# Sprout — Voice & Tone

Playfully encouraging · Bite-sized and clear · Curious, not academic · Gentle accountability · Character-led warmth

## Personality

- **Funny ↔ Serious:** leans funny (-1) — Sprout uses light mascot charm and garden wordplay, but learning clarity matters more than jokes.
- **Formal ↔ Casual:** casual (+2) — The app should feel like a friendly daily companion, with simple contractions and conversational prompts.
- **Respectful ↔ Irreverent:** respectful (-2) — Language learning can feel vulnerable, so Sprout stays kind, patient, and never snarky.
- **Enthusiastic ↔ Matter-of-fact:** leans enthusiastic (-1) — Sprout is cheerful and celebratory, especially around habit progress, while staying believable and calm.

## Traits

- **Playfully encouraging** — Sprout celebrates effort with light, warm cheer—never pressure, guilt, or over-the-top hype.
  - Why: Language learning depends on daily momentum. Sprout’s leaf-sprout character should feel like a friendly buddy who nudges users back into practice without making them feel behind.
  - e.g. "Nice! One tiny lesson, one fresh little leaf."
- **Bite-sized and clear** — The voice keeps instructions short, concrete, and easy to act on, using simple words and clean sentence structure.
  - Why: Sprout is a daily habit app. Users may open it between tasks, so the language should make learning feel quick and doable.
  - e.g. "Match the word to its meaning. Tap when you’re ready."
- **Curious, not academic** — Sprout frames language as discovery and growth rather than study, drills, or tests.
  - Why: The app’s playful garden metaphor and cheerful character make learning feel approachable for casual learners, families, and beginners.
  - e.g. "Today’s new phrase is ready to bloom."
- **Gentle accountability** — Sprout nudges consistency with kindness. It names streaks and goals, but never shames users for missing a day.
  - Why: Habit formation is central to the product, but guilt can make learners churn. Sprout should make returning feel easy.
  - e.g. "Welcome back. Your garden saved your spot."
- **Character-led warmth** — The voice lets the cheerful sprout character add personality through small garden references, friendly asides, and supportive reactions.
  - Why: The mascot is a key differentiator. The copy should make the character feel present without turning every message into a joke.
  - e.g. "Sprig is cheering from the windowsill. Let’s grow one more word."

## Tone by context

- **Onboarding:** Make the first session feel easy and welcoming. Use simple promises, friendly choices, and low-pressure language. Emphasize that a few minutes a day is enough to start.
- **Daily lesson:** Be crisp and upbeat. Give one instruction at a time. Use playful reinforcement after actions, but keep the lesson moving.
- **Streaks and habit nudges:** Celebrate consistency without making the user feel trapped by it. If a streak is at risk, use caring language: 'keep it growing,' not 'don’t lose it.'
- **Mistakes and wrong answers:** Stay soft, specific, and useful. Treat mistakes as part of learning. Avoid red-alert language, blame, or academic correction tone.
- **Success and milestones:** Be joyful and visual. Use garden metaphors sparingly: bloom, grow, leaf, roots. Celebrate the user’s effort more than raw performance.
- **Empty states:** Make the next step obvious and inviting. Avoid sounding like a system status. Add a small spark of character.
- **Errors and technical issues:** Drop most of the playfulness. Be calm, apologetic, and clear about what happened and what to do next. A tiny warm note is okay, but utility comes first.
- **Marketing:** Lead with the habit benefit: learning that fits into your day. Keep claims believable and friendly. Avoid promising fluency fast.
- **Push notifications:** Short, opt-in feeling, and kind. Use the sprout character as a gentle reminder, not a nag. Make the action feel small: one word, one lesson, two minutes.

## Messaging

**Audience:** Busy beginner and casual language learners—students, travelers, families, and curious adults—who want a friendly way to build a daily language habit without feeling like they are back in school.
**Value:** Sprout turns language learning into a cheerful daily habit with bite-sized lessons, gentle reminders, and a lovable leaf-sprout guide.

- **A habit that feels light** — Sprout is built for a few minutes a day, helping learners return consistently without pressure or guilt.
- **Learning that grows with you** — Lessons start simple, build gradually, and make progress feel visible through streaks, milestones, and garden-inspired cues.
- **A friendly guide by your side** — The cheerful leaf-sprout character brings warmth, encouragement, and personality to every lesson.
- **Useful language, little by little** — Sprout focuses on practical words and phrases learners can recognize, remember, and use in real life.

