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Our Story

“I sing with my butt” isn’t something you expect to say after 8 years of studying French, but that's what happened to our founder Bradley during a presentation on singing to his classmates the first week of study abroad... It turns out that no one taught the difference between the two "u" sounds in middle, high-school, or college French and using one of the "u" sounds means "neck" while the other means "butt"...

In fact, there were a lot of things that were never taught throughout all those years of studying in school or using apps like Duolingo to learn French. As it turns out, The discrepancy between school and real-world fluency is monumental. Going through traditional language classes should set students up for success but the reality is that the way people actually speak is so different from the stilted, sterile speaking of the classroom that learners have nothing to grasp on for advancing their communication skills.

This shock and resulting frustration gave rise to Sygmatic. How is it that so many people spend so long taking language classes, using language apps like Duolingo or Babble or Pimsleur, and studying grammar only to flop as soon as they're face-to-face with a native speaker or land in another country on a trip?

Linguistic levels of meaning. Phonetics. Phonology. Morphology. Syntax. Semantics. Pragmatics.

WHAT DOES SYGMATIC MEAN?

SYntax + PraGMATICs

Syntax is putting words together to create a sentence. Pragmatics studies how context creates layered meaning.

It's easy enough to string some words together based on textbook grammar rules, but it's not the same as crafting your message and tone to convey meaning, evoke emotion, and build connections.

It's near impossible to gain fluidity in a foreign language without going abroad, so we created Sygmatic to even the playing field and give people access to the proper language input for achieving communicative proficiency.

Sygmatic is built with a linguistics-based approach for intermediate & advanced language learners. You understand the grammar and grasp the language already, but you struggle to use it easily or understand native speakers. When we tell someone a story or ask for directions, we're not just using simple words; body language, inflection, timing, gestures, and cultural references are seamlessly intertwined to send a cohesive message. That's where sygmatic comes in. You know the language. Now learn to use it.

Meet Our Founders

Bradley Grochocinski

Bradley found his language calling with French in middle school before going on to study French and linguistics in undergrad before mastering in French business communications. He's tutored French for nearly a decade on the side of his work as a Product Manager for a software company.

Kyle Schneider

Kyle is a full-stack developer whose passion for travel has brought him around the globe. After studying abroad in China, Kyle wanted to turn his developer skills toward language where he's had the opportunity to work on natural language processing prior to building Sygmatic.

Like a fingerprint, no two people speak exactly the same.

We think you deserve a language learning system that celebrates your individuality and helps you to express yourself in another language! Shouldn't language learning be as unique as you are?

Sygmatic - the end of one-size-fits-all language learning.