Over 1 billion people worldwide speak Chinese as their native or second language, and that number is growing rapidly. Also growing is selection of language courses available on Duolingo.
On Wednesday, November 16, the language learning platform added Mandarin Chinese as its 27th course offering, which is available now on the Duolingo app for iOS and Android. In addition to its recently added Japanese course, Duolingo claims that Chinese has been one of its most requested languages.
While there are a number of different Chinese dialects, Duolingo’s course will only focus on Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of the People’s Republic of China (China) and the Republic of China (Taiwan). It’s also one of the official languages of Singapore and Myanmar.
Since Chinese is an extremely difficult language to master, Duolingo’s course does not aim to make its students fluent. Like its other courses, the Mandarin course teaches basic phrases and slang terms used by Mandarin speakers. The course specifically focuses on learning words and words and phrases for food, culture and travel, festivals, and internet slang, as well as business and financial transactions. All in all, the course covers all of the vocabulary and grammar points to successfully complete levels 1 through 3 of the official Chinese proficiency test.
In addition to speaking the language, Duolingo’s course will focus on Chinese characters as well. The Chinese writing system is the world’s oldest, and is vastly different than the English alphabet. Initially users will learn about 1,000 of the most commonly used simplified Chinese characters, though Duolingo does plan to add traditional Chinese characters to the lessons in the future. Hanyu Pinyin, the standard romanization system, is also covered in the course.
Like its other courses, Duolingo relied on extensive research to create its newest offering. Duolingo developed the course curriculum using the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages as a point of reference. CEFR provides a step-by-step framework for language learning and makes sure that learners are proficient in certain basic areas before beginning more complex materials.
Duolingo offers free language courses online as well as through apps for iOS and Android.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.
Apple's first foldable phone is now on shelves, in short supply, but with an unreal amount of buzz around it. After all, it's the first foldable iPhone, and there's plenty that this phone gets right. But there's also a lot that is either broken or underwhelming. What's peculiar is the dialogue around this phone, and how it has completely overshadowed every other attempt at making a phone with a similar form factor.
I've spent some time with the iPhone Duo, and I've used the Galaxy Z Fold 8 for almost three months now. In my opinion, Samsung deserves more credit. When the Galaxy Z Fold 8 arrived earlier this year, it was celebrated in some circles and ridiculed in others for supposedly copying what Apple would eventually deliver with the iPhone Duo. The dialogue was pretty odd, for multiple reasons. Samsung has been making foldable phones for years, so claiming that it copied a product Apple hadn't even launched was simply absurd.