PF
Traveler's Handbook

Your Guide to Fluency

Everything you need to navigate your language learning journey with Project Fluency — from your first conversation to complete confidence.

Before You Depart

Everything you need to know before your first conversation

What is Project Fluency?

Project Fluency is a conversation-first language learning platform. You practice speaking with over 60 AI characters — each with their own personality, accent, backstory, and memory of your conversations. It's designed to prepare you for real-world interactions: ordering food, making small talk, navigating tricky situations, and building actual conversational confidence.

Think of it this way:

Traditional apps teach you to order food by showing pictures and translations. Project Fluency lets you actually practice ordering from a Mexican street vendor, an Italian restaurant server, or a French café owner — complete with cultural nuances, regional accents, and the unpredictable flow of real conversation.

We recommend 10–15 minute conversations, 2–3 times per week minimum — that's the sweet spot where real fluency growth happens.

Which languages can I learn?

Project Fluency currently offers 5 languages, all included with every plan:

🇪🇸 Spanish 🇮🇹 Italian 🇫🇷 French 🇧🇷 Portuguese 🇺🇸 English

Your minutes are shared across all languages. Practice Spanish in the morning and Italian in the evening — one subscription unlocks everything.

What does it cost?
PlanPriceMinutesBest For
Free$045 min (one-time)Try the full experience
Coffee Chat$3.9930 min (one-time)Low-commitment trial (max 3/account)
Tourist$12.99/mo120 min/moCasual practice, 2–3× per week
Local$29.99/mo300 min/moDaily practice, serious fluency
One Way Ticket$178.991,500 min / 90 daysFull commitment (US only)

All plans include 60+ characters across all 5 languages, character memory, free assessments, and adaptive questions. Subscribers can also purchase flex minute bundles that never expire.

What can I do for free?

Every account starts with 45 free minutes of conversation — no credit card required. That's enough for several full conversations with different characters.

Free forever — no limits:

  • Flashcards and vocabulary drilling
  • Listening exercises
  • Dictation practice
  • Translation exercises
  • Scramble exercises
  • Assessments in any language

After your 45 free minutes are used, conversations require a plan — but all drilling tools stay unlimited and free forever. Want a taste before subscribing? Grab a Coffee Chat for $3.99 — 30 minutes with complete character memory and adaptive questions.

How is this different from Duolingo or other apps?
FeatureTraditional AppsProject Fluency
Practice MethodMultiple choice, typingReal voice conversations
CharactersGeneric voices60+ unique personalities who remember you
ScenariosScripted lessonsUnpredictable real-world situations
FeedbackRight/wrong answersContextual correction + adaptive drilling
Cultural ContextMinimalRegional accents, slang, customs
RetentionGamified streaksSpaced repetition on YOUR real mistakes

Apps like Duolingo are great for vocabulary building, but they don't prepare you to actually speak. We recommend 10–15 minute conversations, 2–3 times per week, and our system tracks every mistake to create personalized practice between sessions.

What do I need to get started?

Just a device with a microphone and a stable internet connection. Project Fluency works on web browsers and our mobile app (iOS).

Pro tip:

Speakerphone is recommended for the most natural conversation experience — just like talking to a friend on the phone. Find a comfortable spot where you can talk freely.

On web, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge are all supported. On mobile, download the Project Fluency app from the App Store.

Once You Arrive

How conversations, characters, and learning actually work

How do conversations actually work?

You pick a character, hit start, and talk. It's a real-time voice conversation — you speak, they respond, just like talking to a real person. Characters have different personalities, difficulty levels, and specialties.

The AI hears you in real-time and responds naturally

Characters gently correct mistakes within the conversation flow

Scenarios unfold based on your responses — just like real life

You can interrupt, ask questions, or change topics

Sweet spot:

We recommend 10–15 minute conversations. That's long enough for meaningful practice but short enough to stay focused. After your conversation ends, the system analyzes your mistakes, updates the character's memory, and generates personalized practice questions.

Who are these AI characters?

Over 60 conversation characters across five languages, each with their own personality, regional accent, and teaching specialty:

🇪🇸 Spanish: Mexico City hostel staff, Colombian entrepreneurs, Argentine chefs, and more

🇫🇷 French: Parisian hotel concierges, café owners, retired professors

🇮🇹 Italian: Rome restaurant servers, Milan executive chefs, train liaisons

🇧🇷 Portuguese: Rio beach vendors, surf instructors, spa managers

🇺🇸 English: Chicago hotel staff from diverse backgrounds (ESL learners)

Every character lives in the Don Joaquín Universe — a connected hospitality empire where you encounter realistic travel scenarios. You can also take assessments with these same characters to evaluate your level — assessments are always free.

Do characters remember our conversations?

Yes! Every character maintains a rolling memory of your conversations, powered by Claude AI. They remember your learning progress, common mistakes, topics you've discussed, your goals, and personal details you've shared.

