LanEx - The Language Exchange

Central design
Log in/sign up screen
Feed where matches are presented
Pop up detailing a matching user's language capabilities
Chat room with randomized situational prompts

Our team came together out of a shared love for language learning and shared dissatisfaction with how modern applications are handling it. The market is oversaturated with beginner apps that repeat common words and vocabulary until it sticks that day, and you probably forget it the next. Seldom do they focus on what truly differentiates a novice from an expert: understanding tone, situational context, regional dialects, accents, and cultural sayings. But rather than attempting to provide those resources as a group of 4 people who aren't very fluent in many languages, why not allow actual natives to teach what they know best? And better yet, why not allow them to be taught by other speakers looking to improve in the language you have proficiency in?

LanEx is a platform intended to facilitate language exchange through a pairing system and guided chatrooms using context and tone-based prompts. It attempts to address the deficiencies we observe within the language learning market and decentralize teaching, allowing intermediate learners to grab from multiple native sources when attaining competency. The pairing system is based on a set of questions we ask upon profile creation, such as what languages they are proficient in and to what level, what languages they want to learn, preferences for partners, etc.

One of the special features of our application is that it incorporates the best qualities of a tutoring system without its pitfalls. The interactions between users on this website are mutually beneficial. For instance, if a person knows English and wants to learn French, they would be paired with a partner that speaks French and wants to learn English. Through the pairing, both parties can benefit from learning while substituting payments with providing intrinsically-held knowledge; a deal which makes language learning altogether more inclusive and accessible.

For the front end, we utilized HTML, CSS, Javascript, and the Bootstrap framework, as well as Canva for logos and designs. As for the backend, we used SQL, Python, and the framework Flask, although our demo site is largely hard-coded due to time constraints in learning Flask. To edit and collaborate, we used Visual Studio Code and GitHub—both proving to be immensely helpful.

By far the most challenging aspect was learning Flask and other frameworks that would build on our prior knowledge of HTML, CSS, Javascript, and Python. While we understood how to implement it on a basic level through the help of mentors, workshops, and tutorials, it was difficult learning how to execute most of our logic using this framework. Despite this, the fact that we implemented our designs into a working application is an accomplishment on its own, and it goes to show how much we've grown in technical ability and creativity this weekend. While we may not be Flask or SQL experts, we are far more knowledgeable than before in those technologies. Going forward, we hope that LanEx can be expanded to reach a global audience of multiple different languages and speakers, but before that, even an audience of three would be amazing.