-focused program is mainly about establishing confidence in the classroom, its math app may start to demonstrate even higher-level computation, such as linear algebra, in the future.

According to Siegel, the app will have the same "delight and animation" that has allowed Duolingo to grow to hundreds of millions of users via bite-sized lessons, interactive exercises, streaks, and more.

Math and Language as Both Essential Fields of Education

Like its flagship app, this one is free to use. Siegel claimed it would remain free, unlike Duolingo's primary app, which has a premium tier.

The program becomes progressively more complex as the user works through it, and Siegel pointed out that it includes problems with several correct solutions, such as those using equal fractions.

Duolingo is a fun product, and it seems like the team thinks that both subjects could use some motivation and attention, hence the owl.

Language acquisition benefits from cultural context and subtlety, whereas arithmetic seeks the perfect solution. Logical rigor and the ability to apply functions to problems are essential skills in both fields of education.

Duolingo's Math App and its Competition

Duolingo will compete with other math-focused ed-tech developers like Khan Academy, Brilliant.org, Photomath, Numerade, and the newly purchased Symbolab.

Though this new venture is a great idea, it does not somehow fit with CEO and co-founder Luis Von Ahn's previous statement that the company would focus on language-learning products for the next 3 to 5 years.

But apparently, Von Ahn and co-founder Severin Hacker considered developing Duolingo math software before deciding on language learning, based on TechCrunch's report.

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Written by Trisha Kae Andrada