Curriculum Designer for Japanese (for speakers of Chinese)

Job Description

Help improve how millions of people learn languages on Duolingo.

This is a unique opportunity to become part of the founding team of Duolingo’s China office and work with other talented Duolingo software engineers, designers, product managers, and learning scientists globally to develop next-generation education technology that transforms learning. Our ideal candidate has a degree in language education and experience teaching Japanese to native speakers of Mandarin Chinese. You will be part of our new initiative to reimagine and revamp Duolingo courses in China, focusing on how we teach Japanese. As a member of Duolingo’s broader Learning & Curriculum group, you will support our efforts to advance Duolingo’s mission through evidence-based practices. This role is based in Beijing, China.

Responsibilities:

• Help design the curriculum and specific content for the Duolingo Japanese course for speakers of Mandarin Chinese
• Help create assessments of learners’ language knowledge
• Help recruit, train, and supervise other language experts
• Help communicate the science behind Duolingo’s teaching methodology to a wider audience

Requirements:

• M.A. (or equivalent experience) in Japanese, linguistics, applied linguistics, or a related field
• Experience teaching Japanese and/or developing Japanese language curricula for Mandarin Chinese speakers
• Native or near-native proficiency in Japanese
• Strong working proficiency in both English and Mandarin Chinese
• Familiarity with evidence-based principles of language learning and/or teaching
• Ability to build language curricula that effectively scaffold the learning experience
• Ability to think about language analytically (e.g., breaking down grammatical concepts into smaller parts for the purposes of teaching and assessment)
• Outstanding interpersonal communication and organizational skills
• A desire to make the world a better place through technology

Exceptional candidates will have:

• Project management experience
• Experience supervising others, especially remotely
• At least basic proficiency in other languages (e.g., Korean, French, or Spanish)