My girlfriend is Filipino-American. Like many Fil-Ams, she felt a deep desire to learn Tagalog and reconnect with her heritage. But with a busy work and study schedule, finding hours for traditional courses, grammar drilling, or maintaining app streaks felt impossible.
I realized the problem wasn't her dedication—it was the tools. Traditional methods ask you to change your life to fit language learning. I wanted to build something that did the opposite: a tool that fits language learning into your existing life.
I built Hari to let her acquire Tagalog vocabulary passively while browsing the web. By quietly swapping English words for Tagalog on the sites she already uses, she was able to start reconnecting with her roots, one click, one tab, and one sentence at a time.