Good to know:

Memory is only generated for conversations over 2 minutes, and it takes about 3–5 minutes to process after a conversation ends. If you finish a 10-minute call and jump back in 30 seconds later, the memory from that conversation won't be available yet. Give it a few minutes.

Over time, characters adapt their difficulty and conversation style based on your development. This creates a personalized learning relationship that gets more effective the more you practice.

How are minutes deducted?

Minutes are deducted in real time during conversations. One minute of conversation costs one minute from your balance. Assessments are always free and never deduct minutes.

1st: One Way Ticket minutes (if active)

2nd: Subscription minutes (monthly allocation)

3rd: Pack minutes (Coffee Chat)

4th: Flex minutes (purchased add-ons, never expire)

5th: PTO-redeemed minutes (earned through practice, never expire)

The system always draws from temporary minutes first, preserving your permanent ones.

What are adaptive questions?

After every conversation longer than 3 minutes, our system analyzes your grammar mistakes, vocabulary gaps, and pronunciation patterns — then generates personalized drilling questions targeting your specific weaknesses.

PlanAdaptive Questions per Conversation
Free / Coffee Chat3 questions
Tourist6 questions
Local12 questions

These questions feed into Fluent Mode, our spaced repetition system powered by FSRS. It schedules your practice at scientifically optimized intervals — so you're always reviewing the right material at the right time.

Extending Your Stay

Plans, upgrades, One Way Tickets, and getting more minutes

What's the difference between Tourist and Local?
FeatureTourist ($12.99/mo)Local ($29.99/mo)
Minutes120/mo300/mo
Pace2–3× per weekDaily practice
Adaptive Qs6 per conversation12 per conversation
Character Notes4 per month8 per month
PTO Earn Rate10%15%
Included Content1 Replay/mo2 Replays + 1 Study Guide/mo

Both tiers include all 60+ characters, all 5 languages, character memory, and full Fluent Mode access.

What is the One Way Ticket?

The One Way Ticket is a $178.99 commitment device — 1,500 minutes to use within 90 days. US users only. Completely non-refundable.

This isn't a discount program. It's a declaration. You purchase the ticket, record La Promesa — a voice commitment ceremony in your target language — and your 90-day countdown begins.

85% completion (1,275 min): Unlocks a prepaid month of Local

Under 85%: That prepaid month is forfeited

No pauses, no extensions, no excuses

What's a Coffee Chat?

The Coffee Chat ($3.99) is a low-commitment way to try the full experience:

  • 30 conversation minutes
  • Full character memory and adaptive questions
  • Access to all 60+ characters while active
  • 90-day expiration
  • Maximum 3 per account lifetime

Coffee Chats are non-refundable and not available to users with active subscriptions.

What are flex minutes?

Flex minutes are extra conversation minutes for active subscribers. Purchased in bundles (10, 60, or 120 minutes) at rates based on your tier. They never expire.

Only used after your subscription minutes are depleted

Each purchase is a deliberate one-time transaction — not automatic

Non-refundable but permanently available on your account

If you're consistently running out of monthly minutes, upgrading your tier is probably a better fit than buying flex.

Do unused subscription minutes roll over?

No. Subscription minutes reset each billing cycle. This isn't about pricing — it's about the mission.

Here's why:

Project Fluency exists to get you fluent through conversation, and fluency requires discipline and consistency. Rolling over minutes would encourage you to skip weeks and "save up," which is the opposite of what actually works. Use your minutes, have real conversations, show up regularly — that's how fluency happens.

Flex minutes and PTO credits never expire — so consistent effort always rewards you.

What happens when I run out of minutes?

Conversations are paused until your next billing cycle — or you can purchase flex minute bundles to keep going immediately.

Still available with zero minutes:

  • Drilling and flashcards (unlimited, forever)
  • Listening exercises
  • Dictation, translation, and scramble exercises
  • Assessments (always free)

Your character memories, progress data, and adaptive question history are all preserved.

Why isn't Project Fluency "unlimited" like competitors?
Real conversations. Real memory. Real cost.

"Unlimited" at $8–12/mo is a bet you won't show up. We're betting you will.

Most "unlimited" AI language apps are burning through venture capital — they'll eventually raise prices, cut quality, or shut down. Every Project Fluency conversation uses premium AI voices and personalized memory that costs real money to deliver.

We're self-funded and built to last. By charging fairly for what we deliver, we can keep investing in better characters, more languages, and features you actually need.

Customer Service

Billing, refunds, accounts, and getting help

What is your refund policy?

Subscriptions (Tourist & Local): 7-day refund window from purchase or renewal date

Coffee Chats ($3.99): Non-refundable

One Way Tickets ($178.99): Completely non-refundable — this is the commitment mechanism

Flex minutes: Non-refundable (never expire)

If you cancel a subscription, you keep access to remaining minutes until the end of your billing period. Email hello@projectfluency.com within the 7-day window for subscription refunds.

