PITTSBURGH, July 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Duolingo (NASDAQ: DUOL), the world’s leading language learning platform, today announced its official partnership with HBO Max for HBO Original “House of the Dragon.” The “Game of Thrones” prequel premieres August 21 on HBO Max and to help fans prepare, Duolingo is launching an updated High Valyrian course, the fictional language spoken in the show, including over 150 new words and more than 700 new sentences.

Duolingo worked directly with David Peterson, the linguist who developed the full High Valyrian language based on the book series “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George R.R. Martin.

“I am thrilled for new and old fans of the “Game of Thrones” series to experience the High Valyrian language. It’s been a pleasure to revisit the world of Westeros for “House of the Dragon'' and work with the team at Duolingo to breathe new life into this course,” said Peterson.

To promote the updated course, Duolingo is rolling out an integrated marketing campaign teasing new phrases on cryptic billboards in major cities across the country, including an iconic space in Times Square. Meanwhile, the Duolingo mascot, Duo the Owl, is making his own ascent of the Iron Throne. The beloved mascot will make an appearance at HBO Max’s immersive fan experience, “House of the Dragon: The Dragon’s Den”, at Comic-Con International: San Diego 2022, where he’ll remind attendees to complete their lessons with life-size push notifications and signs with dragon commands in High Valyrian. Cementing this partnership, Duolingo will also be gifting fans with “Wing of the King” pins to commemorate the updated course for HBO’s “House of the Dragon”.

"At Duolingo, we know content drives interest in language. Our data shows a direct correlation between user growth and what's happening in the cultural zeitgeist, from K-Pop to Eurovision, and various international shows and movies,” said George Audi, head of business development. “We leaned into this by partnering with HBO Max to build excitement for one of the most anticipated shows of the year. This unique partnership around learning High Valyrian will enable fans across the globe to see how fun learning a new language can be while connecting closer with the world of Westeros.”

Fans have even more incentive to perfect their High Valyrian due to the upcoming launch of HBO Max’s House of Dragon: DracARys app. Learners can hatch a personalized, virtual dragon egg and “raise” their dragon at home in augmented reality. The catch - these dragons only respond to commands in High Valyrian, so get to practicing and you’ll be the next Mother of Dragons!

Learn more about the High Valyrian course go to www.duolingo.com.

About Duolingo
Duolingo (www.duolingo.com) is the most popular language-learning platform and the most downloaded education app worldwide. The app makes learning new languages fun with bite-sized lessons that feel like playing a game. The company's mission is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. Duolingo offers over 100 total courses across 41 distinct languages, from Spanish, French, German and Japanese to Navajo and Yiddish.

About House of the Dragon:

Based on George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” the series, set 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” tells the story of House Targaryen. Executive produced by George R.R. Martin, Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, the show stars Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans with additional cast Milly Alcock, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Emily Carey, Harry Collett, Ryan Corr, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jefferson Hall, David Horovitch, Wil Johnson, John Macmillan, Graham McTavish, Ewan Mitchell, Theo Nate, Matthew Needham, Bill Paterson, Phia Saban, Gavin Spokes, Savannah Steyn.

ABOUT HBO MAX
HBO Max™ is a streaming platform that offers best in class quality entertainment, delivering the greatest array of series, movies and specials for audiences of all ages from the iconic brands of HBO, Warner Bros., and DC, as well as Max Originals, blockbuster films, and beloved kids and family content. The platform launched in the United States in May 2020 and introduced a lower priced, advertising-supported tier in June 2021. Currently available in 61 countries, HBO Max began its global rollout launching in markets across Latin America and the Caribbean last summer, followed by European launches in the Nordics, Iberia, the Netherlands and Central and Eastern Europe.

Press Contact:
Monica Earle
PR Manager
press@duolingo.com