About Ries

I'm Orion, a father of a one-year-old baby and also a startup founder. We are building a product called Ries. The idea came from my own language-learning journey. For a long time, I wanted English to become my second native language. But living in a Chinese-speaking environment, I found that this was much harder than it sounded. Almost everything around me was in Chinese, so English had very little real presence in daily life. I tried many traditional methods like listening practice, memorizing vocabulary, and taking classes. But each one felt like a separate task. I had to set aside extra time and extra energy just to do it. And once I paused for a while, I would quickly slide back. That cycle felt frustrating. I also tried reading original English books and watching full-English videos, hoping to improve by forcing myself through them. But that also created a bottleneck. When the gap between what you can understand and what you want to learn is too large, the process becomes slow and stressful. That was when I started to think: maybe I need a more natural way to learn, something that fits real life better. Then one trip to Hong Kong gave me the key idea. People there often mix English words and expressions naturally into Cantonese. As I listened to those blended conversations, I noticed that I was picking up everyday English expressions without trying. What surprised me even more was that it felt effortless and even enjoyable. Compared with that, my old learning scenes felt isolated and dry. After I came back, I started asking: why can't this kind of blended input become part of daily life? For example, when I read something in Chinese, could some parts be replaced with English that I can still understand? That way, comprehension stays smooth, but exposure keeps growing. This idea also matched the theory of comprehensible input, which says that language growth happens when the input is understandable but slightly challenging. That gradually became the foundation of Ries. I hope Ries can become a companion for language growth. What makes it different is that it does not ask you to spend extra time on dry textbooks or isolated exercises. Instead, it starts from the content you already enjoy, understands your current level, and weaves English into it naturally. Whether you are reading articles or watching videos, Ries can replace some parts with English expressions you can understand. Learning stops being an extra burden and becomes part of what you already like to do. The focus stays on the content you love, not on forcing study. Ries also comes from my reflection on traditional language tools. Traditional learning tools are often too separate from real life. They ask you to study fixed material in fixed time slots, so learning becomes one more task to manage. Translation tools are efficient, but they do nothing for growth. They turn everything into your native language, so you never really meet or feel the foreign language itself. Both sides have limits. Ries tries to find a more natural balance. It does not ask you to change your habits, and it does not interrupt what you are doing. It quietly joins your daily life and stays with your language growth. Over the last year, I used this gradual-input method to move my English from A2 to B2. Looking back, I feel strongly that language growth is a process of natural accumulation. It does not need pressure, and it does not require rebuilding your whole schedule. With the right method, learning can be light, sustainable, and real. I hope Ries can offer a new path for people like me: people living inside their native-language environment, but still wanting to break through language limits. Maybe it can help you see that language learning is not some distant goal. It can become part of life itself. I hope one day Ries can truly become a companion beside you, helping you open a bigger world through language.