using Duolingo as their only language learning tool, published in the journal Foreign Language Annals, found that the participants that completed a course had similar proficiency to university students after four semesters of study. The authors therefore suggested that Duolingo could be an effective tool for foreign language learning. Another 2022 study of Malaysian students learning French published by the National University of Malaysia Press found that it facilitated acquisition of vocabulary, with the authors suggesting that it was well suited for beginners in this regard. Linguist Steven Sacco at San Diego State University attempted to test Duolingo's claim that "34 hours of Duolingo are equivalent to a full university semester of language education" by completing a course in Swedish, and taking a standardized elementary exam, ultimately receiving a failing grade. Sacco suggested that Duolingo is helpful for learning vocabulary only in addition to immersion environments like a classroom. Awards In 2013, Apple chose Duolingo as its iPhone App of the Year, the first time this honor had been awarded to an educational application. In 2013, Duolingo ranked on Fast Company's "The World's Most Innovative Companies: Education Honorees" list "for crowdsourcing web translation by turning it into a free language-learning program". Duolingo won Best Education Startup at the 2014 Crunchies, and was the most downloaded app in the Education category in Google Play in 2013 and 2014. In 2015, Duolingo was announced the 2015 award winner in Play & Learning category by Design to Improve Life. Duolingo won Inc. magazine's Best Workplaces 2018, Entrepreneur magazine's Top Company Culture List 2018, and appeared in CNBC's 2018 and 2019 "Disruptor 50" lists and TIME magazine's 50 Genius Companies. In 2019, Duolingo was named one of Forbes's "Next Billion-Dollar Startups 2019". In July 2020, Duolingo was named by PCMag as "The Best Free Language Learning App". In popular culture Due to the app's sometimes aggressive sense of humor and attempts to ensure learners use it on a daily basis, Duolingo's mascot, a green cartoon owl named Duo, has been a subject of an Internet meme in which the mascot is "evil" and will stalk and threaten users if they do not keep using the app. Acknowledging the meme, Duolingo released a video on April Fool's Day 2019; the video depicts a new feature called "Duolingo Push". In the video, users of "Duolingo Push" will receive reminders to use the app in person by