The idea behind Langly, an EdTech startup created in Moldova, it's a mobile application designed to help users learn English.

The project has two fundamental differences from other language-learning apps. What are they? This will be discussed in the interview.

Within the first few months of operation, Langly has been downloaded over 25,000 times, primarily by users from Latin America. The project is currently available in eight languages.

Natalya, greetings. How did you come to hold the positions of both CPO and CMO in the Langly project? Did you have relevant prior experience?

In fact, my background before joining Langly was rooted in traditional marketing. I had accumulated a decade of experience working in various business sectors including FMCG, retail, manufacturing, and a telecommunications company.

However, the realm of IT, particularly startups, operates quite differently from those conventional business sectors, especially in terms of marketing. The role of a Product Owner, on the other hand, presents a distinct narrative altogether.

Indeed, I also always thought that "IT stuff" was something out of my reach. However, life has a way of surprising us. I had the opportunity to meet the individuals behind Langly through business reflexive games, where they served as my game technicians. Following the game, they unexpectedly extended an offer to me, inviting me to join their team as a Product Owner.

I won't ask a silly question if you agreed or not.

I agreed, even though it was completely new to me. Since marketing is an essential part in such type of projects, and it happens to be something I know well, I took on the second role myself. It's quite common in startups, you know ☺

What does Langly do? What is the uniqueness of your offering?

Langly stands as the world's only mobile application designed for English language learning, based on the Oxford English course and developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford. Yet, our distinctiveness reaches far beyond that. We take pride in our innovative approach that merges academic curriculum with the engaging elements of gamification. Within Langly, learning takes on an immersive and captivating form, unfolding through a detective-themed narrative with the prominent presence of our beloved character, the Langly robot.

Detective, Langly...The CIA headquarters is located in Langley. Is this a deliberate coincidence? A bit of a sensation?

The connection with the CIA headquarters was not originally intended. During our search for a project name, we wanted to emphasize the word "language" to enhance our visibility in organic searches on the App Store. However, as we delved deeper into the project, we discovered that our audience can be divided into two distinct groups, possibly based on their preferred literary genres. Some of our users easily associate "Langly" with the word "language," while others do recall the CIA headquarters. For those familiar with detective stories, it may create an interesting cognitive dissonance. Nonetheless, this unexpected association opens up an opportunity for us to craft a unique narrative and storyline around it.

As users begin their language learning journey, they delve into a captivating detective story centered around the robot named Langly. Originally designed to instruct military personnel in English, Langly's creator, did not want to participate in the experiment, secretly sent the robot to his daughter. The daughter received the robot, but a pursuit was initiated to capture Langly - this is the starting point of their adventures.

 What will happen when the story ends?

The learning process is structured like a TV series, divided into seasons that correspond to language proficiency levels. The first season corresponds to the A1 language level. When our users complete the first season, we proudly declare that they are ready to take the Oxford English Language Exam at the A1 level. Each level carries its own unique storyline. For the A2 level, the same Langly robot will be present, but the other characters will change, just like in a classic TV series. Our goal is to conclude the A1 level by November and start creating the narrative for the A2 level. Moreover, maybe in the upcoming seasons, we will play around with the coincidence of the robot's name and the address of the CIA headquarters.

I also wanted to ask you about the story behind the creation of the Langly project. Whose idea was it to establish a partnership with Oxford?

Our founder, Vitaliy Petrosyan, has partners and consultants abroad. The fundamental concept originated from the desire to distinguish ourselves among other language learning applications by adopting traditional teaching methodologies. To become a leader, it is essential to incorporate methodologies employed by leading educational institutions. This ambitious idea led to the pursuit of convincing the University of Oxford about the viability of a partnership with Langly.

I'm amazed at how you managed to achieve that.

Credit must be given to Vitaliy's perseverance. According to him, negotiations with Oxford lasted for about four months, and in the end, they were convinced to form a partnership, which became the first of its kind in Oxford's history. By the time I joined Langly, the contract with Oxford had already been successfully negotiated and partially digitized. However, the actual Langly product was still in its early phase of development, with only preliminary sketches in place.

Do you want to achieve success? Are you looking for a woman?

Don't exaggerate my role. However, last summer was insane. Withing a very tight timeframe of merely 3 months, we developed the backend, frontend, and digitized the entire story. The first release came out in September, and by November, we were able to confidently declare that we had passed the MVP stage, garnering acceptance from the market.

We chose "American English." It turned out that the British had developed a great course for adults, adapted for "American English," and that's what we digitized.

Tranforming it into a gamified format?

What usually hinders adults from acquiring a foreign language? Boredom. The monotony of lessons. In response, we have implemented a gamified approach to language learning. We transformed all tasks into engaging mini-games. Leveraging a wide array of game formats, we tailored them to serve educational objectives. The end of each learning season becomes a quiz that prepares users for the Oxford test, should they choose to undertake it. Furthermore, we are considering creating a test simulator to prepare our learners for the exam.

How are the investments progressing? Which funding rounds have you completed?

We are currently preparing for significant investments. So far, we have successfully completed three accelerators, and initial discussions are taking place. However, it is too early to discuss investments until we have introduced monetization in the app and demonstrated initial revenue generation. My current focus lies in monetization efforts, including the integration of gaming elements.

Will you be building both gaming and "real" monetization simultaneously?

The gaming format is always attractive, especially since our entire learning process is gamified. People enjoy playing, so the most enthusiastic ones can go through the entire learning process using in-game currency. However, there is always a percentage of users who want to save their time and are willing to pay real money for it. It's important to find the right balance between these monetization methods.

It's a significant amount of work!

Absolutely, our team has grown considerably. We currently have a team of twenty-six members, and we are also collaborating with approximately fifteen translators. Our current focus is on incorporating Arabic into our language offerings. What unifies and motivates us is the opportunity to disrupt the entire education system with Langly, as it is in dire need of alignment with the modern world.

What do you mean?

Passion and engagement. In the early grades, children are often taught using gamified approaches, but as they progress, the learning process becomes monotonous and focused on memorization across all subjects, including chemistry and mathematics. However, we aim to demonstrate, using language learning as an example, that adults can also learn through play. Incorporating games into the learning experience brings a whole new level of effectiveness. With Langly, users have the chance to transform their real lives, as foreign language skills open up a world of new possibilities. Gamification has the potential to make a significant impact on the world.

Do you think you can set a strong example?

Absolutely. I have full confidence in our ability to set a strong example. If we were able to convince the conservative institution like Oxford University to embrace the integration of gaming in education, it paves the way for others in various disciplines to follow suit. Our methodology holds the key to the future.

"This material was produced with the support of the Future Technologies Activity Project, funded by USAID, Sweden and UKaid in partnership with Moldova Innovation Technology Park. The content of the material represents the views of the author and does not reflect the opinion of USAID, US, Sweden or UK Governments."

Pavel Zingan