If you’re looking to learn Oromo then you may be wondering if the popular language learning platform Duolingo has an Oromo course.
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Does Duolingo Have An Oromo Course?
Despite the importance and long history of the Oromo language, Duolingo doesn’t currently have an Oromo course.
Oromo is a fascinating Afroasiatic language with a long and rich history. Today it is spoken by approximately 37 million people, mainly in Ethiopia and Kenya.
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 Oromo Not On Duolingo?
It’s hard to say exactly why Duolingo hasn’t yet produced an Oromo course as Oromo is one of the world’s most spoken languages.
Duolingo has produced courses on much smaller languages (in terms of number of speakers).
They have courses on small minority languages such as Hawaiian which only has 24,000 speakers total!
Additionally they have made a High Valyrian 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 Oromo course is that there isn’t enough demand.
Oromo 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 Oromo (you wouldn’t be on this page if there wasn’t!).
Duolingo is currently working on other languages which they believe will be more popular with their users.
In general, African languages are very lacking on Duolingo. They currently only have 1 African language available for learning (Swahili). The reason for this is also likely due to lack of demand.
When Will Oromo 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 Oromo isn’t a course they’re working on.
This means that Duolingo Oromo 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 an Oromo course.
Alternatives To Duolingo To Learn Oromo
Whilst Duolingo is a fantastic resource for learning a new language, don’t let their lack of an Oromo course stop you from learning the language if you want to.
There are plenty of fantastic courses out there for learning Oromo – both free and paid.
Free Alternatives For Learning Oromo
Memrise
Memrise is an online language learning app that uses fun games to help its users learn their chosen language.
They have a free Oromo course that will teach you some Oromo basics.
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.
Digital Dialects
The website Digital Dialects also has some fun online games which teach Oromo words. They don’t cover a ton of content but will get you familiar with some basic words in Oromo.
The best part is each word has a recording by a native speaker so it’s a great place to begin your Oromo language learning journey.
They have interactive vocabulary lists in a range of different topics including numbers, animals and more.
Paid Alternatives For Learning Oromo
Oromo Textbook
If you’re looking for a standard textbook to help you with Oromo then the Guide To Speaking Oromo book is one of the best out there.
It’s a great reference point and explains the language in clear, easy to understand terms.
I’d also recommend getting an Oromo – English dictionary to help expand your vocabulary and look up new words.
uTalk
The online platform uTalk offers an Oromo course.
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 Oromo vocabulary and get you speaking the language straight away.
Thanks for reading this post on whether Duolingo currently has an Oromo course.
Even though Duolingo doesn’t currently have an Oromo course, there are still lots of other ways that you can learn Oromo.
Check our other Oromo content here.
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