The Duolingo app is a go-to for learning new languages. But lately, the American application has been in the news for a completely different reason after reportedly becoming a new hunting ground for singles looking for love.
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Rob Ciesielski, a 43-year-old American, was learning Spanish in Washington. Amanda Lopez, a 38-year-old Filipina, was learning Mandarin. She progressed so quickly on Duolingo that she ended up at the very top of the application’s prestigious ranking.
Ciesielski noticed Lopez and regularly congratulated her on her remarkable progress. Then, the two linguists sought each other out on Facebook and struck up a relationship, initially remotely. Eventually, they meet in person and went on to marry shortly afterward.
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This scenario, worthy of a Hollywood romantic comedy, was reported by various media outlets. Above all, it sparked a new craze involving the Duolingo application, which is usually intended for learning new languages. With nine million daily users, this platform, created in 2011, enables users to send notifications to other users from all over the world.
On X, Internet users were quick to react to the news of the language-learning lovebirds’ marriage: “I should pay more attention to friendship quests and people who celebrate my achievements and of course those who send XP Boosts…” said Internet user @Beatonm5. On TikTok, meanwhile, Internet users are asking for tips on how to find love on Duolingo.
Inspired by this fairy-tale story, you might wonder whether other everyday applications might in turn become ways of meeting that special someone. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the groom, Ciesielski, suggests that the couple’s unusual way of meeting could soon become the norm, as people connect on all kinds of apps all the time, even on Uber Eats, he says.
So, could every app offering users the possibility to interact potentially become a dating app? Last year, singles were already creating Google Docs as a way to find their significant other.
The list of unconventional dating apps also includes Strava, a fitness app for logging running or cycling routes and with some social networking features, or the programmer’s site Stack Overflow (a collaborative forum similar to Reddit), which is the case of one recently engaged couple. All of which goes to show that you can sometimes find love in the most unusual of places.
– AFP Relaxnews
– TheStar