Who I am

My name isn't on my birth certificate.

At 19, I took a backpack and went walking. I met people living on paths I didn't know existed, and I discovered something: a name can be chosen. Not inherited from a pattern — crafted from who you decide to be. I meditated on mine. Ino came first — it sounded like my birth name, Anthony, reversed. The one who walks in the opposite direction. Later, I added the la. Walking toward wholeness.

Inola. That's me.

I spent years outside the system, living on missions instead of paychecks. Then life asked me to come back in — as someone who chose to bring what I learned through the door. I wanted to be the one who decides, not the one who gets decided for.

The door I chose was French.

I hated French as a kid. Irrational rules, heavy patterns, a language that seemed designed to trip you up. If you'd told teenage me I'd spend my life teaching it, I'd have laughed.

Then something shifted. I stopped wishing French were something it isn't and started seeing it for what it is: messy, human, and beautiful in its rawness. The difficulty isn't a flaw. It's the point.

That's the spark. Not fixing what's broken — lighting up what's possible.

I want learning to be light. Fun. Pressure-free. And beyond all, social. Because every adult carries a kid inside who just wants to connect, to enjoy, to grow. When you learn something hard with other people, that kid gets to come out and play.

FrenchPlay is where that happens. It's the first thing I'm building — igniting learning French with Soul.

Every grammar rule you learn, every word you memorize, every tool you use, every drill you run — it's all already the game. Language is for connecting. Always has been. The preparation, the practice, the fumbling, the mistakes — it's all language doing what language does: reaching toward someone else.

FrenchPlay gives that reaching a home. A place to prepare together, show up with our mistakes, and discover that French comes alive when you share it.

If you want to learn French with others having fun, you've found your place. Come play with us!