If you’re looking to learn Papiamento then you may be wondering if the popular language learning platform Duolingo has a Papiamento course.
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Does Duolingo Have A Papiamento Course?
Despite the importance and long history of the Papiamento language, Duolingo doesn’t currently have a Papiamento course.
Papiamento is a fascinating Portuguese and Spanish-based creole language with a long and rich history. Today it is spoken by approximately 340,000 people, mainly in Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.
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 Papiamento Not On Duolingo?
It’s hard to say exactly why Duolingo hasn’t yet produced a Papiamento course as Papiamento has a long and important history especially in the Dutch Caribbean.
Few Speakers
One reason why Duolingo may not have produced a Duolingo Papiamento course yet is that there are relatively few people who speak the language.
Papiamento currently has around 340,000 speakers around the world. This is quite a small amount compared to other more popular languages and may be a reason why Duolingo has chosen not to produce the course yet.
Having said that, Duolingo has produced courses on much smaller languages (in terms of number of speakers).
They have courses on small minority languages such as Scottish Gaelic which only has 57,000 speakers total!
Additionally they have made a Klingon course of which there are no native speakers as this is a fictional language.
Less Popular Language
Another reason why Duolingo may have not yet produced a Duolingo Papiamento course is that there isn’t enough demand.
Papiamento 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 Papiamento (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.
When Will Papiamento 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 Papiamento isn’t a course they’re working on.
This means that Duolingo Papiamento 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 Papiamento course.
Alternatives To Duolingo To Learn Papiamento
Whilst Duolingo is a fantastic resource for learning a new language, don’t let their lack of a Papiamento course stop you from learning the language if you want to.
There are plenty of fantastic courses out there for learning Papiamento – both free and paid.
Free Alternatives For Learning Papiamento
Memrise
Memrise is an online language learning app that uses fun games to help its users learn their chosen language.
They have a free Papiamento course that will teach you vocabulary and phrases in Papiamento.
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.
UniLang
The website UniLang has 6 free Papiamento lessons that you can try.
They cover a range of basics including greetings, numbers, pronouns and much more.
The course isn’t super long but it will give you a good introduction to the language and teach you some essential basics.
Paid Alternatives For Learning Papiamento
Papiamento Dictionary
I’d recommend getting an English – Papiamento Dictionary to expand your vocabulary and look up new words.
Papiamento Audio Course
One of the best products on the market for Papiamento is the Talk Now Papiamento Course.
This audio course is aimed at beginners. It will teach you a range of essential vocabulary along with the correct pronunciation.
This course will get you speaking the language from day 1.
Thanks for reading this post on whether Duolingo currently has a Papiamento course.
Even though Duolingo doesn’t currently have a Papiamento course, there are still lots of other ways that you can learn Papiamento.
Check our other Papiamento content here.
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