Thread by @etiene_d

Hello👋I'm Etiene. Today is #WomensDay and instead of sending me flowers, I want you to share about my business, @polyglossapp, which I'm creating to improve our communication skills in a foreign language. Download for Android or join the iOS beta list at polygloss.app

Less than 3% of business funds go to women in the US and I don't even know for Brazil, where I'm from or UK, where I'm now, but it's probably similarly low. I can't speak for all women, but as someone who is not after VC money, I have a huntch on why techcrunch.com/2019/12/09/us-…

Despite the fact that women-led businesses tend to outperform other businesses in profitability, I think the reason why most women start a business is different than why men start a business. This isn't just because of gender, but also wealth forbes.com/sites/falonfat…

Even the few women-led founders who are getting that VC $$$ are women from an elite background. Simply put, I think this is very related to the fact that men currently already hold the majority of capital, land and productive assets in the world, and VC is just perpetuating that

This is a pet peeve of mine with common resources for minorities in entrepreneurship, which are still very pitch-oriented, and leading us to a dead-end. And also a reason why I'm not sure that diversifying the VC world is a good solution.

The same advice that works for a person with a lot of resources is not going to work for us. It's best to recognize that instead of dealing with the frustration of hitting those walls, or guiding people torwards a place where they'll have no support later on.

Although there are exceptions, the VC world often encourages artificial growth, sometimes cancerous even, for exit and quick return of investments asap. The concern for what happens with the product post-exit or the lives of the people involved in the business is secondary

Hence the high attachment to buzzwords like blockchain and stupid applications of AI, instead of low tech solutions that solve real problems. But many people, and especially those not from an elite background, are closer to dealing with real problems

We are not trying to create a business just to sell it and become a multi-millionaire. We just want to work somewhere stable, that recognizes our worth, somewhere we don't hate, and where we can make a difference. When we get tired of not finding those spaces we create our own.

Polygloss didn't come from some magic entrepreneurial spirit. It came from my exhaustion. My exhaustion from job hopping, from not feeling creative, from not feeling my concerns are taken seriously, from being constantly stressed and depressed because of work

Polygloss, for me, is an outlet to do all of the things that I wasn't able to do in all of my previous work environments. It's an exercise of my creativity and seeing where my joy takes me. It's a space I want to nurture and let myself flourish.

Product-wise, the idea came from personal life struggles on things I otherwise enjoy. I love learning languages. While I cant remember my first contact with English, I remember when I discovered it's something you can learn.

I remember the curiosity about some textbooks left behind by my older brother in this secret language. I remember listening to tapes, erasing his notes, getting more second-hand books, until my parents agreed to put me in an english course, a privilege most don't have in Brazil.

Eventually the prices of the course skyrocketed and my parents took me out of it, but luckily then there was something called✨the internet ✨and I was able to take it from there on my own. I took so many years to learn English and it changed my whole life

This process was repeated with many variations when I learned French, and I'm going through it again with German, Spanish and Greek. Self-study is a major aspect of learning languages when you have no resources for formal education, but it is so hard!

After going through it a few times, I noticed that the hardest bit is the intermediate level, when the vocabulary you need to learn doesn't easily come from some list, but you're not conversational yet. When you reach the stage you can interact with others the pace picks up again

This is where Polygloss comes in, it's a unique product that bridges this space in between. Giving you opportunity to connect and practice communication before you're conversational. There are very few opportunities for that when self-studying since there are no classroom drills.

The vast majority of solutions out there will either deal with before or after this stage (typically A2-B1 in the CEFR proficiency levels). Some options will give you good basics but not actually help you communicate, and other options can be really stressful and demanding

In a traditional course, the teacher will be well trained and make sure you develop the different skills you need to develop your competence in a foreign language. When doing this by ourselves, we are responsible for the effort to align the resources we use with our goals

The effiency of @polyglossapp lies in being a resource that fills the gaps when learning languages by ourselves. I hope you enjoy it! The Android app is already publicly availabe, and the iOS app is in beta tests. Links here: polygloss.app

So, which languages does polygloss cover? ✨ALL WRITTEN LANGUAGES! ✨See, instead of building some high-tech AI that only works for English, polygloss is a dumb game. It's entirely image-based, so as long as there is another player with a language in common, you can play together

However, since it's collaborative and not🤖-based that also means that the learning experience in the app depends on having a critical mass of players so you have people to play with. Hence, do share around and tell your friends about it! 💖

If you want to support a woman-led project today, there you go! Thank you ✨

Other ways to support Polygloss:

🐦 Follow @polyglossapp on twitter and IG
❤️ Send us feedback
🌟 Leave us a review at the Android Play Store: play.google.com/store/apps/det…
☕ Buy us a coffee on ko-fi: ko-fi.com/polygloss
♾️ Subscribe to Polylgoss Unlimited on Android