Crunchyroll and Duolingo Team Up to Help Anime Fans Dive Deeper

Looks like Crunchyroll is continuing Ani-MAY in a unique way! The world’s leading anime streamer has teamed up with Duolingo, the world’s leading language learning platform, in celebration of the sixth anniversary of Duolingo’s Japanese language course. Starting today, the Japanese Duolingo course will feature almost 50 phrases inspired by popular anime series.

Approximately a quarter (26%) of those taking Duolingo’s Japanese course cite “fun” as their primary motivation. It’s the third most popular language for English-speaking people on the platform, and the fifth most popular globally. I certainly have been doing my best to pick it up, wanting to better understand the dialogue in my favorite anime series. Too often have I seen on discussion boards that something is lost in the translations.

“Anime is a dynamic medium and we know viewers have a curiosity for learning. Now on Duolingo, fans worldwide can celebrate anime through learning iconic phrases from their favorite series,” said Terry Li, Senior Vice President of Emerging Business, Crunchyroll. “We also hope anime-curious learners will be intrigued by their Japanese lessons on Duolingo and will explore all that anime has to offer on Crunchyroll.”

“We chose to partner with the leader in anime entertainment, Crunchyroll, to advance our Japanese course because we know watching TV shows and films in the language you’re studying is a great way to learn and we wanted to offer our learners a way to further immerse themselves in the Japanese language through anime,” said George Audi, Senior Director of Business Development. “We hope this partnership will be as delightful to anime fans as it was for our Learning, Design and Marketing teams to work on!”

As a part of the partnership, Premium Crunchyroll subscribers will be eligible for a two-month free trial of Super Duolingo, the ad-free tier of the language app. Free Crunchyroll subscribers can receive a one-month trial. On the flip side, Duolingo learners studying Japanese may be eligible for one free month of Crunchyroll Mega Fan premium access, which provides ad-free viewing of Crunchyroll’s vast catalogue of anime series.

To encourage those learning the language who may not already be anime fans, Crunchyroll is rounding up some series with easy to understand, everyday vocabulary and making it available on AVOD (advertising video-on-demand) for a limited time. This list includes Bananya, which features an adorable kitty who lives in a banana, Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club, a sports anime following a high school swim club (one of Jamie’s favorites!), Laid-Back Camp, the beloved slice of life series, and Nichijou – My Ordinary Life, a surreal comedy following three ordinary girls.

Soredeha hajimemasho ka!

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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