Wordeys.com is a for-profit social enterprise which roots lay at a pretty random and dramatic adventure on one of the many Indonesian islands. I think this story is a fun way to get to know the Wordeys web application as it is today and with what mission and vision in mind we will develop in the future.
Why Wordeys?
Indonesia. I made an astonishing road trip with a good old friend of mine. We wanted to explore the area and had hired motorcycles to find the nicest beaches to swim, surf and relax. I was learning the Indonesian language at the time by writing down and practising the words I caught during the daily small talk and it was quickly good enough to have simple conversations. We met two local Indonesian boys who agreed to guide us around the island. They got on the back of our bikes.
We drove for hours; through the hills and mountains, past beautiful beaches and villages — frequently stopping to enjoy the view, play around or enjoy a snack.
It was at a stunning beach, far away from home, when we realised that we hadn’t kept track of time as it suddenly became dark. The kids had to go home, so had we. The journey back to the village was long and tricky; we were far past a mountain range with unlit and muddy roads, full of holes.
We jumped on our bikes to start our returning journey when it started raining, so we decided to speed up. While we raced towards the foot of the mountains, the rain turned into a terrible thunderstorm. As we drove through the hills, lighting strokes hit left and right and the wind almost blew us off our bikes, while the heavy rain blinded our sight. We manoeuvred past the holes in the horrible mountain road and counted the seconds between each lightning and thunder; ‘satu, dua, tiga..’ — to our calculations some were less than a kilometer away. It was not a good place to be at that moment, but the only way was forward.
My friend, the kids and I were loving it — constantly laughing, all four completely soaked to the bone, cracking childish jokes in broken English and Indonesian.
When we finally reached home we took shelter in a small eating stall (a warung) and ordered big plates of fried rice and tea to warm ourselves up. We learned that the two kids were ten and eleven years old, but didn’t go to school. Their parents sometimes had money to send them to the local school for a couple of months, but when times were rough they were outside on the streets trying to earn some money from tourists, like us.
As we were cosily sipping our warm tea at the local warung with the boys I realised how many doors the Internet and the English language had opened for me. The two kids were happily drinking their tea, with all the knowledge they needed to build up a meaningful and self-fulfilling life floating in the air around them. If only it could be caught, understood and used. All you really need is your curiosity, English and access to the Internet.
The bonding adventure and the realisation of the power of language and the Internet was where the first Wordeys seeds were planted.
Knowledge is power
If you love self education, you live in a very exciting time right now. The countless videos, documentaries, articles, online classes et cetera make up the most personally fitting education program ever created, teaching you from the evolution theory to setting up your own business, for free . If only you can access it.
Free access to information for everyone to self-educate is the fundamental ingredient for effective global development towards a more balanced world. On top of that, to take on the world’s challenges of today and tomorrow, we need to communicate effectively across borders by speaking the same language.
Our mission with Wordeys is to help you reach the language level you need to reach the people, places and opportunities you dream of.
It is all about relevance, context and instant benefits. By only learning the language content you need in your life, you naturally dramatically increase your chance to stay motivated in the long run, which is the key element to successfully obtaining your desired language level.
Right now, with a small and dedicated team, we work hard to realise this vision of unlimited global access to knowledge, starting with learning the vocabulary you need to bring your language(s) to higher levels.
And while we’re at it, why stop at English? Keep on learning with the 91 other languages we support.
And that is why Wordeys.
Thank you for your time to read our story, we hope you enjoyed it!
Looking forward to connect.
Salute,
Pier, Sander and Chiel
Team Wordeys
