TL;DR

ISSEN is an AI realtime voice language app that helps you become fluent in any language. Your on-demand voice tutor is personal to you, adapting lessons and chats to your skill level, particular interests, learning style, and goals. Try it at issen.com.

The problem:

Conversation is essential for learning a language, yet no app provides truly free-flowing dialogue. At best, current solutions have you respond to preset messages to evaluate your pronunciation and word choice.

The only effective solution for this is non-technological: a language tutor. Having a tutor can be awesome, but there are real downsides: these can be costly ($20/hour on italki on average), difficult to schedule, and have a high upfront cost (finding a tutor you like often forces you to cycle through a few that you don’t).

The solution

We set out to redefine what a language learning app can be—not by building on existing solutions, but by starting with the experience of a human tutor.

ISSEN is a true language tutor, accessible anytime from your computer or phone. Conversations can be as structured or open-ended as you like—dive into focused grammar lessons or have a casual chat about your day. Over time, you build a relationship with your AI tutor, which means that as they get to know you, they tailor conversations and lesson plans to your needs–but will never judge you when you make a mistake! Plus, our AI tutors are deeply multi-lingual, so if you are a Danish/Mandarin Chinese native looking to learn Gujarati, ISSEN is the app for you.

Our mission is to transform language learning by delivering the connection, effectiveness, and fun that, until now, only human teachers could offer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sftLFew6eM

The team

We’re Mariano and Anton, co-founders who met at Stanford and share a passion for language learning. Mariano is a former crypto engineer and VC at a16z, and has dedicated years to mastering Japanese. Anton, a native Spanish, English, and Italian speaker, spent seven years at Palantir kickstarting and building Palantir LATAM and leading infrastructure as Chief Architect of Infrastructure, Security, and Hosting.

How you can help

If you’re serious about improving your foreign language skills—or know someone who is—you can try the app now at issen.com. The web app is live (with iOS and Android versions coming soon). Just enter your email, explore the features, and share your feedback with us at founders@issen.com.