Hey HN.

I love learning languages and I have tried several language learning apps over the last few years, but I didn’t like any of them because they were either expensive ($20-$50/month) or weren’t very effective.

I was using Duolingo, for example, because it was free, but it was slow and ineffective. Even after having ~150 day streak, I still couldn’t say much in Spanish. I was either passively listening to the language, learning vocabulary without context, or learning sentences that weren’t realistic. So I set out to build my own.

I have tried different approaches and techniques over the last 1.5 years for learning a language, and finally found something that works well. This web app uses a 4-step system of decoding, encoding, listening, and speaking.

1. Decoding: You are given a sentence in your target language (e.g., French) and have to unscramble the English words to figure out what it means.

2. Encoding: The exact opposite of step one—translating the active thoughts from English back into your target language.

3. Listening: You listen to the native audio of the sentence and type out the English translation.

4. Speaking: You hit the record button and actually practice speaking the sentence out loud from day one.

I have been using this app for a while now, and it has been helping me learn French far more effectively than my previous approach. It gets me speaking the language from day one, I learn vocabulary and grammar through context, and I learn phrases and sentences that are practical and realistic.

I am excited to finally launch it and get it into the hands of other language learners. I would love to hear any feedback you have on the method or the app itself!

I’m currently running a free private beta. If you want to test it out and help me improve it, you can test the 4 steps in the website demo or sign up for free here: https://www.4tospeak.com

Caleb

Show HN: Decode, encode, listen, and speak to learn a language