For the most anticipated entertainment series of the year, the new Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, Duolingo partnered with HBO Max to create High Valyrian lessons that teach fans the fictional language from the show.

In a way that has never been done before, the unexpected partnership created a new entertainment experience that immersed HBO Max fans deeper into their favorite show and introduced them to the habit of learning languages on Duolingo.

As the world’s #1 language learning app, Duolingo knows entertainment content drives interest in language learning and vice versa. From K-pop music to television shows like Squid Game, our data shows a direct correlation between user growth and what’s happening in the cultural zeitgeist.

When HBO Max announced a new prequel to the Game of Thrones series named House of the Dragon, Duolingo saw an opportunity to join the conversation and drive brand awareness.

How could we tap into the most anticipated entertainment series of the year and encourage fans to start learning languages on Duolingo? By launching a first-of-its-kind partnership that provided fans with a new way to engage with their favorite show.

HBO Max was looking to engage Game of Thrones fans after the original series had ended years before. Knowing millennials, who make up Duolingo’s target audience, are obsessed with Game of Thrones and the new House of the Dragon series would feature its fictional language, we were confident an idea based on High Valyrian would speak to our audience. We also knew nearly half of those who sign up for a fictional language go on to learn a real one next.

So we turned this insight into a cultural phenomenon by partnering with HBO Max to create real High Valyrian lessons on Duolingo. We focused on the most relevant channels for this audience (Reddit, Twitter, TikTok) and launched during the week of HBO Max's immersive experience at Comic-Con to maximize awareness. From season premiere to finale, we kept fans engaged throughout with a series of fun activations.

For the new Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, Duolingo partnered with HBO Max to create High Valyrian lessons that teach fans the fictional language from the show.

Our strategy to connect entertainment with education determined where and when we brought the campaign to life. We launched ahead of the season premiere with multiple activations including cryptic billboards in Times Square and Comic-Con, an in-app challenge with a life-size Valyrian Steel sword as the prize, and viral social content featuring Duo the Owl on the iron throne at HBO Max’s Comic-Con event.

By tapping into the insight that nearly half of those who learn a fictional language go on to learn a real one next, we were able to focus on promoting a magical made-up language that would receive global attention while knowing that fans would eventually sign up for our other real languages down the line.

We developed our High Valyrian lessons with the inventor of the language himself, David Peterson. The course taught fans real phrases from episodes such as “Umbās” and “Lykirī”, which also doubled as dragon commands in HBO Max’s new augmented reality app.

A month ahead of the season premiere, we bombarded Times Square and Comic-Con with cryptic billboards written completely in High Valyrian. Then, Duo the Owl showed up in real-life at HBO Max’s Comic-Con event to claim the iron throne and encourage learners to do their lessons as seen in our viral TikTok.

To keep the dialogue going all season long, we exchanged weekly tweets in High Valyrian with HBO Max after every episode. And to add another plot twist, we hosted a challenge where learners battled it out on the Duolingo leaderboard for the #1 spot. The prize? A custom life-size Valyrian Steel sword engraved with a secret phrase.

“High Valyrian Lessons” became the #1 most talked about campaign for Duolingo ever and helped drive fans to HBO Max’s most watched premiere in history. The unexpected partnership generated more than 150 press mentions and 700M earned media impressions around the world with a single TikTok video receiving 10.8M views alone. The campaign has created a lasting cultural impact with one learner even deciding to hold her entire wedding in High Valyrian. All of this attention led to a massive increase in new inbound partnership opportunities. So far over 300,000 fans have started learning High Valyrian, but most importantly 43% of them will go on to learn another language like Spanish or French next.