About

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Hi, I'm Giwan

I'm a senior frontend developer who likes to build stuff. Mytoori is my primary side project, something I work on because I genuinely enjoy both coding and language learning.

I grew up bilingual, speaking (a form of) English at home and Dutch at school. Later, I traveled quite a bit for work and picked up a few other languages along the way. German comes easily (it's close enough to Dutch that I cheat a bit), I spent a year living in France, and I'm currently learning Portuguese — though I'm definitely still struggling with it!

This mix of tech and languages is what led me to build Mytoori. I wanted a tool that made reading in a foreign language feel natural and enjoyable, not like a chore.

Why I Built This

I believe learning through stories is one of the most effective ways to develop language skills naturally. Mytoori makes reading in a foreign language accessible and enjoyable by providing carefully curated short stories in multiple languages.

The paragraph-by-paragraph reading approach came from my own frustration with dense texts. Focusing on one section at a time makes complex stories much more manageable, especially when you're still building vocabulary.

How It Works

Language learning should be engaging, not overwhelming. I designed Mytoori as a simple, distraction-free reading environment where you can:

  • Read at your own pace
  • Switch between languages instantly
  • Focus on one paragraph at a time
  • Build confidence through comprehensible input

Privacy First

I respect your privacy. Mytoori tries not to collect or store any personal data. I say try, because you can create an account. That uses your email address, but it's only used for authentication and to remember your reading progress. See the privacy policy for more details.

Let's Connect

If you'd like to reach out, you can find me on Mastodon. I'm moving away from the other platforms these days.

This site is built with React Router and Tailwind CSS. I mostly work with React and have experimented with SvelteKit and Vue, but meta frameworks like React Router and Remix are where I see the future heading.