It began while I was learning German every day with a teacher. I wanted an app to speed that up, but even the big ones didn't work for me. They made me feel busy without actually helping me remember or speak better.
I noticed something: after lessons, I'd forget most of what we covered. But when I did homework, things stuck. That's where the real learning happened—working through material on my own, making mistakes, figuring things out.
So I thought: what if an app could replicate that? Not just keep you busy, but actually make things stick. Hard enough to work your brain, but structured enough to guide you through it.
That became Upwordo.
Then the newsletter happened
I started sending out short stories each week—about the guy who created Momofuku ramen, nuns who escaped a retirement center, a cat who became mayor, a writer discovering wabi-sabi. Quirky stuff that made me curious while I was learning German. I figured other people might like them too.
I sent them out for a while, then got busy and stopped. A few months later, I checked back and the subscriber count had doubled. Now it's over 2,000 people.
Turns out people wanted actual stories, not just vocabulary exercises.
The podcast made sense next
I wanted something you could listen to. Most language podcasts were long, but I'd noticed that even short texts had plenty to learn from. So I made a podcast with very short stories and target vocabulary at the end. It hit the Top 10 German-learning podcasts on Castbox and now has over 8,000 followers.
But I kept thinking learning should be more interactive than reading or listening.
Building the app took two tries
The first version was rough. Things broke, the experience felt clunky, nothing worked the way I wanted.
Then Raffa joined—he's a product manager from Zurich who started coding the new version himself. And Ipek came on, a former architect who does UX/UI. She made everything feel more natural and human.
With them, we built something we're proud of.
What we actually care about
We weren't interested in making another app that chases engagement metrics. People kept telling us they'd spent months on other apps but still couldn't hold a conversation.
If real learning means lower engagement numbers, that's fine. Real learning is harder. It requires focus and effort, not dopamine hits.
Most apps use disconnected exercises that don't build toward anything. We use one story, one context, and focus on teaching people to express themselves—not just recognize words.
Where we are now
Upwordo started as a newsletter, became a podcast, then an app. We're still figuring things out as we go.
Language isn't a product you complete. It's ongoing—something you use to connect with people and ideas. We have a lot we're planning to improve with the app, so stay with us.