Pittsburgh-based Duolingo a fan of talk-to-kids 'SNL' sketch

Madasyn Lee
Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019 12:21 p.m. | Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019 12:21 p.m.

NBC

Kristen Stewart learns how to talk to kids, as part of a “Saturday Night Live” sketch on Duolingo.

The writers at “Saturday Night Live” have dreamed up a “brat whisperer” app.

In its latest episode, NBC’s comedy show used the Pittsburgh-based language education app Duolingo to poke fun of people who don’t know how to talk to kids.

Kristen Stewart stars in the clip, which features the fake “Duolingo for Talking to Children” course. By taking the course, she’s finally able to turn out kid-friendly phrases like “Very cool, bud,” and “I like your backpack,” and be prepared for social situations where conversations with kids may occur, like riding the bus or attending a dance recital.

Michaela Kron, a spokeswoman with Duolingo, said the company found the clip hilarious.

They didn’t know SNL was planning the sketch until it aired.

“Seeing ourselves on a show like SNL was a huge moment for us as a brand, and the fact that it happened organically was even cooler!” Kron said.

Loved seeing @duolingo on Saturday Night Live last night! Proud to have helped build this awesome brand. https://t.co/CdvMc9SKjd

— Luis von Ahn (@LuisvonAhn) November 3, 2019

That time @nbcsnl and Kristen Stewart gave us a pretty brilliant idea for our next product ? https://t.co/FVIMxsfCAJ

— Duolingo (@duolingo) November 4, 2019

Kron said, as a joke, the company even temporarily added a “Child for Adult Speakers course” to its Incubator, the platform where new Duolingo courses get developed and existing ones are maintained. Clicking on the link takes people straight to the video of the sketch on SNL’s YouTube channel.

It also tweeted out an inquiry about what “other awkward situations” people could use a Duolingo course for.

This got us thinking: what *other* awkward situations could you use a Duolingo course for?

— Duolingo (@duolingo) November 4, 2019

People on Twitter seemed supportive of the fake course. A tweet shared on the company’s Twitter had roughly 160 retweets and 430 likes as of Tuesday morning.

Think about it, actually it's not a bad idea hahaha ????

— Julio Meggs (@jmeggs) November 3, 2019

Not a bad idea (the core of it), how about creating something like an "urban dictionary". I click that page once a day, there are so many new terms, it's hard to keep up!

— Back to Basics (@b4cktob4sics) November 3, 2019