The story no one asked for (but everyone needs)
“Copycat” was supposed to be
an insult.
We put it in our name anyway. Here's why.
In 2013, I watched my friend Sarah order coffee in Paris.
She'd studied French for six years. She could conjugate every verb in the subjunctive. She'd aced every test. And when the waiter said “Vous désirez?”—she froze.
Her face went red. She pointed at the menu. The waiter sighed. I translated.
Later, over that coffee she couldn't order, she said something I've never forgotten:
“I know so much French. But I can't do anything with it.”
That's when it hit me. Sarah didn't have a knowledge problem. She had a training problem.
Every app, every class, every textbook had trained her to recognize French. To pick the right answer. To translate in her head. To pass tests.
But no one had trained her to produce it. To open her mouth and make sounds come out. To speak without thinking.
I'm Benjamin, by the way. Native French speaker. I grew up in France, taught English in South Korea, and now run a language learning app from London. And that coffee in Paris? It's why I started French Together in 2013.
The dirty secret about learning
Here's what I realized: every human who ever learned to speak did it the same way.
They copied.
Babies don't invent words. They hear “mama” a thousand times, then try to make that sound. They copy.
Musicians don't write original songs first. They learn covers. They copy.
Chefs don't invent recipes from scratch. They recreate classics. They copy.
Every master started as a copycat. That's not shameful—it's the path.
So when people called our method “just copying”—
we said “yes, exactly.”
In 2025, French Together became Copycat Cafe. We didn't rebrand to hide from the insult. We leaned into it.
Because “copycat” isn't an insult. It's the method.
How it works
Watch → Copy → Chat
The same three steps cats have used for thousands of years.
Watch
Observe real French conversations. Listen at two speeds. Let your brain absorb how natives actually talk.
Copy
Shadow each phrase aloud. AI scores your pronunciation (0-100%). Repeat until it feels natural.
Chat
Practice with Copy, your AI conversation partner. Use what you learned in safe, judgment-free roleplay.
“Watch trains your ear. Copy trains your mouth. Chat builds confidence.”
What happened next
French Together started as a blog in 2013. The idea was simple: teach French the way I actually learned English—by copying conversations, not memorizing rules.
It grew. By 2019, we had 357,000 monthly visitors. The blog was making money. Life was good.
Then COVID hit. Google changed its algorithm. Traffic dropped to 55,000.
I could have quit. Instead, I taught myself to code. Built an app. Turned the copycat method into software.
Revenue didn't drop. It grew. Turns out charging for results beats chasing traffic.
2013
Founded
$10K+
Monthly revenue
$0
Outside funding
What's next
French is just the beginning.
The problem we're solving—people who can recognize a language but can't produce it—isn't unique to French. It's universal. Every Spanish learner who freezes when someone says "¿Qué quieres?" Every Japanese student who can read kanji but can't order ramen.
The copycat method works for any language. Watch. Copy. Chat. It's how humans have learned to speak for thousands of years.
We started with French because it's what I know best. But we're building for the bigger mission: helping people go from understanding to speaking—in any language they choose.
Right now, we're the best way to learn to speak French. Soon, we'll be the best way to learn to speak, period.
Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese—they're all on the roadmap. Want to be the first to know when we launch a new language? Sign up for updates.
The team
Small. Opinionated. Unreasonably passionate about helping people speak.
Benjamin Houy
Founder
French native. Self-taught developer. Believes “copycat” is a compliment. Will argue about this at parties.
Nur Baysal
Marketing
Brand storyteller. Community builder. Makes sure our emails don't sound like a robot wrote them.
Copy
Chief Encouragement Officer
Professional copycat. Celebrates every win. Has never once judged your accent. Fluent in purrs.
“Okay but why a cat?”
Because cats are the world's best learners.
They don't read manuals. They watch. They wait. Then they pounce.
That's exactly how you'll learn here. Watch a conversation. Copy the sounds. Then use them before you forget. Works for French. Works for any language.
Also, have you ever seen a cat embarrassed about trying something new?
Exactly.
Ready to be a copycat?
Join 1,031 people who stopped studying French and started speaking it.
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