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Hasidic Jews Helped Build Duolingo’s New Yiddish Course

Hasidic Jews Helped Build Duolingo’s New Yiddish Course

When a scion from a famous family of Yiddish scholars came on board to help Duolingo with its first Yiddish course, she realized that the academic version with which she grew up was not the same language used by 500,000 speakers worldwide today. That led to a collaboration with Hasidic Jews, who partnered with her in order to keep the language as authentic to a wide range of Yiddish-speakers as possible. The course went live this week, bringing new attention to the language, which is Duolingo’s 40th undertaking. With spelling and grammar styled after the secular Yiddish academics and pronunciation that would not be out of place in Borough Park, this course aims to be the ultimate guide for any potential learner. Read more here.

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Sara Levine

Sara Levine is a writer and producer of film, television and podcasts. After graduating from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, she worked in feature film development for Fox and Paramount, and as the head of the Story Department for WME / Endeavor. Her notes and critiques have been used to find and improve material by top buyers and talent in Hollywood.