Words We Share

An idea worth exploring

Many languages.
One more way
to connect.

What if we could share a second language,
while keeping the ones we call our own?

A small experiment in a big human question.
Inspired by The Loom of Language.

Explore the idea Try your first sentence
An editorial illustration of people gathered around an open book and a shared garden world, connected by conversation.

Different roots. A shared possibility.

A work in progress120 proposed words. No learner study yet. Plenty to discover.What we still need to learn

A seven-step introduction

A big idea, in small steps.

Read the full explainer

01 / The spark

An old story. A new question.

In the Bible’s Tower of Babel story, people share a language and build together. When their speech becomes confused, the work stops and they scatter. The story leaves us with a question: what could we do if we understood each other better?

Babel is a starting story here, not proof that different languages cause most conflict.

White paper v0.2, section 1; Genesis 11:1–9.
The spark · An illustrated guide

02 / The idea

Keep your language. Add a bridge.

Imagine a shared second language that people could choose to learn. You would still speak the languages of your home and community. This extra language would offer one more way to talk with people from other places.

Learning it would be a choice. No one should have to give up a language to take part.

White paper v0.2, sections 2 and 4.
The idea · An illustrated guide

03 / The first words

Small words. A first sentence.

Our early word set has 120 basic entries. In this draft, mi means I, soma means study or learn, and luga means language. Put them together: Mi soma luga. That means “I study a language.”

These are proposed words in an untested language sketch. Their meanings could change as we learn more.

White paper v0.2, section 5; prototype A01.
The first words · An illustrated guide

04 / The pattern

Change the message, not the verb.

Add pa to place the study in the past: Mi pa soma luga. Add ka at the start to ask a yes-or-no question. Ka ti soma luga? means “Do you study a language?” The word soma stays the same.

A regular pattern may help, but we still need to find out how well people learn and use it.

White paper v0.2, section 5; prototype A01, basic clauses and questions.
The pattern · An illustrated guide

05 / The word choices

Make room for many roots.

The draft takes ideas from several languages, including Swahili, Arabic, Indonesian, and others. Some words are new choices. Others reshape a word from another language. A mix of roots does not make the result fair for everyone.

Many proposed word origins still need checking. Speakers and language experts should help review them.

White paper v0.2, sections 4 and 5.
The word choices · An illustrated guide

06 / The honest limits

Understanding is a start.

A shared language might make some conversations easier. It would not remove differences in beliefs, needs, or power. People who speak the same language still disagree. Translation tools and learning existing languages also deserve a fair test.

We have no evidence that this prototype prevents conflict, is easiest to learn, or works equally well for everyone.

White paper v0.2, sections 1, 3, and 6.
The honest limits · An illustrated guide

07 / The next step

Try it. Test it. Change it.

The next step is small: invite volunteers from different language backgrounds to try simple tasks. Can they ask a question, share a message, and clear up a mix-up? Compare the results with other ways to communicate. Keep what helps and change what does not.

No learner study has tested this prototype yet. This website is an invitation to explore the idea.

White paper v0.2, sections 6–8.
The next step · An illustrated guide
Step 1 of 7

Move at your own pace. Use the arrows, numbered steps, or your keyboard. Text version of all seven steps.

A little language lab

You can already
build a sentence.

Choose who, choose when, and turn a statement into a question. The word soma stays the same.

Experimental vocabulary · A01

This shows the draft’s rules. It is not evidence that the language is easy for every learner.

01   Who?
02   When?

Your sentence

Mi soma luga.

I study a language.

Without a time word, the sentence is general or takes its time from context.

Meet a few of the words

A small beginning.

Tap a word to see its role
and how it entered the draft.

Select a word above to explore its meaning and design notes.

Explore all 120 words and the grammar

Hope, with honest questions

A bridge is worth testing.
It is not a promise of peace.

Words can help us share an idea. They cannot settle every difference in beliefs, needs, or power. The aim is to find out whether one more way to talk could help.

