Geoff is the founder of Dioma.com, a platform focused on the needs of intermediate and advanced independent language learners. Geoff is a passionate language learner of both Spanish and Hebrew.
You can follow a Spanish podcast at full speed. You've read your first novel in French without reaching for the dictionary every page. You can hold your own in a Hebrew conversation about politics, family, or your job. By any reasonable measure, you're good at this
You've been studying Spanish for two years. You can watch Netflix with subtitles, read news articles with a dictionary, and you've had successful conversations with native speakers. So when someone asks your level, you confidently say "B2 or so" Then you sit down to
You've been studying Spanish for three years. You watch Netflix shows without subtitles. You understand your tutor perfectly. But when it's your turn to speak, you freeze. Not because you don't know the words, you do. You freeze because you might make a mistake.
If you've hit the intermediate plateau, you've probably wondered whether the problem is you or the tools you're using. A recent randomized controlled trial from Harvard University's physics department suggests it's probably the tools. Researchers compared two groups of students
You've been working on your Spanish for months, maybe years. You can read news articles without reaching for the dictionary every sentence. You understand most of what you hear in podcasts or shows. Your grammar is solid, at least on paper. But when it comes time to actually
If you're preparing for the DELE, SIELE, DELF, or TEF, you've probably already taken at least one practice test. Maybe you've bought an official prep book, worked through sample questions, and timed yourself under exam conditions. And if you're like most test-takers,
We're about two weeks away from putting Dioma in the hands of real learners for the first time. Not a polished demo. Not a feature showcase. The actual product: structured curriculum for intermediate Spanish, French, and Hebrew, used by people who've already spent years learning and
If you've spent the last year consuming Spanish podcasts, French YouTube videos, or Hebrew news articles—and you're wondering why your speaking still feels clunky—you're not experiencing a personal failure. You're experiencing the limits of input-only learning. Comprehensible input is foundational
The DELE exam center is in a city three hours away. You've booked a hotel the night before, but you're not sure if you should cram that evening or rest. Your practice test scores have been inconsistent—72 last week, 58 three days ago. You'
You've done everything right. You've maintained your streak, completed every lesson, and worked through the entire course tree. You can introduce yourself, order coffee, talk about your hobbies, and navigate basic conversations. You've hit A2, maybe even B1 according to the app's
If you're serious about learning Spanish or Hebrew, your phone and computer should be working with you, not against you. Most intermediate learners don't realize how much friction they're carrying. You're switching between apps to look up a word. You're
I started learning Hebrew and Spanish from scratch at 28. I'm now in my late thirties, having hit a solid B2 in both (though rusty in Spanish...). Because when I talk to adults who believe they've "missed their window" for language learning, I understand