If you've tried Duolingo, Babbel, classes — and you still can't hold a real conversation — you're not the problem. The method is. Let me show you what does work — learning a language through story.
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Olly Richards, founder of StoryLearning®
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If you've spent 5 years on Duolingo and still can't learn the basics…
If you've moved to France for retirement and still can't follow a dinner conversation…
If your brain seizes up the moment someone speaks to you in Japanese…
It's not your age. It's not your memory. It's the method.
The average StoryLearning student had been trying to learn their language for this long before they found us. Often more than once. Often quietly giving up.
What Duolingo, Babbel, Rosetta Stone and most school courses do — and why they fail
How your brain actually learns — and why it works
Gain a true foundation in the language.
Start reading for pleasure and hold short conversations.
Talk about your life, your work, your interests.
Have real conversations. Watch a movie without subtitles.
Express yourself naturally, including humour and nuance.
Speak with the depth, humour, and nuance of a native conversation.
Tell us where you are. We'll show you the next step.
Take the 2-minute level test →
Olly's bestselling Short Stories series has helped readers in 60+ countries learn a language the same way they learned their first one — through stories they actually want to finish.
Already read the books?
The course is the next step. The same story-led approach — but with audio for every line, video lessons from Olly, a 90-day learning path, and a community of fellow learners. It's how readers go from understanding the language to speaking it.
See your course options →It was 2004. I was in a small village high up in the Andes — 2,780m above sea level.
I'd been trying to learn Spanish for months. Nothing was sticking.
Then, at 3am, I woke up and couldn't breathe.
(Altitude. Turns out you should acclimatise.)
I sat on the balcony, terrified, gulping at the thin air. Too scared to go back to bed, I picked up a Spanish book that had been gathering dust in my luggage.
Gabriel García Márquez. Crónica de una Muerte Anunciada.
By morning, I'd worked out something nobody had ever taught me:
You don't need to know every word. You can learn a language by reading a story you love.
That moment became the StoryLearning Method. I've used it to learn 8 languages since — and it's worked for over two million students who'd given up on every other method.
— Olly "Still Breathing" Richards
P.S. If you'd rather read these every day, I send out a short email each morning — story-led, language-curious, never spammy. Tens of thousands of learners read it with their coffee.
Free forever. Unsubscribe in one click.
Here's what changed for them.
"I've had years of classes & Rosetta Stone in French, Italian, Arabic & Polish. At most I achieved 'tourist-talk.' Just 10 weeks of beginner Spanish StoryLearning and I have solid conversational skills & confidence to try them!"
"I can't even begin to describe how much this course has changed my life. In 2 months, I have learned more Spanish than in all 4 years I took of it in HS and college. I am actually understanding native speakers!"
"This Spanish course is by far the best I've ever come across. As an ex English Language Teacher, I have very high expectations & this course exceeds them. As a result, I'm now engaging in long Spanish conversations with locals in Mallorca."
"We have been living in SW France for 10 years. Eight years of grammar lessons and we can just about converse with our neighbours. Both ex primary school teachers who know the power of story. Your course was made for us. Thanks."
"I didn't consider myself a language person. I was worried I'd never really get it. But having completed Spanish Uncovered, I now feel confident reading and speaking Spanish for real. Thank you, Olly."
"After years of trying to learn Japanese I finally feel like I am making progress and enjoying it. Japanese Uncovered is a high quality, well developed program that is very engaging. Thank you so much Olly and team."
Yes. Some of our most successful students are in their 70s and 80s. The StoryLearning Method actually plays to the strengths of an older brain — context, life experience, and the ability to focus on a story for more than 30 seconds at a time. Apps designed for teenagers don't have that advantage. You do.
Probably better than what you've tried before. Stories are inherently engaging, which helps with ADHD. The reading-first approach helps with dyslexia (you can re-read at your pace, no pressure). The audio is paired with text, which helps with hearing difficulty. We have students with all of the above.
Duolingo gamifies the Parrot Method — repetition, drills, and word lists, just dressed up in green owls and streaks. StoryLearning works the way your brain naturally acquires language: through context, curiosity, and stories you actually care about. Most of our students are former Duolingo users. They tell us the difference is night and day.
A short letter from me, every morning at 7am London time. Story-led, practical, language-curious. Sometimes a technique you can use today. Sometimes an anecdote from one of the languages I'm learning. Sometimes a quiet pep talk on a Monday. Always under three minutes to read. It's the same writing 125,000 people open with their coffee — and you can stop reading any time.
Honestly: sometimes. A few times a year we open enrolment for one of our courses, and you'll hear about it from me. The other 95% of emails are just emails — story, technique, encouragement. If the sales weeks aren't for you, you can ignore them or unsubscribe in one click. I'd much rather you stay for the writing than buy something that isn't right for you.
Because the writing is the relationship. I'd rather have 125,000 people reading me every morning than 12,500 paying for emails. The free newsletter is the front door of StoryLearning — once in a while, when we open a course, the people who've been reading me longest are the ones who buy. That works for them and it works for us. No card required, ever.
If you loved the books, the newsletter is the conversation around them — daily technique, behind-the-scenes from my own language learning, and the encouragement that keeps you reading when motivation flags. Most of our readers came to us through a book first. The book gave you the method. The newsletter helps you actually use it.
Three minutes to read the email. After that, however much time you want to give to the language itself. The method is designed to fit around real lives — commutes, lunch breaks, evenings with a cup of tea. 10–15 minutes a day of actual practice is plenty to make real progress.
You've seen how it works. The next step isn't a leap — it's an email. Every morning, I'll show you how to learn a language through stories, the way two million students already have.
Join 122,000+ language learners getting Olly's free emails — the low-risk way to find out if this finally works for you.
