What Happened to Duolingo Classes? Language Events & Alternatives

If you used Duolingo a few years ago, you may remember something that felt quite different from the normal lessons in the app: live language events where learners could meet, talk and practice together.

Those were Duolingo Classes and Events.

They ended in January 2023, leaving many learners and hosts looking for new places to practice languages with real people.

If you’re searching for Duolingo Classes alternatives, there’s an important distinction to make. There isn’t one exact replacement for what Duolingo Classes offered. Some platforms focus on language exchange, some on live group events, some on private lessons, and others on self-paced learning.

This page looks at what happened to Duolingo Classes, what happened to the community around them, and where you can find the human, conversational side of language learning today.

What Were Duolingo Classes?

Duolingo Classes and Events gave language learners an opportunity to go beyond individual lessons and take part in live online sessions.

Instead of completing an exercise on your own, you could join other learners and a host for a scheduled event.

Depending on the event, people might practice conversation, ask questions, work through activities, play language games or simply talk.

That made the experience different from ordinary self-paced language learning.

You weren’t just learning about a language.

You were using it.

For some learners, that was the part they enjoyed most.

You could spend time learning vocabulary or grammar and then join an event where you suddenly had to listen to another person, understand a question and figure out how to respond.

It wasn’t always easy.

Sometimes you knew what you wanted to say but couldn’t find the words. Sometimes another learner spoke faster than you expected. Sometimes a conversation went in a completely different direction.

But that unpredictability was also part of the experience.

Real conversations don’t come with answer buttons.

When Did Duolingo Classes End?

Duolingo Classes and Events were sunset in January 2023.

For people who had built routines around those events, it meant losing a familiar place to practice and meet other language learners.

It’s also important to separate Duolingo Classes from Duolingo itself.

Duolingo did not shut down.

The language-learning app continued and has changed considerably since the old Classes and Events days. Its current product includes more speaking and listening practice, as well as features such as Video Call and other conversation-oriented activities.

So when people say that “Duolingo Classes ended,” they’re talking about a particular live community experience — not the end of Duolingo as a language-learning platform.

What Happened to the Hosts and Learners?

When a live community disappears, there isn’t always one new place where everyone goes.

Some people find another platform.

Some continue independently.

Some start their own groups.

Some hosts move on to teaching elsewhere.

And some learners simply stop attending language events.

That makes the end of Duolingo Classes a little different from losing an ordinary app feature.

There were people involved.

There were hosts who had spent time preparing sessions and getting to know regular participants. There were learners who recognized familiar names and faces. And there were people who had found their first real language-practice community through those events.

Pep Talk Radio was part of that community too.

According to Pep Talk Radio’s own history, the project hosted more than 1,500 language events across 10+ languages, with more than 15,000 learners from 100+ countries taking part. When Duolingo Classes ended, Pep Talk Radio continued independently.

And for some former participants, the question wasn’t simply:

“What should I use instead of Duolingo?”

It was:

“Where did everyone go?”

What Are You Actually Looking For After Duolingo Classes?

This is worth thinking about before choosing an alternative.

You may not actually be looking for another language-learning app.

You might be looking for:

A weekly group conversation
You want a scheduled event where you can show up and talk with other learners.

A language partner
You’d rather have an ongoing one-to-one exchange with someone who speaks the language you’re learning.

A teacher
You want somebody who can guide the conversation, explain things and give you feedback.

A local language community
You want to meet language learners in your city or attend events in person.

Casual practice
You don’t necessarily want a lesson. You simply want opportunities to use the language.

Self-paced learning
You mainly want something convenient that you can use on your own.

These are different needs.

And that’s why there isn’t one universal replacement for Duolingo Classes.

Where Can You Find Language Practice Today?

Here are some of the options worth knowing about.

They aren’t all replacements for Duolingo itself. Some are alternatives specifically to the live conversation and community experience that Duolingo Classes provided.

Tandem — Find a Language Exchange Partner

Tandem is built around one-to-one language exchange.

You find people who speak the language you’re learning and who are interested in learning a language you speak. The platform supports text, voice messages, audio calls and video calls, along with tools such as corrections and translation.

This can be a good fit if what you liked about Duolingo Classes was actually talking to another person.

The experience is different from a scheduled group event, though. Instead of joining a class with a host and a group, you’re generally building your own language-exchange connection.

HelloTalk — Language Exchange With Native Speakers

HelloTalk is another language-exchange platform built around communication with speakers of the language you’re learning.

You can communicate through text, voice and video, and HelloTalk also offers voice-based language-exchange sessions where partners can divide their time between the two languages.

This makes it particularly relevant if you want regular informal interaction rather than a traditional lesson.

It also has a community element, so the experience can go beyond a single language partner.

Meetup — Find Language Events and Local Groups

If the part you miss most is the event itself, Meetup is worth checking.

Meetup currently has language-exchange groups in cities around the world, including groups focused on specific languages and international conversation. Some groups are local and some organize online activities.

This can feel closer to the old group-event experience than a one-to-one language exchange.

The main difference is that availability depends heavily on your location and the groups currently active there.

Polyglot Club — Language Events and Community

Polyglot Club is another community-oriented option for people interested in languages and cultural exchange.

Its current event listings include language-exchange and Polyglot Night events in different cities. You can search by location to see what’s currently available.