Will it be easy for everyone?

We do not know. A familiar sound or word for one person may be new to another. People from many language backgrounds need to test it.

Would it replace my language?

No. The idea is an extra language people could choose to learn. Home and community languages deserve continued care and support.

Why not just use translation tools?

Translation tools and existing languages may meet many needs. A new language must show that it adds something useful. Fair comparisons are part of the proposed research.

Has anyone tested this draft?

No learner study has tested prototype A01. Its 120 basic entries show a starting pattern. The draft does not cover everything people need to say, and many proposed word origins still need checking.

Who gets a say in what happens next?

The project proposes input from learners, speakers, teachers, language experts, and accessibility specialists. A word list with many roots is no substitute for people taking part in decisions.

Follow the thinking

Curious?
Go a little deeper.

The white paper looks at the history, the evidence, and the hard questions. It separates what we hope from what we know.

Read the white paper PDF · 7 pages · v0.2 · Conscious ObserverRead an accessible web version Read the plain-language explainer

Where this began

With credit to the people
who asked before us.

This project is inspired by The Loom of Language (1944), written by Frederick Bodmer and edited and arranged by Lancelot Hogben, a substantial collaborator.

Conscious Observer’s proposal explores new choices. It is not a finished language from their book, and attribution does not imply endorsement.

View the paper’s 11 references
  1. 01

    Bodmer, F. (1944; supplied scan lists fifth impression, 1949). The Loom of Language: A Guide to Foreign Languages for the Home Student. Edited and arranged by L. Hogben. George Allen & Unwin. Local primary source: 2015.283471.The-Loom_text.pdf. Printed page numbers are used in citations; printed pp. 481-511 are PDF pp. 495-525. View source

  2. 02

    Genesis 11:1-9. New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (2021). Passage consulted through Bible Gateway. Used as cultural and theological framing. View source

  3. 03

    Hogben, L. (1943). Interglossa: A Draft of an Auxiliary for a Democratic World Order, Being an Attempt to Apply Semantic Principles to Language Design. Penguin Books. Digitized facsimile hosted by Glosa; first eight PDF pages inspected. View source

  4. 04

    Amano, T., et al. (2023). The manifold costs of being a non-native English speaker in science. PLOS Biology, 21(7), e3002184. Survey of 908 environmental-science researchers; self-reported burdens. View source

  5. 05

    Kenanidis, P., Llompart, M., Fernandez Santos, S., & Dabrowska, E. (2024). Redundancy can hinder adult L2 grammar learning: evidence from case markers of varying salience levels. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1368080. Artificial-language experiments; scope is early adult learning. View source

  6. 06

    Dryer, M. S. (2013). Order of Subject, Object and Verb. In M. S. Dryer & M. Haspelmath (eds.), The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, chapter 81. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. View source

  7. 07

    Fearon, J. D., & Laitin, D. D. (2003). Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War. American Political Science Review, 97(1), 75-90. Publisher abstract consulted; no direct auxiliary-language intervention. View source

  8. 08

    UNESCO (2025). Languages matter: Global guidance on multilingual education. Official publication overview consulted; not the full report. View source

  9. 09

    NLLB Team et al. (2024). Scaling neural machine translation to 200 languages. Nature, 630, 841-846. Technical research milestone; not a 2026 product comparison. View source

  10. 10

    Zamenhof, L. L. Fundamento de Esperanto, English grammar. Online primary text maintained by Akademio de Esperanto. Relevant to the claim audit: regular inflections, compounding, and international vocabulary. View source

  11. 11

    NSW Department of Education and Training (2008). Bilingual Dictionary for ESL Beginners: English/Swahili. ISBN 9780731386451. Selected lexical entries consulted; not an etymological dictionary. View source

Website based on white paper v0.2 and prototype A01 v0.1. Plain-language adaptation and original artwork prepared with AI assistance. No learner results are claimed.