Hi, I'm Matt Gordon.
I like building stuff for mobile and the web.
I really like Pingo. I built six growth experiments for Pingo.
The premise is simple: people don't need another reason to study a language. They need more situations where they actually have to use it.
A few things I've built in the past:
- Built prototypes for Suno exploring what AI-generated music could make possible. Two concepts I explored were later pursued as product features.
- Came 2nd out of 1,500+ entries in Pieter Levels' Vibe Jam.
- Used Spotify to plant 42,000 trees.
- Taught ESL to everyone from small children to retirees.
Then I tried learning a language myself
At first, I did what a lot of beginners do: spent more time researching how to learn than actually learning.
I was looking for a magic bullet. The answer turned out to be simple — and, in retrospect, obvious:
Just practice.
I put myself in situations where I had no choice but to speak Chinese. If someone needed help translating, I'd volunteer. If there was an opportunity to speak, I'd take it.
My Chinese improved fast — but the biggest change wasn't vocabulary or grammar.
It was confidence.
Once people sensed that I'd find a way around the words I didn't know, conversations became easier. They listened more closely. They gave me more time. And I stopped being afraid of making mistakes.
That's why I really like what Pingo is doing.
Too much language learning has become gamified matching exercises that feel like progress without forcing you to communicate.
I think the interesting stuff starts when you have to speak, make yourself understood, and keep going when you don't know the perfect word.
So I built six of them.
Everything below works.
TestFlights, Chrome extensions and playable demos available — get in touch.
Matt Gordon
P.S. Before Claude Code, I built with React, NodeJS, React Native/Expo, and SwiftUI. Since Claude Code I've mostly been building with plain HTML/CSS/JS, Rails and SwiftUI.
