Duolingo is giving real-life Emilys in Paris a chance to learn French

Language app's promotion coincides with the debut of series two of the Netflix hit

Published On
Dec 23, 2021

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Netflix's "Emily in Paris" is back for a second series this week, and guess what, the eponymous heroine's French hasn't improved all that much.

Despite her lack of language skills, though, Emily has been a hit, and now language app Duolingo is leaning into the show's popularity. A new campaign via BETC Paris offers anyone by the name of Emily a month's free subscription to its premium membership Duolingo Plus.

The promotion is available 48 hours from when the show premiered on Dec. 22, as long is your name is Emily. To promote it, there's a fun social film featuring some real-life French Emilys beseeching people to learn their language and stop besmirching their name. Because then, they say, you will know the real-life rude things French people are saying about you. 

As well as having fun with the show, Duolingo is also piggybacking off a real trend: hit international Netflix shows, such as “Squid Game,” “Lupin” and “Money Heist”, are actually inspiring more people than ever before to learn a new language.