Duolingo is a language learning program that has more than 300 million users worldwide. Currently, more people are learning a language through Duolingo than in school. This, combined with the fact that their mascot Duo, a large green owl, has been gaining quite a social media following in the past few years. Duolingo currently has 6.6 million followers on TikTok. Known for funny and satirical videos, Duolingo gets around four million views per post. With their newfound fame, amassed over the past year and a half, apparently Duolingo decided it was time to shake things up and play a prank on everyone following them. 

On March 31st, the streaming service Peacock and Duolingo announced that they have been working in tandem on a brand-new dating show called Love Language. This show follows a similar format to many other dating shows, with a group of people being brought together in a beautiful place and forced into situations of romance, drama, tension, and the occasional comedy. Except this dating show has a twist- none of the contestants can speak the same language!   

Which sounds like a very unique and different idea for a genre where originality is scarce- but don’t be fooled. This dating show is FAKE. Duolingo later came out, saying that the whole thing was an early April fool’s joke. Peacock released a statement for those confused saying:  

“In case you haven’t caught on by now, this reality show is in fact a joke and not real. Our lawyers made us promise that we would make this abundantly clear. But we aren’t kidding when we say we want you to learn a new language on Duolingo and check out the other reality love series we have here on Peacock!”  

So Peacock and Duolingo are NOT going to be actually creating the show. Those who were excited for its arrival were crushed and those who were confused about how it would work got their answer- it doesn’t! But we can’t blame anyone for not catching on to the joke immediately- for a joke, those working on this went above and beyond! A real trailer was made, one of actual-show quality. The trailer features Francesca Farago, who is a well-known reality television star for shows like Love is Blind, Too Hot to Handle, and Perfect Match. It was not much of a stretch to believe that she would be participating in this new show.  

The trailer is one minute and twenty-six seconds. It lays out the rules and flow of the fake show and viewers get to see some of the would be cast members. The trailer explains that all the singles being thrown together all speak different languages. They would go on dates, take Duolingo lessons together, and try their best to communicate. By the end of the show, the couple that learns to speak each other’s language best would win!  

The internets’ reaction to this show was varied, some people devastated it would never become real and others just appreciated how well the joke tricked so many people. Here are some Dakota students who were either looking forward to this show or knew it was fake from the start: 

“I thought it was a real show! I’ve literally been WAITING for it to come out. I’m very dissatisfied. I did question how the couples would pair off- before they start the lessons and stuff and can’t communicate would they just pick based off looks? I’m sure there’s a few more issues like that that would stop the show from actually being made but if they could iron it out and figure things out, I’m sure a lot of people would watch it!” Lilyana Treash, 12 

“I had a feeling it was fake from the start- the concept looked good on paper but seemed like one of those things that didn’t work out in practice. Duolingo is great, but you can’t really learn a language in that short amount of time.” Bella Curatolo, 12 

“I was disappointed because it sounded like a cool idea. I don’t know, I just thought the trailer looked so real- why would it be fake? In my opinion, not a funny prank” Kaden Whitfield, 12 

“When I first learned about it, I thought it was real, so I would have continued to believe that until I was told otherwise. I think the show is a really good idea and that even though it’s a prank now, they should make it later” Sophia West, 12 

“I’m very disappointed. I’m an avid Duolingo user (I have a 118-day streak) and was excited for another way to be involved with my favorite hobby. Plus, I love dating shows” Mackenzie Patenaude, 12 

Peacock and Duolingo may both be birds, and have a great idea for a show, but Love Language is not coming into fruition- at least anytime soon.