This is closer to the community and event side of language learning than a traditional self-study app.

As with Meetup, the experience depends on which events are active in your area.

Eventbrite — Find Language Events

Eventbrite is another place to find online and local language-learning events, including conversation groups, language exchanges, classes and cultural activities. Event availability depends on the language, location and organizers currently using the platform.

For learners who enjoyed the scheduled event side of Duolingo Classes, Eventbrite can be useful for discovering new language-practice opportunities.

ConversationExchange — Find Language Partners

ConversationExchange is designed around finding language partners for conversation practice.

The basic idea is simple: connect with someone who speaks the language you’re learning and arrange a language exchange.

This can work well if you prefer one-to-one conversation rather than joining a larger group.

It also gives learners another way to find people who are interested in practicing languages together rather than simply consuming lessons.

italki — Learn With a Language Teacher

Sometimes what people miss about a language event isn’t the group itself.

It’s having someone there who knows how to keep the session moving.

That’s where teacher-led platforms can be useful.

italki connects language learners with teachers for individual lessons. The experience is different from a free community event because you’re working directly with a teacher, but you get a more structured environment for conversation and learning.

This can make sense if you want regular speaking practice with guidance and feedback, rather than a casual exchange.

Preply — One-to-One Online Language Lessons

Preply is another option for learners who want one-to-one lessons with online language tutors.

You can choose a tutor based on factors such as language, schedule, teaching style and price, and lessons take place online. Preply currently lists tutors across more than 90 languages.

This isn’t really a replacement for a community event.

It’s better suited to someone who wants structured, scheduled practice with a teacher.

That distinction matters.

If you enjoyed the social side of Duolingo Classes, a private lesson may feel very different. If you mainly wanted someone to talk to and guide you, however, it may provide something the old events did not always guarantee.

Pep Talk Radio — Language Conversation Events

Pep Talk Radio continued independently after Duolingo Classes ended, keeping its focus on language learning, conversation and community.

The idea is simple: learn languages through real conversations.

Current events include online English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Esperanto conversation sessions, with the schedule changing as new activities are added.

If what you remember most about Duolingo Classes was joining a group, meeting other learners and actually using the language, this is the part of Pep Talk Radio that continues that idea.

Check the current events page for the latest schedule.

Not Every Duolingo Classes Alternative Is the Same

This is probably the easiest way to think about your options.

If you’re looking for:

Live group conversation: Meetup, Polyglot Club, Pep Talk Radio
One-to-one language partner: Tandem, HelloTalk, ConversationExchange
Teacher who guides you: italki, Preply
Local language community: Meetup, Polyglot Club
Casual online language interaction: Tandem, HelloTalk
Self-paced language study: Duolingo and other language-learning apps

These categories can overlap.

For example, HelloTalk also has group-oriented features, while Meetup groups can range from casual social events to more structured language practice. The important thing is to look at what the specific group or platform actually offers, rather than assuming every “language exchange” works the same way.

What About Duolingo Today?

It’s easy to remember the Duolingo of several years ago and assume the product is still exactly the same.

It isn’t.

Duolingo has added more speaking and listening practice and has developed AI-powered conversation features such as Video Call. The company has also expanded some courses to B2-level content.

That means the question today isn’t simply whether Duolingo can help you learn a language.

It can.

The more useful question is what you want to do outside the app.

An app can give you a convenient way to study.

A language exchange can give you another person to talk to.

A teacher can give you structured feedback.

A community can give you a reason to keep showing up.

You don’t necessarily have to choose only one.

For a deeper look at the role of Duolingo itself, see:

Can Duolingo Make You Fluent? What It Can — and Can’t — Teach You

Looking for a Former Duolingo Host?

If you’re reading this because you remember a particular Duolingo host, you may not be looking for another app at all.

You may simply be trying to find that person again.

Pep Talk Radio created a dedicated directory for former Duolingo hosts and language teachers. Former hosts can share information about what they’re doing now, while learners can look for familiar names and discover their current classes or communities.

Find a Former Duolingo Host →

If you were a Duolingo host yourself, the page can also give you a place to share your current information.

You Don’t Need to Replace Duolingo Classes With One Thing

This may be the most useful way to look at the whole situation.

The old Duolingo Classes experience brought several things together:

learning + conversation + people + regular events.

Today, you can get those things from different places.

You might use Duolingo for daily study.

You might use Tandem to speak with a language partner.

You might join a Meetup or Polyglot Club event.

You might take a lesson with a teacher once a week.

And you might join a Pep Talk Radio conversation.

There’s no rule saying that your entire language-learning experience has to happen on one platform.

In fact, different tools can serve different purposes.

The important part is that the language eventually leaves the screen and becomes something you actually use.

Language Learning Still Needs People

Duolingo Classes may have ended, but the reason people joined them hasn’t disappeared.

People still want to hear another person speak.

They still want to try a sentence for the first time.

They still want to ask a question, make a mistake, laugh about it and keep going.

And they still want that moment when a language they’ve been studying suddenly becomes part of a real conversation.

There may never be one perfect replacement for the old Duolingo Classes experience.

And perhaps there doesn’t need to be.

Today, you can choose a language exchange, join a group, find a teacher, attend a community event or combine several of them.

Because learning a language can happen alone.

But some of the most memorable parts happen when someone else is there.