## Lexicon

**Use:** `grow`, `sprout`, `bloom`, `leaf`, `garden`, `roots`, `tiny lesson`, `daily practice`, `keep growing`, `fresh word`, `new phrase`, `little by little`, `nice try`, `you’re getting it`, `welcome back`, `pick up where you left off`, `today’s lesson`, `your learning garden`, `practice streak`, `quick round`, `ready to grow?`
**Avoid:** `master a language overnight`, `become fluent fast`, `crush your goals`, `dominate vocabulary`, `failure`, `wrong again`, `you missed your streak`, `don’t fall behind`, `mandatory`, `drill`, `quiz failure`, `assessment module`, `pedagogy`, `curriculum pathway`, `optimize acquisition`, `gamified retention loop`, `user compliance`, `punishment`, `grind`, `no excuses`

## Mechanics

- **Capitalization:** Sentence case for UI, notifications, headings, and CTAs. Title case only for proper nouns and app-store conventions when required.
- **Contractions:** yes
- **Emoji:** Sparingly. Use simple nature or celebration emoji only in marketing, milestone moments, and optional notifications: 🌱, 🍃, ✨. Avoid emoji in errors, privacy, payment, and account settings.
- **Reading level:** Grade 5–7. Short sentences, familiar words, and one idea per line in product UI.

## Boilerplate

- **Short:** Sprout is a playful daily app that helps language learning grow into a habit.
- **Medium:** Sprout makes language learning feel light, friendly, and easy to return to. With bite-sized daily lessons, gentle habit nudges, and a cheerful leaf-sprout guide, Sprout helps beginners grow practical vocabulary and phrases little by little.
- **Long:** Sprout is a playful language-learning app designed to turn practice into a daily habit. Led by a cheerful leaf-sprout character, Sprout offers bite-sized lessons, kind reminders, and visible progress that help learners keep going without pressure. Whether you’re learning for travel, school, family, or curiosity, Sprout makes each session feel small, useful, and encouraging—so your language skills can grow one fresh word at a time.

## Voice in action

**Onboarding welcome**

| Surface | ✅ We say | ❌ We don't say | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| onboarding-welcome | Welcome to Sprout. Let’s grow your first words in just a few minutes a day. | Welcome to Sprout. Start your language-learning journey with personalized daily lessons. | The preferred version is warmer, shorter, and uses Sprout’s growth metaphor without sounding generic. |

**Goal selection**

| Surface | ✅ We say | ❌ We don't say | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| onboarding-welcome | What are you growing toward? | What is your primary language-learning objective? | Sprout should feel approachable, not academic or survey-like. |

**Start lesson CTA**

| Surface | ✅ We say | ❌ We don't say | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| primary-cta | Start today’s lesson | Begin module | The on-voice CTA is plain, human, and habit-focused. The alternative sounds like an education platform. |

**Correct answer**

| Surface | ✅ We say | ❌ We don't say | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| success | You got it. That word just took root. | Correct. Your response has been recorded. | Sprout celebrates with warmth and character, not system language. |

**Incorrect answer**

| Surface | ✅ We say | ❌ We don't say | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| error | Almost. Try it once more—listen for the ending. | Incorrect. Please select the correct answer. | The preferred version is specific and encouraging. It helps the learner recover without shame. |

**Streak reminder**

| Surface | ✅ We say | ❌ We don't say | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| notification | Your little streak is still growing. Got 2 minutes? 🌱 | Reminder: Complete your daily lesson to maintain your streak. | The on-voice notification feels like a gentle invitation, not a compliance alert. |

**Missed day return**

| Surface | ✅ We say | ❌ We don't say | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| notification | Welcome back. Your garden saved your spot. | You missed yesterday’s practice. Resume your lesson now. | Sprout avoids guilt and makes re-entry feel safe. |

**Milestone celebration**

| Surface | ✅ We say | ❌ We don't say | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| success | Seven days in a row. Look at those roots! | Congratulations. You have completed a 7-day streak. | The preferred line gives the milestone personality and visual delight. |

**Empty practice screen**

| Surface | ✅ We say | ❌ We don't say | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| empty-state | Nothing planted here yet. Start a quick lesson to grow your first words. | No lessons have been completed. Start learning to populate this section. | The on-voice copy turns an empty state into an invitation, while keeping the next action clear. |

**Connection error**

| Surface | ✅ We say | ❌ We don't say | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| error | We couldn’t load your lesson. Check your connection, then try again. | Oopsie! Your lesson wandered off into the weeds. Try again! | In technical errors, Sprout should prioritize clarity and calm over mascot humor. |

**Subscription upsell**

| Surface | ✅ We say | ❌ We don't say | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| primary-cta | Grow faster with unlimited lessons | Unlock premium access to accelerate your learning outcomes. | The preferred version keeps the benefit simple and Sprout-specific. |

**App-store headline**

| Surface | ✅ We say | ❌ We don't say | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| onboarding-welcome | Grow a language habit, one tiny lesson at a time. | A comprehensive language education platform for daily learners. | Sprout’s positioning is habit-first, playful, and consumer-friendly—not institutional. |
