Bopomo For iPhone

Speak Mandarin. With Lin, your AI tutor.

Learn it on a trip around Taiwan.

Founding price

$79.99/year

Locked for lifeRegular price will be $99.99

First 500 sign-ups

We email you the day it's on the App Store.

Bopomo's island of Taiwan

Nobody learns Mandarin from flashcards. You learn it by saying it.

Earth: NASA

Order like you live here

Lessons happen where Taiwan happens: a bubble tea counter, a fried chicken stand, a night market at 10 pm. Tap a bubble to hear Lin say it.

How to order bubble tea in Mandarin

Lin listens. And talks back.

Say a line out loud and Lin, your AI tutor, answers what you actually said, in a Taiwanese voice. She picks you a Taiwanese name that sounds like yours, and brings words back right before you'd forget them.

Bopomo never receives your voice: your iPhone turns your speech into text, and only the text goes to Lin. Pronunciations always come from Bopomo's own dictionary, never from the AI.

You nailed the n and the h. That's a real hello.

Lin, your AI tutor. A real reply from a live session.

Five minutes a day

  • TALK.

    Lin says a line, you hold the button and answer. The tone of every syllable is drawn above it, so you can see the melody you're aiming for.

  • PLAY.

    Speed rounds, hear and catch, a bubble tea counter: short games that bring back the words you've said, so they stick.

  • GO.

    One trip around Taiwan. Start in Hualien: say hi at the guesthouse, count at the fruit stand, buy a train ticket. Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Taipei come next.

A Bopomo talk lesson: 這個, this one, with its tones drawn as lines and a button to hold and say it

Read Taiwan's own alphabet

Zhuyin, also called bopomofo, is how kids in Taiwan learn to read: 37 signs, one for each sound. Tap one to hear Lin say it.

The full zhuyin chart, with a word for every sign

Light a lantern every day

Five minutes keeps your streak. Pair up with a friend and keep one together.

Before you land

Free guides to the Mandarin you'll hear in Taiwan, with Lin's voice on every phrase.

Questions

When can I get it?

Bopomo is in testing now. Join the waitlist and we'll email you the day it's on the App Store.

Is this Taiwan Mandarin?

Yes: zhuyin, traditional characters and a Taiwanese accent. You can switch Lin to a Mainland accent in settings.

What does it cost?

The first lesson is free. Bopomo Plus will be $99.99 a year with a 7-day free trial, or $14.99 a month. The first 500 people to join the waitlist get the founding price instead: $79.99 a year, for as long as you keep it. Each friend who joins with your share link gives you a free month of Plus at launch, up to 3. The App Store shows the price in your currency.

Is it on Android?

iPhone first. Join the waitlist anyway and we'll tell you if that changes.

What does the AI do?

Lin uses Claude, made by Anthropic, to answer what you say in a lesson, to suggest your Taiwanese name and to say what's in a photo you snap. Pronunciations always come from Bopomo's own dictionary, never from the AI. More in the privacy policy.

Be first in line

Bopomo is coming to iPhone. Join the waitlist and we'll email you the day it's on the App Store.

Founding price

$79.99/year

Locked for lifeRegular price will be $99.99

First 500 sign-ups

One email when it's out, and your place on the list.