Hello.
We are Jack and Danny, and we run JDNicApps.
I am Jack. I was born in Buckinghamshire, UK, but grew up on the Isle of Wight. I run the content side of things. I am an English teacher living in Spain.
Danny is my Dad. He was an important person once (he worked as a VP in IT consulting for over 40 years), but now he isn’t anymore, as he is retired. He runs the programming and development side of things.
I am both a teacher and a student. Having moved to Spain as an adult in 2018, I had to learn Spanish from scratch. I would call myself fluent now, but it was a hard road. Consequently, alongside my experience as a teacher, I have gained a certain insight into language learning, and have grown steadily more confident and enthusiastic about creating applications and content that can genuinely help my students make real and meaningful progress.
My Dad was bilingual by birth (Greek, if you were interested), so he has no idea how hard it is to learn from scratch, even though he fancies himself quite a linguist. He never taught me Greek, despite the fact it was his mother tongue and required little more than actually trying to. This was an extraordinary oversight. It is not worth philosophising too hard here, but take it from me that speaking a different language is an incredible gift. I never let him live it down. In fact, such was my persistent pestering that I was able to drive him into this little project just to shut me up. So here we are.
This is not a sales pitch you will hear from other language learning platforms, but let me tell you straight off: learning a language is hard work, time-consuming and, at times, incredibly frustrating. I always say that if you feel you are a little too self-confident, learn a language. It will humble you.
That said, language is something natural. Babies can do it at 18 months old. It is not abstract; it is ordinary. The average person might find the idea that time is, in fact, relative a difficult one, but “Hello, what are you up to this weekend?” is the same the world over. Language learning is essentially reprogramming your brain. You currently run one system, and installing a new one takes a lot of time, but the new system performs in the same way as the old one.
So what we want to do is help you with your installation. And once you’re done, let me tell you, it is magic.
To speak a little of ethos, as I am told we must, our goal is to make language learning fun, functional and accessible to everyone. Our apps are specifically crafted to meet defined language learning needs and have been designed with both my own experience and my students’ experiences in mind.
As to fun, the apps are designed to give users a break from dense, black-and-white textbooks and build their knowledge in stimulating and interactive ways.
As to function, the apps are designed to fit into your daily life, with short, intense activities that coincide neatly with a coffee break, a quick commute or that regular daily trip to the bathroom.
As to accessibility, as far as possible our apps are not behind paywalls, so that learners of all means can get the most out of them. The apps are funded through ads, which we have designed to be as non-intrusive as possible. No long videos, no waiting, no inconvenience.
These apps are neither shortcuts nor cheat codes, but tools to help you target those important areas of language learning that a textbook can’t. For more on how best to use them, see the hints and tips page for some insights from a teacher to his students.
So that about covers it, I think. I hope you enjoy the apps, and do let us know how you are getting on. We would so love to hear from you. Just like teaching, this is a two-way process, and any feedback is greatly welcomed to make our apps the best they can possibly be.
All the best,
Jack and Danny