The holidays are here! Lots of hustle and bustle around us. If you are like me, I am always thinking of something new and different to give my peeps. Especially friends and family with younger children that are raising them bilingually! Anything that helps parents and makes language-learning fun, entertaining and educational! I have THE gift you are looking for: the MamaLingua app!
MamaLingua English/Spanish is a language-learning app designed for parents to learn Spanish with their children. (The app can also be switched to the Español-Inglés setting for Spanish speakers who want to learn or practice English.)
The beauty of this app is that it includes a curated list of relevant words and phrases used during daily routines with children. The app is organized categorically by activity — bathing, eating, changing, playing, and reading, among other daily routines — so that it provides relevant, everyday content.
“The goal for this app was to give parents a starting point, a foundation to begin learning a second language with their kids,” says Aileen Passariello-McAleer, co-founder of the Austin-based start-up company. “We wanted our app to become a resource for parents raising bilingual children — a value addition for their language-learning journey with their children, and a tool they can implement in their daily routines.”
A great feature of the app is that it includes both audio and text, along with an easy-to-read phonetic system and the ability to search across both the Spanish and English databases. Also included is a favorites tab that allows the user to create a list of words and phrases they want to practice regularly. Here’s a video of the app in action:
English
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUPqstPAMJU
Spanish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlaqHyDEtpw
MamaLingua is currently available for iOS: http://apple.co/1PTpJRf. (Watch for the Android release in early 2017!)
Celina Zamora-Torres, mother of two daughters ages two and six, is enjoying the app.
“The MamaLingua app has been an incredible tool for my family. It’s easy to use, fun and makes me feel confident about my own language-learning as I teach my kids to become more fluent.”
What’s next for MamaLingua? They’ll soon be distributing Spanish-language books imported from Mexico and Spain. Their catalog is designed specifically to help parents and schools expand their bilingual libraries.
“The biggest problem in raising bilingual kids is finding reliable resources,” says Passariello-McAleer. “We’re curating the available resources to provide the best-quality tools for parents.”
¡Asi que no esperen! Check out MamaLingua at www.mama-lingua.com.
Bai, Bai
Maritere
