Hi! Langee

Making heritage language learning a vibrant part of every child’s routine

Pitched Selected at SF Tech Week’24

Duration: 1 year, 2023

Key Contributions

User Research

Learning Design

Product Development

Branding

Project Management

Backstory

Hi! Langee is an 11-month-long project was envisioned as part of the Learning, Design, and Technology program, in collaboration with my colleague Ana Marini at Stanford University, under the guidance of Guadalupe Valdes, Ramón Martínez, Karin Forssell & Brigid Barron.

Two women with dark hair smiling, one with straight hair and the other with curly hair, with speech bubbles saying "hi!" and a greeting message in Portuguese and Hindi.

What is Hi! Langee?

Hi! Langee is an AI-powered app that integrates language learning into daily life with curated activities, raising oral proficiency while fostering emotional bonds and cultural sensitivity.

How Does it Work?

A smartphone screen displaying a daily planner app with a motivational greeting, a schedule with events at 8 am and 4 pm, and a reminder for Rosa's birthday on May 31, with navigation icons labeled Today, Learn, and More at the bottom.

Circular graphic with arrows and text that reads 'AI generated Prompts' on a blank background.

During the onboarding, parents input their native languages, their child’s interests and routines. This information is used to generate personalized conversational prompts for them that they can choose from or regenerate with just a click!

The Native Language Gap

Flowchart illustrating language learning and teaching for Ellie, a woman born in the United States who speaks English and Spanish with love for language, and Joe, a third-generation immigrant with family and cultural ties. Both are involved in teaching Spanish to Rosa, a 4-year-old with a cartoon-style illustration of a girl with a yellow background. The flowchart highlights challenges like busy routines, lack of ideas and activities, beliefs about bilingualism, and learning evidence.

“I am trying to teach my daughter Spanish, she is picking it up but it breaks my heart a little when I speak to her in Spanish but she responds in English.”

A black circle in the center of a black background with a gradient outline.

Understanding Parents’ Existing Practices

To design a tool that helps parents sustain their heritage language, we set out to understand their existing practices. We began with 30-minute pre-study interviews to learn about their daily routines, followed by a 5-day diary study where parents shared audio reflections via WhatsApp. We concluded with post-study interviews to explore key themes that emerged.

Emerging themes from parents’ reflections

Screenshot of a digital collection of notes, with some notes containing text about language learning and Chinese words, dated 12th May, 2024.

Table with two categories of practices: 'Parents' Existing Practices' and 'Disablers'. Under 'Enablers', the practices are 'Top of Mind Awareness', 'Authentic Partners', and 'Relaxed times'. Under 'Disablers', the practices are 'Busy Times', 'Unmet Expectations', 'Brain space', and 'Forgetting'.

All the audio notes and interview recordings were transcribed and open-coded using an AI tool. During the open coding process, parents’ existing practices were categorized as enablers and disablers of heritage language practice or use.

Theory of change

Smartphone screen displaying a morning planner app with a personalized greeting, scheduled activities including driving to school and cooking, and a note about an upcoming birthday, with a yellow circle overlay containing the text 'Just-in-time prompts'.

Providing parents with ideas backed by learning sciences and rooted in their daily lives will encourage increased usage of their heritage language at home.

Do prompts really work?

Over a 5-day intervention study, parents participated in a process designed to explore their daily routines and engagement. The study began with mapping routines through a diary study and interviews. Parents then selected specific moments in their day when they preferred to receive prompts, which were delivered via WhatsApp. In response, they shared their reactions and reflected on the experience, offering valuable insights into their habits and interactions.

3 icons attributed to three themes highlighted. A phone screen for 'Frequency'; A calendar for 'Agency', and a Home for 'Persistence'

Learnings from the Intervention

Yes! Parents created more moments for interactions.. P1 created more moments and reported using the prompts. However, P2 reported a challenge during bathtime, as it was difficult for her to speak Spanish during this time because they were all tired by the end of the day.

A side-by-side comparison of two children's daily routines, one for Roy and one for Ellie, listing activities such as morning routine, back from school, lunch, homework, dinner, storytime, driving to school, playtime, bathtime, and bedtime with different color highlights.

Yes, prompts inspired new practices and reflections Prompts also inspired parents to repurpose existing practices and even places. P1 highlights that he never sort of imagined playing I Spy, the game we suggested incorporating Tamil into that and P2 also says she ha never really thought about playing the game in the car.

Two speech bubbles, one pink and one yellow, contain quotes. The pink bubble says, 'It was interesting for me because I never sort of imagined playing a game that we usually play I Spy and then kind of incorporating Tamil into that.' by Roy. The yellow bubble says, 'I think it was really fun to have an idea about using the I Spy game. We've done that just while we're waiting in line and waiting for things. I've never really thought about doing it in the car.' by Ellie.

Reception

Ana and I had the opportunity to showcase our project to investors, tech professionals and learning designers at the LDT Expo at Stanford and at the “Women in Entrepreneurship” event at the SF Tech Week 2024!

Large red presentation screen with two photos of Anchal Sayal and Ana Marini, along with text about MS in Learning, Design, and Technology, and Ana Marini's background. Part of a woman speaking into a microphone at a conference.

A large group of women and one man posing together in front of a digital screen at an event called Tech Week, with a welcoming message for WOMXN in entrepreneurship and tech.

Ready to Share Your Story?

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