This repository is archived. Development moved to urmzd/openlearn, under packs/languide/.

The guides are now a course pack for openlearn, a desktop learning platform: the chapters are read in the app, each language has a path with progress, and a written session graded against a chapter replaces reading alone. Keeping the guides beside the platform that renders them is what lets them be verified and not only published.

The full history of this repository was merged into openlearn, so nothing was lost: git log -- packs/languide/ there continues from the last commit here. Open issues and pull requests against the language guides belong in openlearn. The code below is kept as it was at the move.

Languide

Communication-focused language guides built from markdown

Download · Report Bug · Releases

_{Japanese — pattern phrases with romaji}

_{Spanish — reusable phrase templates}

Features

Scenario-based phrases — greetings, restaurants, hotels, shopping, transport, emergencies
Pattern templates with [bracket] slots for customizable phrases
Politeness tiers — casual, polite, and very polite variants
Tables for all phrase collections (no inline lists)
PDF generation via a single shell script with Pandoc + XeLaTeX
Multi-language workspace under languages/<slug>/

Prerequisites

Pandoc and a LaTeX engine (xelatex recommended)
CJK font for Japanese/Chinese/Korean (e.g., Noto Sans CJK)

Quick Start

./scripts/build-guide.sh                     # build all guides
./scripts/build-guide.sh japanese            # build a single guide
./scripts/build-guide.sh --discover          # list available languages

Usage

Adding a New Language

The easiest way is with Claude Code:

claude "/create-language french"

This generates all 11 chapters following the system prompt, validates against the quality checklist, and reports phrase counts.

To add one manually:

Create languages/<slug>/chapters/ with numbered chapters following the structure below
Use agents/system-prompt.md as the generation prompt
Verify against agents/checklist.md
Run ./scripts/build-guide.sh <slug> to produce outputs/<slug>-guide.pdf

CLI Reference

./scripts/build-guide.sh [options] [LANGUAGE...]

Options:
  --languages-dir DIR   Directory containing language folders (default: languages)
  --output-dir DIR      Output directory for PDFs (default: outputs)
  --skip-font-check     Skip CJK font detection
  --continue-on-error   Keep going if a language fails
  --manifest FILE       Write build manifest JSON to FILE
  --discover            List available languages and exit

Fonts

CJK languages (Japanese, Chinese, Korean) require CJK fonts. If glyphs are missing:

# macOS
brew install --cask font-noto-sans-cjk font-noto-serif-cjk

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install fonts-noto-cjk

Repository Layout

languages/<slug>/chapters/   Numbered markdown chapters (00-cover.md … 10-cultural-guide.md)
languages/<slug>/spec.md     Content specification for that language
agents/                      System prompt and quality checklist
skills/                      Claude Code skills for automating guide creation
scripts/build-guide.sh       Shell script for assembling chapters into PDFs
templates/                   LaTeX template for PDF styling
outputs/                     Built PDFs (gitignored)

Chapter Structure

Each guide contains 11 chapters:

Chapter	File	Content
Cover	`00-cover.md`	Introduction, usage notes, guide overview
Core Phrases	`01-core-phrases.md`	Pattern templates, greetings, emergencies, daily interactions
Language Foundations	`02-language-foundations.md`	Grammar, particles, sentence patterns
Pronunciation	`03-pronunciation.md`	Vowels, consonants, special sounds
Writing Systems	`04-writing-systems.md`	Scripts and characters, survival reading
Directions & Navigation	`05-directions-navigation.md`	Asking directions, landmarks
Transportation	`06-transportation.md`	Trains, buses, taxis, airports
Restaurants	`07-restaurants.md`	Ordering, dietary needs, payment
Shopping	`08-shopping.md`	Sizes, trying on, payment, returns
Hotels	`09-hotels.md`	Check-in/out, requests, problems
Cultural Guide	`10-cultural-guide.md`	Regional differences, etiquette

Conventions

Tables for all phrase collections — 4-column format: English | Target Language | Transliteration | Notes
Pattern phrases with [brackets] for customizable slots
Politeness tiers: Casual / Polite / Very Polite
50+ phrases per scenario chapter, 30+ for directions and emergencies
No tourism tips — focus on how to communicate, not what to see

Agent Skill

This repo’s conventions are available as portable agent skills in skills/.

Resource	Purpose
`agents/system-prompt.md`	Prompt for generating new language guides
`agents/checklist.md`	Quality checklist for guide content
`skills/create-language/SKILL.md`	Claude Code skill that automates guide creation
`AGENTS.md`	Agent conventions and project context

License

Apache-2.0