Lessons, conversation, word games, vocab, culture. The whole language in one quiet app, for Zimbabweans in the diaspora and anyone reaching back for Shona.
Until now, learning Shona has meant a different tool for every piece, and giving up on most of them. Afri-Speak gathers the whole language in one quiet place.
All of it. One app.
Lessons, conversation, two daily word games, vocab in context, pronunciation, and the cultural moments the language lives inside. Built around Shona as people actually speak it today, not the textbook version.
Some pieces ship at launch, others land soon after. The waitlist gets you the launch note and a quiet hello before then.
Wherever you ended up, daily Shona practice isn't just around you. Afri-Speak meets you in the slivers of time you actually have.
No classroom, no grades, no spotlight. A private space to practise until the words feel like yours.
Spouses, partners, grandchildren, friends. Anyone stepping into Shona is welcome here.
Conversation, lessons, games, vocab, pronunciation, culture. Built around how Zimbabweans actually speak today.
Soon, real Shona conversations at your pace and in your accent, with patient correction that feels like a friend rather than a teacher.
Tiny lessons that fit into your morning coffee or your commute. Streaks without the guilt.
Two daily Shona word puzzles, built on a real Shona dictionary. Mazwi for guessers (Wordle-inspired). Nyuchi for builders (spelling-bee-style). Vocabulary by stealth.
Every word comes with a story. The proverb it lives in. The village it's from. The way your gogo would say it.
Pronunciation feedback so when you call home, you sound like you mean it.
Music, history, mbira, mufushwa. The language doesn't live in a textbook, and neither do we.
In some ways, yes, and it goes further. Afri-Speak pairs daily five-minute lessons with an AI tutor you can actually have a conversation with, plus Shona word puzzles (Mazwi, Wordle-inspired; and Nyuchi, spelling-bee-style) and vocabulary built around the language as Zimbabweans speak it today, not the textbook version.
Yes. That's the most common starting point we design for. The tutor lets you reply in English while it answers in Shona, then gradually flips the ratio as you find your voice. No pressure to perform on day one.
Both, by default. You can talk to it in English and it'll respond in Shona with translations, or set it to Shona-only once you're comfortable. Pronunciation feedback works on whatever you record.
Textbooks teach you formal grammar that nobody actually uses when you call home. YouTube channels are great but passive. Afri-Speak is conversational, patient, and adaptive. It listens, corrects gently, and remembers what you've practised so it can build on it.
We haven't finalised pricing. The plan is a free tier with daily lessons, Mazwi and Nyuchi, plus a paid tier (likely under five US dollars a month) for unlimited tutor conversations and pronunciation feedback. Everyone on the waitlist gets early access pricing.
Soon. We're building it in 2026 and aiming for a public iOS launch later in the year. Joining the waitlist gets you the launch announcement and a personal hello before that.
We're starting on iOS, with Android and a web version close behind. Wherever you are, however you connect, Afri-Speak will meet you.
It's designed for teens and adults reclaiming the language, but the content is family-safe and works fine for confident readers. We're planning a kids-specific track later, with Shona stories and games rather than chat.
A short, no-judgment check-in. Maybe you understand a little but never speak. Maybe you're starting from zero. Both are fine.
Five minutes a day. Fifteen if you have it. Skip a day. Your streak doesn't shame you for living a life.
Real conversations from week one. Quiet wins that compound. The next time you call home, something shifts.
“Kuziva mbuya huudzwa.”
To know your grandmother, you have to be told. Heritage doesn't pass without telling. Your language has been waiting for someone to walk it back to you.
Note from the founder
“I built Afri-Speak because nothing else met me where I was.”
I grew up in Harare understanding more Shona than I could speak. School pulled me in one direction, family in another, and somewhere between the two the language quietly became something I recognised but didn't use. Eventually I'd stopped trying.
Afri-Speak is the app I wish had existed back then. Patient, private, and built by someone who knows what it's like to almost speak the language of your own family. If that's you too, I'm so glad you're here.
— Tanyaradzwa Gozhora, founder
Drop your email. We'll send one note when Afri-Speak goes live on the App Store, plus a personal hello before launch.