hey, i'm josué

so here's the thing - i spent 2 years learning chinese. took classes. did the homework. memorized flashcards. the whole thing.

and then before studying abroad in beijing, i realized... i still couldn't actually talk to anyone. like at all. classes taught me grammar and characters but nobody taught me how to have a conversation, right?

being the cs student that i am, i tried to fix it myself. built webapps. built mobile apps. tried a bunch of stuff. failed. a lot. haha

but honestly? i loved every part of it. each failure taught me something.

what was echo?

echo was my first real attempt at solving this. the idea was solid - an AI friend who speaks your target language. something that could correct your mistakes you made when you tried to speak (in a loving way), and actually makes you practice speak - not just memorizing.

but honestly? i couldn't get distribution. and worse... i didn't even build something i loved. like, i spent all this time and i wouldn't even use my own product. that really hurt.

enter orphi

so i took a step back. asked myself what went wrong.

this time, i built something i'm actually proud of. something i would use myself. orphi solves MY problem first. if i don't love it, why would anyone else?

i'm putting it out there to see if it helps other people too. if it blows up, amazing! if not, at least it works for me haha.

what makes orphi different

• personality - witty, sarcastic, encouraging. not a boring robot
• proactive - orphi reaches out to YOU. "hey you free at 7? let's practice"
• contextual - knows your life, your interests, your schedule
• voice-first - calls you to practice. because speaking > reading

where we're at

chinese is live right now. spanish, french, and more are coming - but i want to make each one really good before moving on.

i'm building this in public and i genuinely want feedback. try it, break it, tell me what sucks. that's how we make it better. mobile app coming soon.