Learning a new language is hard and for a child, you may think it would be harder, especially as they are still perfecting their first language. However, children are sponges and learn through play so there are many ways to encourage them to learn a second language without it needing to be stressful.
DinoLingo Language App
DinoLingo is the largest online language learning program for children; 50 languages with 25,000 learning activities. It is a self-learning program, where children get to learn languages by watching videos and playing games independently at home. It is recommended for children between the ages of 2 and 12. The app is available on both Android and iOS.
Having moved to France, I chose the French lessons to help Lucas outside of school and not feel the pressure to learn as he may do in an educational setting. The French lessons are filled with animated cartoons, surprises and repetitions.
The French games for children include a variety of games such as memory matching, click and tell, word wheel game and quizzes. The games are strategically placed after each French lesson to measure the child’s French learning progress.
There are hundreds of French books for children within the app, such as world classics, short stories, fairy tales and basic picture books for both beginner and advanced French language learners. Additionally, their French book library also has over 100 French audiobooks for children with both “read along” and “translate to English” features, so children can listen to those books audio in both French and English.
Lucas really enjoys playing on this and showing me his progress in the quizzes. As he goes through the lessons, they start off as a dinosaur egg but once he has done a lesson, it hatches into a dinosaur which in Lucas’ own words ‘is so adorable’.
Learn with your child
You could also learn a new language with your child, setting some time aside each day to use the laptop together to concentrate on a new language can be fun and also a great bonding exercise. Learn Languages 24 provides lifetime access to online courses in 79 languages. They offer a standard 31-day full-money-back guarantee. This provides you with plenty of time to thoroughly check out the language courses.
Snap in French
Every child loves playing traditional card games, Snap in French will enrapture young children, and make a superb gift. Lucas got these from him Auntie last Christmas and we love playing together. As well as playing snap, they are great to use as flashcards. We say what the words are and as they have the picture on them, they are easy to learn such as Papillon on the card with a picture of a butterfly. They are beautifully illustrated with Jo Litchfield’s hand-made model characters, the cards feature everyday objects such as apples and balloons.
Listen and Learn First French Words
The listen and learn first french words looks like a book but it’s actually a clever sound panel that allows children to hear 128 everyday French words spoken by a native speaker. Lucas loves selecting a card with illustrations of a topic such as clothes, food, or animals, slotting it into the special frame and pressing the pictures to hear the words read aloud. Each of the four double-sided topic cards shows sixteen words with corresponding pictures for children to press. It’s a fun and engaging way for children to learn French as a first or second language.
First Thousand Words in French Sticker Book
A sticker book version of the classic First Thousand Words in French, featuring the much-loved illustrations of Stephen Cartwright. A valuable reading and spelling guide and a highly effective vocabulary builder, with over 500 stickers to encourage active learning and build word associations in a memorable way. Children can listen to the words in the book pronounced by a native speaker via the Usborne Quicklinks website.
The Fabulous Lost and Found
The Fabulous Lost and Found and the little French mouse. A little mouse walks into the Lost & Found, but can only speak French. How will Mr and Mrs Frog figure out what the mouse is missing…? Aimed at children aged 2-7, the unique ