Studying foreign languages with Emacs, Org Mode and gptel

Marek (he/him) - https://github.com/keram, nospam.keram@gmail.com

The following image shows where the talk is in the schedule for Sat 2025-12-06. Solid lines show talks with Q&A via BigBlueButton. Dashed lines show talks with Q&A via IRC or Etherpad.

Format: 10-min talk ; Q&A: BigBlueButton conference room https://media.emacsconf.org/2025/current/bbb-languages.html
Discuss on IRC: #emacsconf
Status: Waiting for video from speaker

Description

This talk will demonstrate the workflow I’ve built around Emacs and Org mode for creating and managing multilingual texts. My focus is on English, Mandarin Chinese, and Pinyin (the Romanized system for Chinese). A key part of this setup is a custom major mode derived from text-mode, designed to handle language switching and structured study notes more effectively. On top of this, I use gptel as a writing companion: it helps catch typos, grammar mistakes, and subtle issues that arise when switching between languages.

Beyond editing, I’ll show how I publish my study notes to the web: https://keram.github.io/ihl-hanyu/index.html . By combining Org’s export features with a small amount of custom JavaScript, I’ve added interactive functionality such as text-to-speech playback and vocabulary practice exercises.

Attendees will see how these tools and techniques can be combined to:

• Customize Emacs for multilingual writing and study workflows.
• Use Org mode as a framework for language learning materials.
• Leverage gptel for proofreading and feedback.
• Enrich exported Org documents with lightweight web enhancements.

The talk will be of interest to language learners, Emacs users curious about publishing workflows, and anyone who wants to see how Emacs can as a personal learning environment.

About the speaker:

I am GNU Emacs enthusiast living in London, UK. Using Emacs for years for work, personal life and study.

Questions or comments? Please e-mail nospam.keram@gmail.com