Building in public · the app is still in build
SpreekNow. Built in public.
A Dutch-learning app that started with one night of inspiration: the coach Zimrani wished for. Three days later a working prototype was already in use. The build is still going, and so is the learning. Follow both.
Night one
Saturday 23 May 2026 · 2:15 AM · the Netherlands
The apps kept the streak alive. They never got Zimrani speaking.
Zimrani had made the move, set an exam date and faced a new language across five skills: reading, listening, speaking, writing and knowing how Dutch society works. The apps on the phone were great at rewarding a tap. None of them sat you down like a coach and asked the only question that matters: can you say it now?
So one night, long after midnight, a different question landed.
“What if I built the coach I wished I had?”
The first code was written that night. Three days later a working prototype was running on a phone. Its first user was the founder.
The build log
Every step, in the open.
Night one · 23 May 2026
The idea becomes code
One question after midnight, and the first lines of a coach that asks you to speak, not just tap.
Day three
A prototype in use
Daily tasks, drills and a voice recorder, already running as a real app on Zimrani's own phone.
From 1 June 2026
User number one
No shortcuts and no tutor. The app, a textbook and every rough first sentence saved, so early weeks can be played back against later ones.
Now
From prototype to a proper app
The build is in progress. What works in daily use stays, what doesn't gets rebuilt. The learning is in progress too.
Two things still in progress
The app is learning. So is its maker.
The build
A coach, not a textbook
Short daily sessions, speaking from day one, and lessons shaped around the Dutch you need for civic integration and everyday life. Each part is tested in real use before it stays.
The learner
Built by a newcomer, for newcomers
The name plays on the Dutch spreek nu: speak now. Every lesson in the app is one the founder needed first, in the same language, with the same nerves.
SpreekNow is still being built. What you see here will change as it grows.
Follow the build. Learn alongside it.
Build notes and first looks come in The Dispatch, when there is something worth showing.