Parent Advocacy
Apps to support early language learning
Planet Geo
The free part of this app allows users to practice locating world heritage sites on six continents. A picture and a brief description are displayed for each site. Users tap the spot on the map where they believe the site is located. The app shows the correct answer, scoring the performance. After five tries the turn ends, but the game can be played multiple times with a variety of heritage sites to practice.
The app can use be accessed in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan or Russian.
Additional games are available for $1.99.
GeoExpert Lite
The free part of this app allows users to practice a few countries, capitals and flags for North America, South America, Europe and Africa. Users tap a continent, and then choose to study or play. When studying, information about the capital, country area, population, density and flag are provided.
The app can be accessed in English, Bokmål, Norwegian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Traditional Chinese, and Turkish.
The full version is available for $4.99.
Haiku Deck
Access to high quality images for slide show presentations are only a tap away. Search this free app for images of famous people, tourist attractions and groups of people to enhance instruction when teaching about other cultures.
Oy Ahoy
This App presents two cultural stories, Oy Mexico and Oy China, intended to let toddlers explore the world with their fingertips, in a series of apps each representing a unique country or culture and its traditions.
Touch, Look, Listen – My First Words
This app works like a board book, so it is appropriate for very young learners. It covers 14 different pre-school subjects and uses rhymes, and pop-up 3D scenes. $1.99
Do you know of an app that we should consider?
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French language apps
Penyo Pal
Learn French vocabulary – Penyo Pal – the free game is with fruit vocabulary. You listen or read the word, then match a picture to it. The other 2 games to purchase are The Banker (40 words related to math numbers, money, finance and banking or The Artist (40 words related to colors, art tools, supplies and instruments).
Upgrades can each be purchased for $.99, $3.99 or $5.99.
Animaux (Animals)
Learn French for Kids. Only the Animaux flashcards are free. You hear and see the word in French and English with an accompanying picture of a cute color drawing. You can purchase all the flashcards (Moyens de Transport, Corps, Choses, Alphabet, Chiffres, Formes, Couleurs, Temps, Musique, Hobbies, Nourriture et boissons, Fruits et legumes) for $3.99.
Devine qui c’est! (Guess who!)
This app is the French version of Guess Who!, a face-matching game for 1 or 2 players. Free games are La Classique, Monstres, ou Noël. Pay for Pirates, Vikings ou Héros. This game consists of a board of 24 characters. The game starts with receiving one of the characters; the goal of the game is to be the first to discover who your adversary’s character is. Along the way, players alternately pose questions about the character’s physical features (hair, eyes, nose, glasses, etc.) This app would assist students with questioning skills about physical traits and is best for upper elementary or immersion students.
L’alphabet en s’amusant! (The alphabet is fun!)
Through 8 activities, the app teaches kids to recognize letters (lower and upper case), trace and draw letters fro a template, order letters, hear and pronounce, and form words with magnets. Cost $ .99.
Gus Learns French for Kids
Join Gus, the friendly owl, as he travels around the world and explore French through animations and fun exercises. This app presents basic vocabulary concepts with interactive visual and auditory lessons on numbers, colors, shapes and more. Native French language audio speaker. This app costs $3.99.
Euro: Pièce de monnaie (Euro: Coins)
This app has seven interactive games for learning, counting, paying, making change, and associating with Euro coins. Twenty Euro centimes are rewarded to the player for each correct response, and children can use the money they earn to “buy” food in the store to eat later. The games are nice complements to other elementary school work with money and could be used from primary to upper elementary. The app costs $1.99.
Naoplay Kids: Chiffres (Numbers)
This app is good for reviewing the numbers 0-9. For free you hear the pronunciation of the number when you press on the star with the number. Games and exercises cost $1.99.
J’apprends les formes et les couleurs Lite
(I’m learning shapes and colors)
Learn to recognize the shapes and colors with simple games. Free.
4 Images, 1 Mot (4 images, 1 word)
The French version of 4 Pics 1 Word. Grade 6 and up. Free.
French Words for Kids
This App helps learn to pronounce and write French words. 240 word-picture-audio combinations are used to learn to spell and pronounce French words. Three levels of difficulty are available. Based on a spelling activity from the Montessori method using a movable alphabet includes cursive, lowercase and capital print. Cost $3.99.
Spanish language apps
Learn Spanish
This free app provides audio practice for identifying vocabulary in Spanish for animals, fruits & vegetables, shapes, colors, numbers and the alphabet. Users listen to the audio instructions and then tap the correct image. When the correct image is tapped a larger version of the picture is presented.
¿RU Inteligente? (Are you smart?)
This brainteaser app helps users practice colors, numbers and other things in Spanish. Each game is timed and surprises are included in the directions to keeps users on their toes.
My quince dress
Search for the perfect quinceañera dress in this app. View the collection of quinceañera gowns, dama dresses, flower girl dresses, and hairstyles.
Spanish Playground Apps
Learn Spanish with playground games that are interactive and educational while making learning easy and fun. This APP is designed for both iPhone and iPad for $2.99.
Learning Spanish with Marta
The free version of this app includes texts, vocabulary lists and games to practice physical descriptions, family, and pets in Spanish. Short texts written entirely in Spanish include visual supports to help users improve their reading comprehension without switching to English. The vocabulary lists include words, pictures and audio so users can hear the word pronounced correctly.
The $.99 version of the app includes interactive reading texts, more vocabulary support, and additional opportunities to practice the vocabulary through games.
Spanish School Bus for Kids
This free app includes games to practice numbers 1-20 and colors. Users can practice the vocabulary first with flashcards that include a picture, the word in English, the world in Spanish and an audio pronunciation of the word or listen to all of the vocabulary by tapping the small TV screen to watch a short video. There are 3 timed games for each set of vocabulary. The game is finished once three incorrect answers have been given or all vocabulary is identified correctly. Users can choose to replay levels or advance to the next level when enough points are earned.
The $4.99 version of the app gives access to games about shapes, animals, clothing, family, body, food, days of the week, months, weather, opposites, transportation, school, jobs, kitchen, rooms in a house, and verbs.
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