About gzen

gzen is a daily language learning site designed around a simple idea: one focused lesson a day is more powerful than occasional marathon study sessions.

Inspired by the format of Google’s Advent of Code (one puzzle per day), gzen presents language learning as a daily advent calendar — open a new lesson each day, study for 20–30 minutes, and track your progress.

Languages

🇯🇵 Japanese (N3 → N1)

30 days of grammar patterns, vocabulary, and reading practice designed to take you from JLPT N3 to N1 readiness. Each lesson features:

• Vocabulary with furigana (ruby) annotations
• Grammar pattern with nuance notes
• Natural example sentences with English translations
• A reading passage using the lesson’s target grammar
• Practice quizzes with reveal-on-click answers

🇷🇺 Russian (Beginner → B2)

20 days from the Cyrillic alphabet all the way through the 6-case system, verb aspects, and reading comprehension. Russian grammar is challenging but the lessons guide you step by step.

How to Use gzen

1. Start from Day 1 — lessons build on each other
2. Study for ~20 minutes — read, understand, repeat examples aloud
3. Do the practice quizzes — try to answer before revealing
4. Mark it complete — your browser saves your progress
5. Come back tomorrow — consistency beats intensity

Built With

gzen is a static site built with Hugo — pure HTML, no JavaScript framework required. Lessons are written in Markdown with Hugo shortcodes for reusable components like {{< furigana >}} and {{< quiz >}}.