Jobs: Louis von Ahn, co-founder of Duolingo

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Informal conversation with the CEO of a popular educational platform for teaching foreign languages.

Louis, why did you choose an educational startup?

The impetus was that I was born in the poor country of Guatemala, where quality educational opportunities are available only to those with money.

I decided to focus on the problem of language learning. To understand the scale: there are 1.2 billion people in the world who are learning a foreign language. At the same time, about 800 million of them are studying English for the sole purpose of getting out of poverty.

In 2011, after several years at Google, I realized that I wanted to devote my life to transforming the education system, and I co-founded Duolingo.

How many languages do you know yourself?

Despite my position, I've always been pretty mediocre at learning languages. My native is Spanish, I speak English and now I decided to learn Portuguese. I practice it in traffic using our platform.

Do you have an office like a big boss?

My workplace is pretty humble.:)

My main devices are MacBook Pro and iPhone 7. I do most of my work on my laptop, and I usually use my smartphone to communicate on the go.

I also like scooters. In my spare minutes I can ride with the breeze through the office.

Is it true that you carry a dog to work?

Yes, in a special carry bag. Her name is Bani, breed - West Highland White Terrier. She is already 16 years old, so I try to spend as much time with her as possible.

How do you organize your time?

I'm not very good at doing something that takes months, but I'm great at doing something that takes 15 minutes or half an hour.

Sticking to short-term plans is my way of managing time.

I try to break things down into small tasks every day. I often write to-do lists on paper to organize myself and organize deadlines. Using a pen and paper allows me to take a break from typing and trains my memory very effectively.

How does your day start?

I wake up between five and six in the morning. I check my email and start exploring the previous day's Duolingo metrics. I still haven't decided if this is a good idea, because my mood for the rest of the day depends on this data. But I continue to do so.

Then I have a 16-minute workout: I run on the simulator at maximum speed. This is the best solution in terms of saving time. Training finally awakens me and gives me energy. I feel fresh and ready for new challenges.

How do you end the day?

It all depends on what exactly I did during the day. If I come back late, I go to bed right away. If I have a little free time, I try to finish current work and household chores so as not to postpone them until tomorrow.

It's great to start a new day with a clean slate, without the burden of responsibility!

What do you do in your free time?

I practically don't have it. But if it does appear, I give preference to travel and national cuisine. For example, at the beginning of this year, I did a food tour in Peru. I was very pleased with the experience.

Also I am fond of soccer (European football) and sometimes on weekends I play with colleagues. In general, Pittsburgh, where Duolingo is headquartered, is a fairly large sports center in the United States. People here love to attend competitions, regardless of the sport: American football, baseball or hockey. From time to time I get out to cheer for local teams.

What advice would you give to those who are learning a foreign language from scratch?

Over the years, I have realized for sure that there are no ideal methods of learning a language. Moreover, they all contradict each other. Based on this, I can recommend focusing not on specific methods, but on your own motivation. It doesn't matter how, where and with whom you learn the language. The main thing is that you are passionate about the process. Pay attention to the game components - they will help you to be involved and motivated.

What books do you recommend reading?

1. "Design of familiar things" by Donald Normann

Before reading this book, I paid little attention to design. But after reading it became obsessed with this topic.

The author clearly explains that if you do not understand something about the product, it is not because you are stupid, but because mistakes were made at the design stage.

Buy on "Liters" →

2. "Highly effective management" by Andrew Grove

There are many books on how to become a better leader, written by people who have never been leaders. Andy has been the CEO of Intel for over 30 years, and I recommend his book to everyone at Duolingo. It is based on the author's colossal experience of how to become a top-level manager.

By tradition - your parting words to the readers

I want to share the best advice I've ever received myself. It may not seem so important, but it really helped me in my career.

If you are successful, expect people to ask you more time, or money, or both.

With experience, an understanding of this thought came to me. If I am asked to do something at the last moment (say, to speak at a conference), and I would not want to, because it should happen literally next week, then it is better to refuse. This advice helped me divide opportunities into those that deserve to devote time to them, and those for which I do not have it.