Building Educational Software for Mandarin Chinese and Interlingua IALA

#linguistics #deved #opensource

Building Educational Software for Mandarin Chinese and Interlingua IALA

Language-learning software is most useful when it makes structure visible. I’m Ian Blas, a developer based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and I build educational tools around Mandarin Chinese, Interlingua IALA, etymology, morphology, writing systems, and open-source language learning.

Two projects, one educational approach

My work currently takes two complementary forms.

Chety is an educational app for Mandarin Chinese. It approaches characters and words through their structure, etymology, morphology, historical development, and use in context.

Schola Interlingua is a free, open-source learning platform for Interlingua IALA. It brings together lessons, readings, review tools, and progress-oriented study on multiple platforms.

The languages are different, but the design question is similar: how can software help a learner notice the patterns that make a language readable and memorable?

Learning through structure

For Mandarin Chinese, a character is not only a unit to memorize. It can open a path into components, historical forms, pronunciation, word formation, and reading. That perspective guides Chety’s tools for exploring characters and vocabulary.

For Interlingua IALA, the focus shifts toward transparent vocabulary, reading, morphology, and sustained practice. Schola Interlingua is designed to make that learning path approachable without separating learners from the materials and tools that support it.

In both projects, the goal is practical: make language learning more legible. Etymology and morphology are useful when they give learners better ways to connect forms, meanings, and usage.

An open educational practice

I care about software that can be examined, shared, and improved. Schola Interlingua’s development is available through its GitHub repository, and my broader work can be found on GitHub.

I also write and share updates through Medium and Substack.

Explore the projects

Ian Blas is a developer based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, building educational software for Mandarin Chinese, Interlingua IALA, etymology, morphology, writing systems, and open-source language learning.