19-Year-Old Muslim Woman Embarks On Devloping An AI Language App –
To Help Her Mother Speak Better English.
20 MW UNDER 20 | Mirna Al- Saadi
Mirna and I met at Waterloo station and made our way towards a quirky Tunisian cafe nearby. It was a warm Tuesday and I was looking forward to a refreshing cold drink, but most importantly, Mirna’s exciting journey into the world of tech and design.
Background
Born and bred in Britain with Iraqi roots, Mirna is an ambitious 19 year old with very proud parents. When she’s not building her language app, or hanging out with her siblings, she immerses herself in some form of creativity. A second year student of Product and Industrial Design at Central Saint-Martins, with a great vision for the future of tech.
Diversity, Societies & Inclusion
Before delving into her innovation, I was curious about diversity at CSM, as well as her experience as a Muslim woman. “Its been okay, although it might have been different if I wore the hijab.” She explained that the course is predominantly international students who are mainly, Europeans and Asians.“I think I’m the only Arab student in my course” Mirna told me that her exposure has been decent at University so far, “we have an ISOC (Islamic Society) and MENA Society (Middle-East & North Africa) where I get to meet other cool muslim students, and attend events every couple of weeks.” In general, UAL has several prayer rooms scattered around different campuses. In-between classes and building an AI app, Mirna indulges herself on a trip to the prayer room where she gets to socialise with other Muslim women, after her worshipping of-course. “Actually one of my closest friends at uni is a young woman who studies jewellery design, and I might have not met her if it wasn’t for the prayer room.”
The Un-named Language App
Now onto the juicy bit. Mirna is a tech wizard who clearly likes to problem solve. She decided to embark on a journey to build an AI app that will work as an educational tool in helping parents speak better English. The idea stems from wanting to solve the language barrier issue for her mother, an immigrant who doesn’t speak nor understand the English language very well. “In modern digital society, everyone is on their phone most of the time, so I thought why not create an app that will help someone like my mother, make use of her digital time to learn English.”
When You Literally ‘Take Ideas To The Next Level”
The birthplace of this innovative venture originates from Mirna’s foundation year at CSM. The idea then evolved the following year, during a programme called ‘Take ideas to the next level’ with ‘Creative Shift x The KUSP’, a group that aims to help students from a low socio-economic and ethnic background. “Every 2 weeks we would combine strategies”. Mirna explained that by joining the programme, it allowed her to not only receive 1:1 support from industry specialists but also connect with likeminded students across UAL.
Other Similar Market Concepts
I asked Mirna what makes her app different from Duolingo, her answer was, “for my app, the user would need to have a basic understanding of English, as the app’s purpose is not to teach the language from scratch, but rather to help them become more confident via dialogue with an AI and ultimately receive feedback”. She highlights the contrast with Duolingo, which teaches the user specific words and sentences. Mirna’s app is more like having a friendly AI that can help correct the users English, through conversations.
Muslim Tech-Fest & Networking
There’s nothing we love more than an opportunity to be in an environment that will allow us to network with likeminded people, learn new things and showcase our skills! Recently, Mirna took a trip to the Muslim Tech Fest1 in London, where she was able to meet many talented Muslim women within the tech industry. “There were so many fascinating ideas and it was quite refreshing that a few women offered to help with my project.”
What Is Success For Mirna?
It has been a few things for her recently. First one is taking the initiative to building a language app “This has really triggered many other elements in my life that I also regard a success” she elaborated “building this app has by default pushed me out of my comfort zone. I didn’t even have instagram until I decided on the project”. Not to mention all of the networking events she attends and “saying yes to everything”, which can help bring more opportunities.
Mirna’s Vision For The Future:
“I want to give back and help as many people as possible speak English, which is the reason for this project. I feel very privileged that I even have this opportunity.”
Her Advice to Young Muslim Women:
- “We all have different experiences – so lets all use our expertise to help the Muslim community.
- My advice to Muslim women interested in Tech -you’re never going to be 100% confident, but if you never try, you’ll never know. The fact that you’re thinking about it, it means you’re going in the right direction.
- As long as you have faith in God, you’ll have what it takes.”
Mirna & The Vicegerent:
- “I would want to see this platform share different MW stories across the globe.
- I’m interested in stories that talk about how MW are positively impacting the world.
- The Vicegerent can truly inspire and give confidence to MW just by reading different stories . I’m very excited for its future!”
A festival that celebrates Muslim Talent within the tech industry – Co-founded by Arfah Farooq ↩︎
