These days, the Polyglot Gathering pulls in hundreds of language learners who share and enjoy community in the heart of Europe. A lot of this is thanks to Chuck's contributions, along with the wonderful Polyglot Gathering team.

This year, Chuck published his first language learning app, Amikumu.

Want to text another person and ask them to meet up and practice a language...without looking creepy?

Amikumu will help you find people near you who love languages. The purpose of the app is to help you find people nearby to chat and meet up, and it supports the world's 7,000+ languages (including 100+ sign languages).

The idea for Amikumu came out of Chuck's love for the planned language Esperanto. It’s not a natural language choice, it’s a minority language. Why would anyone bother to learn?

In recent episodes, we've covered language learning apps on a regular basis. If you have a smartphone and you live in the 21st century, they are an essential component of language learning. More and more developers are working on apps for language learning, and Chuck's experience stands out from the crowd: he is the creator of Duolingo's Esperanto course.

In our interview, Chuck explained how he came to work on Duolingo and why he loves gamified learning, how we can bring more soul into language learning apps...and why you could probably learn a language if you have three apps.

Check out Chuck's app recommendations in our link list below.

Special Guest: Chuck Smith.

Sponsored By:

• Clozemaster: Visit our sponsor Clozemaster, the free addictive language app in over 50 languages

Links:

• Amikumu
• Amikumu's Kickstarter Campaign
• Clans of Caledonia: A Game about Whisky, Trade, and Glory by Juma Al-JouJou — Kickstarter
• Trovu loĝejon | Pasporta Servo
• Memrise - Learning, made joyful
• Learn Esperanto in just 5 minutes a day. For free. - Duolingo
• Just 2 weeks learning Esperanto can get you months ahead in your target language - Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips
• Evildea - YouTube - YouTube
• Esperanto Association of Britain - Homepage
• Lingvist: Learn French, German, Spanish and other languages
• Fluent Forever, The App: Learn to *Think* in Any Language by Gabriel Wyner
• Learn language in context - Clozemaster
• Itchy Feet: the Travel Game by Malachi Ray Rempen — Kickstarter
• 12 Ideas For Making the Perfect Language Learning App by Fluent Language
• Middlebury Language Schools | Intensive Summer Programs | Middlebury | Middlebury
• Creative Language Learning Podcast: Top 5 Fictional Languages
• BBC - Future - The invented language that found a second life online