The Tech Center hosted the 2025 Hack the Language Flagship Hackathon on March 28–29 at Arizona State University. The event brought together Flagship students from across the United States to collaboratively ideate and prototype new technologies aimed at supporting and enhancing the language learning experience. Centered on the theme of artificial intelligence, the 2025 Hackathon engaged 34 students representing 12 institutions and 13 Language Flagship programs, along with five German-studying students from ASU. Working in multi-language teams, participants developed AI-powered solutions to address specific language learning challenges. The event concluded with team design pitches presented to all attendees, after which a panel of language-learning experts selected the winning project.
CONGRATULATIONS!
The winning team designed Sl@ngQuest, a language learning experience in which users upload media to retrieve information about slang words and test them with a chatbot.
Jaden Clark-Davidson (University of North Georgia, Chinese), Kelly Fung (University of Minnesota, Chinese), Jordan Gorelkin (Arizona State University, German), Calista Lee (Hunter College, Chinese), Brooke Meester (University of Minnesota, Chinese), Riley Woodruff (Portland State University, Russian)
About “Hack The Language Flagship!”
“Hack The Language Flagship!” is an amazing opportunity to become involved with a group of like-minded peers who have original ideas and want to drive the language technology innovation agenda together. Imagine the possibility of changing the world of language education over one weekend!
The Flagship Hackathon is a fast-paced event optimized for discovery and creativity. Use your experience and seek advice from experts in the field of language technology to propose technology-based solutions (“hacks”) that may impact the future of language learning.
Explore previous Hackathons
Winning Design
Expert Coaches and Judges
- Dr. Christiane Reeves, Assistant Teaching Professor of German, Arizona State University
David Parks, Learning Support Services Head, ASU’s School of International Letters and Cultures
Hackathon Dream Team
- Michelle Cheng- Tech Center Intern (2024 Hunter College, Chinese)
- Naiyi Fincham – Mentor/Event Support
- Scott Fitz Gerald – Tech Center Intern (2025 University of North Georgia, Chinese)
- Suzanne Freynik – Mentor/Event Support
- Molly Godwin-Jones – Mentor/Project Lead
- Lucas Gunkel – Tech Center Intern (2024 Hunter College, Chinese)
- Angela Haeusler – Event Support
- Rachel Mamiya Hernandez – Mentor/Event Support
- Richard Medina – Mentor/Event Facilitator
- Arianna Rivera – Tech Center Intern (2025 University of Texas at Austin, Portuguese)
- Julio Rodriguez – Mentor/Director
Team 1
Sl@ngQuest
The experience of our project will involve a personalized interaction with an AI chatbot which will create a lesson plan based on a given piece of uploaded media (Scripts, images etc). The chatbot will pick out slang words from a given text and define them for the user. The user will then be able to test their knowledge of the slang words by conversing with the chatbot.
Calista Lee
Chinese Flagship
Hunter College
Brooke Meester
Chinese Flagship
University of Minnesota
Kelly Fung
Chinese Flagship
University of Minnesota
Jaden Clark-Davidson
Chinese Flagship
University of North Georgia
Riley Woodruff
Russian Flagship
Portland State University
Jordan Gorelkin
German Program
Arizona State University
Team 2
Cultivating Friendships Abroad
This experience focuses on how to practice interacting and connecting with classmates in your target language. Users begin by answering an introductory questionnaire to personalize their experience, then interact with a chatbot in the target language, receiving feedback at the end of the conversation, and finally schedule a future date to meet with the bot.
Leia Kadlec
Chinese Flagship
Arizona State University
Tedd Lee
Chinese Flagship
Hunter College
TJayci Nasser
Arabic Flagship
Indiana University
Nicholas Heiniger
Russian Flagship
University of Georgia
Olivia Zeitlin
German Program
Arizona State University
Team 3
DailySpeak
One of the best ways to master a language is to use it in daily life—buying food, renting an apartment, or (worst case scenario!) visiting the hospital. Unfortunately, daily language use is among the least-taught and most frightening language skills.
DailySpeak is an AI chatbot that allows students to practice their language in a number of daily scenarios. Students select their scenario and speak with a realistic AI character, who will carry on the conversation and offer suggestions for language improvement. In the process, the user will become more confident using their target language in daily life while strengthening their pronunciation and widening their vocabulary.
Haasil Pujara
Chinese Flagship
Hunter College
William Bittner
Arabic Flagship
University of Mississippi
Trevor Harms
Chinese Flagship
Brigham Young University
Jason Ballinger
Chinese Flagship
Indiana University
Isabel Metzdorff
Chinese Flagship
University of Minnesota
Sydney Lenski
German Program
Arizona State University
Team 4
GlobalNote
Your Interactive tool for travelling and learning languages. Our tool will allow students to learn relevant vocabulary and phrases and practice simulated conversations beforehand. When opening the application, learners can input the place they are going, their target language, their language level, and the situation they want to prepare for. AI will generate a list of useful vocabulary and phrases for the situation. It will also generate flashcards of the important vocabulary, and create simulated scenarios to practice conversing with the chat bot using the vocabulary. The vocabulary can also be listened to, combining reading and listening.
Ryan Kim
Chinese Flagship
Hunter College
Sophia Nelson
Chinese Flagship
University of Minnesota
Allison Jensen
Chinese Flagship
University of Mississippi
Savannah Johnson
Persian Flagship
University of Maryland
Mackenzie Buck
Russian Flagship
University of Georgia
Celeste Bryant
German Program
Arizona State University
Team 5
MindSphere
This experience will consist of creating an app that consists of a daily checklist of self-care tasks, journaling prompts, and daily emotional state check-ins. This will all be done in the target language and AI will be utilized when providing feedback for how the user can improve on their emotional state and provide coaching and resources, quotes, uplifting media as needed. AI will also be utilized to provide feedback for the user’s language progress.
Kat Toolan
Chinese Flagship
University of Rhode Island
Joey Yong
Chinese Flagship
University of Minnesota
Syed Ali
Persian Flagship
University of Maryland
John Williford
Russian Flagship
University of Georgia
Marshalo Kakerissa
German Program
Arizona State University
Team 6
ScenAIrio
ScenAIrio is a personalized chat bot that allows users to practice their vocabulary toolbox. This application provides opportunities for language learners to practice creative language use during spoken conversation through a selected roleplay. The chatbot provides real time dialogue, allowing the user to practice speech in a simulated conversation. The user can practice vocabulary and build confidence in diverse linguistic contexts using the chatbot. ScenAIrio helps users prepare by simulating scenarios that the user can pick from.
Brandon Clark-Davidson
Chinese Flagship
University of North Georgia
Zoë Finelli
Russian Flagship
University of Georgia
Selina Zheng
Chinese Flagship
Hunter College
Asia Gillette
Arabic Flagship
Brigham Young University
Sebastian Ramos
Chinese Flagship
Hunter College
Contact Information
TECH CENTER
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Moore Hall 256
Honolulu, HI 96822
tech.center@hawaii.edu
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The Language Flagship Technology Innovation Center is funded under a grant from the Institute of International Education (IIE), acting as the administrative agent of the Defense Language and National Security Education Office (DLNSEO) for The Language Flagship. One should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project P.I.: Dr. Julio C. Rodriguez
