Google’s cooking up something for your brain — and it’s not just search results or calendar reminders. After quietly flexing its AI muscles in tools like NotebookLM (remember when it launched as “Project Tailwind”?), Google’s now got its eye on a whole new playground: language learning.
This week, the tech giant dropped three AI-powered experiments called Little Language Experiments — and they're gunning straight for Duolingo’s turf. Built using Google’s Gemini API, these bite-sized learning tools mix smarts with fun, and they’re already sounding way less annoying than a green owl screaming at you to practise.
Tiny Lesson: Because textbooks are boring
Ever had that "ugh, what’s that word?" moment? Tiny Lesson is here to save you from brain fog. You just tell it a scenario — like booking a cab or ordering pizza — and it gives you a short, tailored lesson with vocab, grammar tips, and useful phrases in your target language.
It's like having a crash course for exactly what you need, when you need it — no filler, no fluff.
Slang Hang: Say goodbye to awkward textbook-speak
Let’s face it: learning a language from books or apps often makes you sound like a robot. Enter Slang Hang. It generates casual convos between native speakers and breaks them down for you — slang, tone, context and all.
You can hover over phrases to get literal meanings, translations, and when to use them. Bonus? The convos aren’t generic. One user got a script about a marine biologist and a fisherman finding glowing coral. So yeah, this ain’t your high school Spanish workbook.
Word Cam: Snap, learn, repeat
Don't know how to say something? Just point and shoot. With Word Cam, you click a pic and Gemini labels everything in it in the language you're trying to learn. It even tosses in related terms so you can start building a proper vocab bank without staring at flashcards all day.
Great for when you’re walking around and want to learn on the go — or when you just forgot what “lamp” is in French.
So, will it replace Duolingo?
Not yet. Google calls these experiments "early explorations,” and they’re only available through the Google Labs site for now. But considering how powerful Gemini is under the hood, and how personal these tools feel, it’s hard not to see the potential here.
Duolingo might still have the memes. But Google? It might just have the future.
