This will soon turn into a PR exercise for DuoLingo ... or in fact it's been mis-reported in the first place. I've just seen the following:
Duolingo has contacted us following the
publication of this news to provide us
with some details about the layoffs,
which clarifies the current situation a bit.
This is what they tell us from the
American company:
“We can confirm that some Duolingo
workers have not been renewed upon
the completion of their projects at the
end of 2023. But these are not layoffs.
This affected a small minority of
Duolingo workers, as the majority have
been retained,’ their communication
agency explains.
Thus, what becomes clear is that
Duolingo has not actively fired the
translators, but rather did not renew
certain parts of the staff after
completing their assignments.
Undoubtedly, the situation is quite
different from what was initially
portrayed.
If the tutorials aren't structured and translated by natives, there's no point paying for Duolingo, might as well cut the middleman and ask ChatGPT directly.
Duolingo has contacted us following the publication of this news to provide us with some details about the layoffs, which clarifies the current situation a bit. This is what they tell us from the American company:
“We can confirm that some Duolingo workers have not been renewed upon the completion of their projects at the end of 2023. But these are not layoffs. This affected a small minority of Duolingo workers, as the majority have been retained,’ their communication agency explains.
Thus, what becomes clear is that Duolingo has not actively fired the translators, but rather did not renew certain parts of the staff after completing their assignments. Undoubtedly, the situation is quite different from what was initially portrayed.
-- https://nitter.net/Originals_in/status/1744397019475550318
Regardless, DuoLingo was one prong of a five pronged approach for me, and I'm looking to augment or replace. Now investigating Busuu to swap in.