Japanese for English speakers coming to Duolingo in May.

Buried at the bottom of a Tribune-Review article yesterday about the launch of a Swahili language course by the Pittsburgh-based Duolingo is an update on the status of Japanese lessons for English speakers:

[Director of business development at Duolingo Rogelio] Alvarez said East Asian languages have been the most challenging. Some, such as Mandarin Chinese, don't have an alphabet but use tones, which is challenging to teach. Demand for those languages, however, has pushed the company. Alvarez told the Trib that Duolingo expects to launch a Japanese course for English speakers in May in response to high demand.