In a society which is becoming increasingly global, the desire to raise bilingual children is becoming a top priority for many parents. There are books, classes, playdates, CD’s, DVD’s and ofcourse Apps. I do think that learning from your immediate environment is a more enriching and organic experience, but the app craze coupled with the newly released iPad simply cannot be ignored as a very successful means to introduce children to another language. There are so many different approaches in the development of these apps that provide a dimensional platform for children to immerse themselves in and learn basic Spanish. These apps act as a great gateway to more advanced studies of languages as well as a passion for them.
Below are some apps that teach Spanish to children.
1. Primeras Palabras
Primeras Palabras from Early Apps is an exciting educational game for kids to learn their first words in spanish and develop their vocabulary. Through various exercises, your kids can learn how to pronounce and identify shapes, colors, numbers, animals, and the abcs. The illustrations and colors are very engaging. Categories are also really wonderful. Also available in English. Available at itunes.
3. My Bilingual Baby
Developed by a speech therapist, this app is designed to help babies learn the different sounds of the Spanish Language in different formats. Available at itunes.
““My Bilingual Baby†goes beyond simple lists of words and phrases. Unlike other teaching methods for babies and children, in this system the baby is exposed to phonemically balanced words, carefully selected by trained speech and language professionals. In this product all phonemes of the language are presented in the three positions of the word: Initial, medial and final. “ – PR Log
You can read the press release here.
3. Toddler Flash Cards
Simple application which teaches the names of animals, foods, and other objects, as well as the alphabet and numbers. What I love about it is the real photos. Also teaches words in French and Spanish. Available at itunes.
4. Peekaboo Barn
This is a fun way to teach your little one farm animals and the noises they make. They guess who is behind the barnyard door after hearing an animal sound. One tap on the door and they find out who it is! And to make it an even more exciting learning experience, the names of the animals can appear in Spanish or English! Available at itunes.
5. Hola! Hola!
Teaches basic Spanish sounds (phonemes) of carefully selected objects in a fun and entertaining way.
In this app your little one will find:
• entertaining and eye-catching images
• Spanish words’ sounds for common objects easily applied in everyday life activities (see list below)
• words spoken by a friendly native speaker
• a manageable list of words crafted for toddlers with limited attention span and a great love for repetition
• easy navigation through arrows and intuitive finger slide for them to be in control
• easy activation
Are you a parent who is kind of fluent in Spanish and need some extra help with saying certain phrases?
Apps like Jibbigo and iSpeak Spanish are great for this kind of thing. Jibbigo is a speech to speech translation app which speaks back to you whatever you want translated in the language of your choice by just speaking in the phrase you need. With itranslate Spanish, you type into a window what you want translated and a text translation comes up. You can also have the option of hearing it spoken.
A great web site for parents who are raising bilingual children or interested in doing so is:
http://www.spanglishbaby.com/
Great resources and a wealth of information on everything from homeschooling a bilingual child to Spanish immersion programs to bilingual toys. Simply awesome!
So if you are a parent interested in raising a bilingual child this is really a great time to take advantage of the latest trends and technologies available. There is so much out there it really makes it possible!
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