Ryan Ellman, founder of Lingua Fortis, spoke to us about how his language learning platform is different from other services and how Bubble made it happen. Though Ryan already had experience in coding, his busy schedule as a solo entrepreneur and the immense ease of Bubble's no-code web app builder made it a breeze to bring his complete idea to fruition.
Tell us about your app and what it does.
LinguaFortis.com is a language learning platform that teaches students the most important patterns in their target language first. What separates LinguaFortis.com from the competition is that our courses are created algorithmically by analyzing huge volumes of language data using a program I wrote in Python, which then creates virtual flash cards that the user can then access through the Bubble app. By creating our courses using data science to analyze actual materials in the target language, we ensure our content reflects how the language is actually used in real life conversations. We currently offer 7 languages and are actively adding more.
How does your app work?
LinguaFortis.com has a very simple interface. All users encounter a series of virtual index cards. Each card presents the user with a phrase and an audio recording of the phrase. Users are then instructed to repeat what they hear and then select a reveal button that presents the phrase in the users primary language. Then users simply answer how well they understood and how well they were able to repeat the new phrase they were just taught. The app then automatically takes care of the rest and uses the principles of progressively increasing complexity and spaced repetition to help students learn as efficiently as possible.
Tell us a little about your background and how you discovered no-code tools like Bubble.
I currently work in the financial industry and have a background in economic research. I already had substantial experience coding when I discovered Bubble through a post on Quora. I found the concept of Bubble very interesting and decided to try it out. I initially made a simple app that was nothing more than a user sign up form. I was immediately sold when I saw how easy Bubble was to use. In five minutes, I had a basic, but functional, app that could sign users up and even looked good. All without having to worry about setting up my environment, choosing a PaaS to deploy my code on, etc.
Why did you build your app on Bubble?
Having experience coding is ironically one of the main reasons I chose to build my app without code on Bubble. Because I understood what goes into building and maintaining an app using code, even with a framework like Django or Rails, I knew that building an app this complex using code would be an uphill battle as a solo entrepreneur.
What have been your milestones or successes so far?
My main milestone so far has been launching LinguaFortis.com in such a short period of time. I started working on the Python program that does the initial linguistic analysis to create the virtual index cards in late May 2020. I then started working on the Bubble portion of the site maybe a month after that. Because I reused a lot of components from a previous app I built on Bubble, I was able to get to the point where I was ready to launch by August 2020, all while working full-time. I think this really speaks to the power of Bubble.
What are your future plans for your app?
My most immediate goal is to start marketing LinguaFortis.com to university language departments to use with their students. LinguaFortis.com is an excellent complement to the type of structured learning that goes on in a traditional classroom setting. I am also currently adding more languages to the platform. Longer term, I want to continue making improvements to the algorithm that creates the virtual index cards so that this really becomes the premier language learning platform on the market.
About Bubble
Bubble is a leader in the no-code movement. Bubble offers a powerful point-and-click web editor and cloud hosting platform that allows users to build fully customizable web applications and workflows, ranging from simple prototypes to complex marketplaces, SaaS products, and more. Over 500,000 users are currently building and launching businesses on Bubble - many have gone on to participate in top accelerator programs, such as Y Combinator, and even raise $365M in venture funding. Bubble is more than just a product. We are a strong community of builders and entrepreneurs that are united by the belief that everyone should be able to create technology.
Do you want your app featured by Bubble? Reach out to us and tell us about your app. In addition to this series, we sometimes select our best apps to showcase on our website.
