During the final weekend of the Pulitzer Prize- winning Broadway show ENGLISH, the Duolingo English Test (DET) partnered with Roundabout Theatre Company to host an inspiring panel discussion.
Moderated by Jen Dewar, Duolingo’s Senior Director of Strategic Engagement, the panel featured ENGLISH playwright Sanaz Toossi and four Duolingo University Access Scholars: Lorcia Matondo, a first-year student at Wheaton College; Raashid Amiri and Zabihullah Alimee, both in their first year at Georgetown University; and Asadullah Azimi, a second-year student at Georgetown.
Together, they discussed the complexities of language as both a barrier and bridge in multicultural contexts.
Empowering refugees through education
Dewar kicked off the conversation by recognizing Duolingo’s shared goals with Roundabout Theatre: both organizations are reducing barriers and fostering accessibility, and strive to make cultural and educational experiences more inclusive.
"I never dreamed I’d see a Broadway show about my line of work,” Dewar laughed. “But when we learned about this play, and how beautifully it delves into English learning and testing, it felt like a perfect match for our mission at Duolingo."
The Duolingo University Access Program—a partnership with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency—supports aspiring students with essential resources and guidance to navigate the complex admission processes, to bridge the gap between displaced communities and quality educational opportunities.
"We focus on refugees because it’s a group that is growing in number all over the world,” Dewar explained, “and unfortunately, they have the highest risk of never having access to higher education.”
Dedicating a program to support refugees allows us to work with UNHCR to extend educational opportunities to those most at risk of being left behind—that includes making sure they have access to English proficiency testing, in order to unlock future opportunities.
Perspective is everything
English testing is close to our hearts here at Duolingo, but as Dewar acknowledged, many audiences in the West are entirely unaware of this often inaccessible process. She asked Toossi what inspired her to write a play about such a seemingly obscure topic.
"English testing is niche, here in America where people are fortunate to speak English their whole lives,” responded Toosi. “But as we know, for the rest of the world, it's seen as a critical tool for advancement."
Toossi’s understanding of the testing process was shaped by her experience as the daughter of Iranian immigrants. She wrote ENGLISH in 2017, as her MFA thesis at New York University—an accepting institution of the Duolingo English Test.
It was heavily inspired by the political climate at the time.
“I felt, to say it plainly, rage and fury about the way people feel comfortable talking about immigrants, making a joke of their accents,” said Toossi. “Many people who immigrate to this country speak English as their second, third, or even fourth language. Because of their accents, they’re treated with less dignity, when really, it’s a sign of intelligence.”
“Many people who immigrate to this country speak English as their second, third, or even fourth language. Because of their accents, they’re treated with less dignity, when really, it’s a sign of intelligence.”
How does language shape identity?
“To leave language behind is to leave culture behind, which can be devastating,” said Toossi, whose writing taps into the emotional experience of learning languages. Some of the characters in ENGLISH are very attached to their first language, Farsi, and resist the idea that they must learn English in order to pursue opportunity.
Toossi, who grew up speaking both Farsi and English, said she has felt caught between these two languages and cultures her whole life. This resonated with the Scholars, each of whom has had to navigate multiple cultural identities as they were forced to flee their homes and seek refuge abroad.
“There’s an emotional experience to learning another language,” said Toossi. “Some people say it’s like having a second soul—others say it is to halve your soul.”
Alimee, who was born in Afghanistan and later sought refuge in India before moving to the US, agreed with this: “My grandpa always told me, if you know one language you're one person, if you know five languages you’re five people.”
And sometimes, you feel like five people at once! Azimi, who was also born in Afghanistan and later fled to India, shared that sometimes he switches among his many languages without meaning to.
Alimee said the same—"Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I start talking in Persian with my roommate, and he doesn't know what I'm saying. And I have to remember who I’m talking to," he laughed.
“My grandpa always told me, if you know one language you're one person, if you know five languages you’re five people.”
The role of English
Just as English has been instrumental for the Scholars, it plays a huge role in the lives of Toossi’s characters; it’s the title of the play, after all! But Toossi warned the audience not to think of ENGLISH as a love letter to the language—quite the opposite.
“It’s a scream,” she explained. “A scream at those who feel comfortable otherizing those who don’t sound like them."
Toossi said being born an English speaker is an “unexamined privilege.” This resonated with Scholars, many of whom speak up to five languages as a consequence of the upheaval they’ve experienced throughout their lives—as Alimee remarked, “We learn more languages everywhere we go.”
“[English] is scream at those who feel comfortable otherizing those who don’t sound like them."
Still, because of its currency as the global lingua franca, most of the Scholars began learning English early in life. “As a child, I was always told English would be useful for me in the future,” Alimee said.
Amiri shared that in Afghanistan, where he was born, they study English as a third language, and don't receive much instruction in school. However, English became instrumental for him once he graduated high school and began working in a company where all of the safety materials were printed in English.
“Long story short, it’s been a part of my whole life,” he said. “Even later when we fled to India, when I wasn’t able to communicate in Hindi, I was able to use English to be understood.”
Matondo, who was born in South Africa to Congolese parents, began learning English in Kindergarten. Her father spoke English, but her mother didn’t; Matondo found herself incorporating her home language into English so that the rest of her family could understand her.
Ultimately, she said that learning English allowed her to integrate better into her community back home, and now here at school in the US.
But learning English is one thing—obtaining proficiency certification in order to study internationally is quite another. The Scholars shared how arduous the journey is to access traditional test centers in their communities back home. Amiri explained the lengths students must go through in his community in southern India: spending hundreds of dollars and hours on buses to reach far-flung test centers.
“Just thinking about it was stressing me out,” he said. Like the other Scholars on the panel, Amiri said he opted to take the DET to avoid the time, cost, and trauma of sitting a high stakes exam at a traditional test center.
Learning is lifelong
The panelists each spoke to their ongoing journey of learning English, and its impact on their identity. For Azimi, these experiences have brought about a shift in perspective:
"I used to think learning a language was all about perfect proficiency,” he said. “Now, I realize it's more about connecting and communicating effectively with others. It's not about perfect grammar, it’s about making more friends."
Matondo shared her initial struggles in the U.S., "At first, I barely spoke, because I feared being misunderstood," she said. "Over time, I gained confidence and began to feel like a different person when speaking English."
These stories from the panel emphasize that language learning is not just about acquiring a skill but about evolving one's identity and expanding one's worldview. It's a lifelong journey that enriches personal and professional lives, bridging gaps between cultures and communities.
Azimi reflected on his journey from Afghanistan to Georgetown, noting, "The more languages you know, the more people you can connect with, and the broader your understanding of the world."
