If you’re looking to learn Igbo then you may be wondering if the popular language learning platform Duolingo has a Igbo course.
Table of Contents
Does Duolingo Have A Igbo Course?
Despite the importance and long history of the Igbo language, Duolingo doesn’t currently have a Igbo course.
Igbo is a fascinating language with a long and rich history. Today it is spoken by approximately 25 million people, mainly in Nigeria.
Many people who are looking to learn a new language use Duolingo, a fun language learning platform that features bite-size lessons on various languages.
Duolingo is known to be a fun, free and easy way to learn a new language.
Why Is Igbo Not On Duolingo?
It’s hard to say exactly why Duolingo hasn’t yet produced a Igbo course as Igbo is a very widely spoken language with 25 million speakers.
Duolingo has produced courses on much smaller languages (in terms of number of speakers).
They have courses on small minority languages such as Navajo which only has 171,000 speakers total!
Additionally they have made a Klingon course of which there are no native speakers as this is a fictional language.
By this standard, it’s definitely not the number of speakers of the language that is a problem.
Less Popular Language
One reason why Duolingo may have not yet produced a Duolingo Igbo course is that there isn’t enough demand.
Igbo isn’t a popular language for native English speakers to learn. Relatively few people are interested in learning the language compared with other languages and Duolingo produces courses based on demand.
This is a shame because it’s certain that there is some demand for English speakers wanting to learn Igbo (you wouldn’t be on this page if there wasn’t!).
Nigerian people can be found in countries all over the world and many of them don’t speak Igbo.
Duolingo would be a fantastic resource for these people that have an interest in learning their home language but have been unable to.
Duolingo is currently working on other languages which they believe will be more popular with their users.
When Will Igbo Be Available On Duolingo?
The Duolingo Incubator is a feature where you can see what languages Duolingo are currently working on producing a course for.
The Duolingo courses are created by volunteers. You can contribute to a course on the Duolingo Incubator page if you’re fluent in more than one language.
This page simply shows which courses are currently being produced so you can apply to help build a course if you want to.
Having checked the Duolingo Incubator, I can see that currently Igbo isn’t a course they’re working on.
This means that Duolingo Igbo isn’t going to be released any time soon as they’re not even working on producing a course.
Within the incubator, on their language list they do say ‘more languages will be available for teaching soon’ however it is unclear how long we may be waiting for more courses to be added.
How Do Duolingo Decide On Which Courses To Create?
Duolingo themselves state that they decide on new courses based on the Duolingo forums.
They suggest the best way to get them to add a new language is by visiting their forum section and searching for suggestions that have been made in the past.
You then should add an upvote or comment to these posts. The more upvotes the more likely Duolingo will take notice and build a course.
If you want to help then you can upvote this Duolingo forum post to show Duolingo that people want a Igbo course.
Alternatives To Duolingo To Learn Igbo
Whilst Duolingo is a fantastic resource for learning a new language, don’t let their lack of a Igbo course stop you from learning the language if you want to.
There are plenty of fantastic courses out there for learning Igbo – both free and paid.
Free Alternatives For Learning Igbo
Memrise
Memrise is an online language learning app that uses fun games to help its users learn their chosen language.
They have a few free Igbo courses that will teach you vocabulary and phrases in Igbo.
It’s really interactive and gradually introduces new words slowly so you have time to consolidate them all. There’s also plenty of opportunities to practice what you’ve learnt.
Drops
Another great resource for learning Igbo is the language app ‘Drops’.
The app focuses on building up your vocabulary and features a range of fun vocabulary lists including food, numbers, weather, health, transport and so much more.
The lessons are fun and immersive, you’ll learn lots of new vocabulary and the app uses visual associations to help you learn new words.
Drops states their course will teach you 2,000+ Igbo words.
You can use the app for 5 minutes a day for free (you do have to pay for unlimited access).
Paid Alternatives For Learning Igbo
uTalk
The online platform uTalk offers a .
They focus on game-based learning and state that their course uses native speakers and features more than 2,500 everyday words.
The course will teach you a range of relevant Igbo vocabulary and get you speaking the language straight away.
Igbo Book
If you’re looking for a standard book to help you with Igbo then the Beginner’s Guide To Igbo book is one of the best out there.
This book is aimed at beginners and serves as an introduction to the language.
It’s a great reference point and explains the language in clear, easy to understand terms.
Living Language
Another great course available is Living Languagae’s Igbo course.
This easy-to-follow Igbo course features recordings by native speakers, essential vocabulary and fun games.
It’s a flashcard based course with more than 300 flashcards covering topics including greetings, numbers, questions and more.
Thanks for reading this post on whether Duolingo currently has a Igbo course.
Even though Duolingo doesn’t currently have a Igbo course, there are still lots of other ways that you can learn Igbo.
Check our other Igbo content here.
Related Posts: