Is there a Duolingo for everything? What we learned building one
By Cheng-Wei Hu, co-founder of Wondering ยท
Duolingo teaches languages, plus math, music, and chess. For everything else, we built Wondering to work the same way: you pick any topic and get a course of 3-minute lessons you can read, listen to, or watch, with practice questions, spaced review, and a daily streak. Most courses our learners build are about something other than a language. If you want an app for one subject, Brilliant teaches math, science, and computer science through interactive problems, Khan Academy is free for school subjects, and Imprint and Headway teach ideas from books.
| If you want to learn | App | How lessons work |
|---|---|---|
| Languages, plus math, music, and chess | Duolingo | Game-style exercises on a fixed path |
| Any topic you choose, or your own links and notes | Wondering | 3-minute lessons to read, listen to, or watch, with practice and spaced review |
| Math, science, and computer science by solving problems | Brilliant | Hand-built interactive problems, with an AI tutor that plans lessons around your level |
| School subjects, free | Khan Academy | Videos, articles, and practice exercises from a nonprofit |
| Big ideas from psychology, history, and business | Imprint | More than 165 illustrated courses and book guides, in lessons of 2 to 10 minutes |
| Ideas from nonfiction books | Headway | More than 1,700 book summaries to read or listen to in 12 to 20 minutes |
| Everyday word and number skills | Elevate | More than 40 brain training games in a daily workout |
| A quick taste of a topic, with games | NerdSip | AI-made courses of 3, 5, or 10 short lessons with a mini game in each |
What people actually want a Duolingo for
People search for "Duolingo for learning anything" because the format works. A few minutes a day, a clear next step, and a streak you do not want to break. The real question is what they want to learn with it.
We can see part of the answer in what learners build on Wondering. Most of their courses are not about languages at all. AI comes up a lot, and the rest go everywhere, from design and software to money, health, and history.
The popular ready-made courses tell a similar story. They include a course on how large language models like ChatGPT work, The Psychology of Money, Thinking, Fast and Slow, AI Foundations for Everyone, The Great Mental Models, Atomic Habits, and Learning How to Learn. Most of them are about how to think and learn. The rest are about AI.
So the demand is real, and it is mostly not about languages.
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What carries over from Duolingo, and what does not
A lot of what makes Duolingo work has nothing to do with languages. Lessons are short, so starting one is never a big decision. You answer questions instead of rereading, which helps memory: in a classic study, students who practiced recalling a passage remembered more of it a week later than students who read it again. And review comes back over days, which a large review of hundreds of experiments found beats cramming.
One thing does not carry over: a single path for everyone. A language course can work that way because every beginner climbs roughly the same ladder. "Anything" has no ladder. Someone learning AI for a marketing job and someone learning AI to build models need different first lessons.
That is the part Wondering is built around. It makes the course for your topic and your goal, from a few questions, a link, or your own notes. Then it keeps the parts that do carry over: 3-minute lessons, practice after each one, review on a schedule, and a streak.
How Wondering compares with Duolingo
The habit matters more than the subject
One pattern we see is not about topics at all. People who come back on several different days in their first week are much more likely to still be learning weeks later than people who do a lot on one day and stop.
That is a correlation, not proof. People who were already motivated probably do both. But it matches what habit research finds, and it changes the advice. How much you do on day one matters less than coming back on day two.
Two things help. Tie the lesson to something you already do, such as your morning coffee or the train home. Plans of the form "when X happens, I will do Y" make people much more likely to follow through. And do not quit after a missed day. In one study of people building a daily habit, a single missed day did not set them back.
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If you want an app for one subject
I am a co-founder of Wondering, so read this part with that in mind. It is not a hands-on review: the facts come from each app's own website, help pages, and US App Store listing, checked on November 10 and 11, 2026.
For math, science, and computer science, Brilliant teaches through hand-built interactive problems, and its AI tutor, Koji, plans lessons around your level. Khan Academy is a free nonprofit for school and early college subjects, with videos, articles, and practice exercises, and it has official Digital SAT prep.
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For ideas from books, history, and the mind
Imprint has a curated library of more than 165 illustrated courses and book guides on psychology, history, business, and more. Headway has more than 1,700 summaries of nonfiction books to read or listen to. Both suit popular books and ideas.
Elevate looks similar from the outside, with short daily sessions, but it is brain training: more than 40 games for reading, writing, speaking, math, and memory. It sharpens skills you already use rather than teaching a new subject.
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For AI and the skills you use at work
AI changes faster than any fixed catalog, and our learners build a lot of courses on it. NerdSip also makes AI courses on any topic, as quick sets of 3, 5, or 10 short lessons with a mini game in each. That suits a fast taste of a topic. A course you follow over days or weeks suits learning it properly.
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Questions
Is there a Duolingo for everything?
Wondering works that way. Pick any topic and you get a course of 3-minute lessons with practice questions, spaced review, and a streak. It is free to start. Other apps cover one area each, such as Brilliant for math and science or Imprint for ideas from books.
Does Duolingo teach anything besides languages?
Yes. Besides more than 40 language courses, Duolingo teaches math, music, and chess.
What do people want to learn besides languages?
On Wondering, most courses learners build are not about languages, and AI comes up a lot. Popular ready-made courses include The Psychology of Money and Thinking, Fast and Slow, along with courses on how AI works.
How often should I study to make it stick?
Aim for several different days in your first week rather than a lot on one day. Among our learners, coming back on several days early on goes with still learning weeks later.
Is there a free app like Duolingo for other subjects?
Khan Academy is free for school subjects. Wondering is free to start for any topic. Duolingo is free too, paced by Energy that each lesson spends and that refills over about a day.
References
- Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249-255.
- Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354-380.
- Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69-119.
- Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. W. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998-1009.