Built by a student, for students

I built this because
Duolingo wasn't cutting it.

I was taking Mandarin and hitting a wall. I could recognize characters, ace vocabulary tests, and recite tones on command — but when it came to producing actual sentences from scratch, I was guessing. Every practice tool I tried used words I hadn't learned yet, or drilled me with the same ten sentences until I was memorizing patterns instead of thinking.

The problem

Sentence practice is where retention actually happens. 语境学习。

Flashcards build recognition. Sentences build production. There's a meaningful gap between knowing what 意思 means and using it in a sentence you construct yourself under pressure. That gap is where I kept failing.

Standard apps either drill you on sentences full of unknown words, or they let you look everything up — which isn't practice, it's cheating. I wanted something that felt like a real exam: sentences built only from vocabulary I'd actually studied, graded on meaning, not exact wording.

“I kept seeing 看 and 说 in sentences with words I'd never encountered. That's not practice. That's guessing dressed up as learning.”

Sentence 6 of 10
Wǒ hěn xǐhuān xuéxí zhōngwén
我很喜欢学习中文
✓ Correct · 92/100
I really enjoy studying Chinese.
What I built

A practice loop designed around how retention actually works.

Only words you know

Every AI-generated sentence is constrained to your personal vocabulary set. No surprises.

Natural grading

Your answer is scored semantically. Paraphrasing counts. Exact match is not the goal.

Tracks what sticks

Words you miss surface more often. Words you nail fade into the background. Automatic.

Built with Next.js, Supabase, and the Claude API for sentence generation and grading.

The builder
grilledcheese1
University student
View source on GitHub
Ready to begin?

Ready to start?

It's free to begin. No payment required.

Create your account →
Already have an account? Log in →