How do I cancel my subscription?

Yes, anytime. Cancel through your account settings or email hello@projectfluency.com. No contracts, no cancellation fees, no hoops.

What happens when you cancel:

You keep access until your current billing period ends. Flex minutes and PTO credits remain in your account — they'll be waiting if you decide to come back. Character memories and progress history are preserved.

How do I contact support?

Email us at hello@projectfluency.com. We aim to respond within 24–72 hours.

Billing issues: Include your account email and a description of the problem

Technical issues: Include the device/browser you're using and what happened

Incorrect charges: Include the charge amount and date — we'll investigate and correct any errors regardless of the 7-day refund window

Can I delete my account?

Yes. You can delete your account directly from the account settings screen in the app. This permanently removes all your data including conversation history, character memories, and progress records.

Before deleting: Cancel any active subscription first to avoid accidental charges. Account deletion is permanent and cannot be undone.

Is my conversation data private?

Yes. Your conversation data is protected and never sold to third parties.

Transcripts are stored securely to enable character memory

Voice is processed transiently by ElevenLabs — not stored after conversation ends

We use industry-standard encryption and row-level security

We don't train AI models on your conversations

You can request deletion of your data at any time. Full details in our Privacy Policy.

The Fluency Lounge

PTO, character notes, adaptive questions, and bonus features

What is PTO and how do I earn it?

PTO (Practice Time Ownership) is our rewards system. You earn credits by having conversations, and spend them in the PTO Store on learning rewards.

PlanPTO Earn RateExample (10 min convo)
Free / Coffee Chat5%0.5 PTO earned
Tourist10%1.0 PTO earned
Local15%1.5 PTO earned

PTO accumulates automatically after every non-assessment conversation and never expires. Monthly earning cap: 180 PTO. Maximum balance: 500 PTO.

What can I redeem PTO for?

The PTO Store offers rewards that enhance your learning:

Replay Analysis (20 PTO): Deep-dive review of a past conversation

Study Guide (40 PTO): Custom study resource based on your learning patterns

Gift Code (65 PTO): Share Project Fluency with someone else

Discount (250 PTO): Off your next subscription renewal

Minimum redemption is 20 PTO. We recommend redeeming regularly since the balance cap is 500.

How do I get 30 free minutes?

Complete the Project Fluency survey and we'll add 30 free conversation minutes to your account. The survey helps us understand what's working, what isn't, and what you'd like to see next. Your feedback directly shapes how the platform evolves.

You'll find the survey link in the Fluency Lounge section of the app.

What are character notes?

Character notes are personalized insights your characters create about your learning patterns. After qualifying sessions — typically 10+ minute drilling sessions where errors are detected — a character generates a note highlighting patterns in your mistakes and specific focus areas.

Free: 2 notes per month

Tourist: 4 notes per month

Local: 8 notes per month

Notes help you understand your learning trajectory beyond just conversation-by-conversation feedback.

What is Fluent Mode?

Fluent Mode is our intelligent practice system built on FSRS (Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler) — the same algorithm that powers Anki and the most effective flashcard systems in the world.

How it works:

It takes the mistakes and corrections from your real conversations and schedules your practice at scientifically optimized intervals. Instead of drilling random vocabulary, you're always practicing the exact things you got wrong — at the exact moment your brain is about to forget them.

Fluent Mode works automatically. You just show up and practice, and the system handles the rest. The more you talk, the smarter the scheduling becomes.

How do adaptive questions work with Fluent Mode?

After every conversation over 3 minutes, the system generates personalized questions targeting what you got wrong. The number depends on your plan: Free/Coffee Chat get 3, Tourist gets 6, and Local gets 12.

These questions feed directly into Fluent Mode's spaced repetition system. A grammar mistake you made talking to Carmen on Monday might show up as a drilling question on Wednesday — right when your brain needs the reinforcement. Get it right? It surfaces again in a week. Get it wrong? It comes back tomorrow.

The more you talk, the smarter your practice becomes.

Still Have Questions?

We're here to help you on your fluency journey

Email Support

hello@projectfluency.com
Response within 24–72 hours

Founder Direct

shane@projectfluency.com
For feedback & partnerships

Community

Join fellow learners
Share tips & feedback

Ready to Connect With the World?

Project Fluency™

Your Journey to Connection

FIRST CLASS
NOW
Your Starting Point
FLU
Fluency
Languages
5
Characters
60+
Availability
24/7
Boarding
NOW
Character memory tracks your progress across sessions
Fluent Mode targets your weak spots with spaced repetition
Earn PTO rewards through consistent practice
FLU
Destination: Fluency
PJFL-2026
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