Three years ago, I began writing the code for what would become Multiglot—my take on what language learning software could be, reimagined and reengineered. At long last, I’m pleased to announce that Multiglot is becoming a company, and that native mobile apps are coming! You can join the waiting list for early access and launch updates here.
My journey towards redesigning language software began, in fact, many years before—around two decades ago. Frustrated by inefficiencies when trying to learn German, I started to imagine how computers could be used to make the process more effective. Fifteen years ago, I started analysing large multilingual datasets, and putting the first lines of code together. That was long before most modern language apps even existed, and although some of the results were promising, I ultimately shelved the project.
As the sands of time drained through life’s hourglass, I frequently found myself in need of improving my language skills. When I left the UK permanently, and later settled in Czechia, the need to learn at least the basics of Czech became urgent. I explored the popular apps now available on the educational market, and was delighted to see how far language software had come. I paid for some subscriptions, and spent tens of months using them regularly across a variety of languages.
After some time, however, I again found myself feeling somewhat disappointed: although many of the ideas I’d had so long ago had since become standard, I still found the overall process somewhat inefficient and frustrating. Long hours were spent revising things I already knew, and valuable minutes were wasted memorising phrases I was unlikely ever to use in real life. The inner monologue and emotional wellbeing of an anthropomorphised owl might appeal to some, but I value my time and am somewhat impatient… Having learned a lot during my career as a Computer Programmer & DevOps Engineer, I again found myself wondering what could be achieved in the world of educational software, if things were reengineered extensively.
I rewrote the project from scratch, and quickly released a free web app as proof of concept. I was lucky to find some truly excellent professional translators, who have been advising me on the project and the nuances of various languages ever since. A couple of hundred people tried the web app, and I received a lot of feedback. Iterating as frequently as I could—whilst balancing paid work with my clients—I made many extensive changes both to the course design and to the data structure. Fourteen major releases and many minor iterations later, my research and development has led me to something which has begun to feel like somewhat of a breakthrough.
The language engine I’ve arrived at is very different to the one I started with: outwardly far less mathematical, yet inwardly far more smart. Even my approach to how to design courses has changed; this is the era of AI, after all… There are no fixed lessons, no units to study, no concepts to read or try to understand actively. In fact, even with vocabulary, there’s no active memorisation called for! All you have to do is guess, and the intelligent engine adapts to you. Right from the very first minute of learning, your language course is likely different to that of the person sat next to you—even if you’re both starting the language from scratch!
Today, I’m happy to announce that I’m spinning the Multiglot project into its own company, and that work on native mobile apps has begun. In order to maximise rather limited resources, I’m shutting down the web app, and will instead reinvest that energy into developing apps for iOS (iPhone/iPad) and Android devices. Those apps will use the latest version of the Multiglot language engine (v15!), with built in knowledge of grammatical concepts such as noun declensions and verb conjugations—as well as tens of thousands of images, advanced words, and essential phrases.
If this sounds at all interesting to you, I encourage you to join the waiting list for early access and launch updates. You can say which mobile device you use and which languages you’re interested in learning. I plan to launch with British English, European Spanish, French, German, Polish, and Czech—but many more languages have been researched and are planned!
Happy language learning! 🇬🇧 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇵🇱 🇨🇿 🐠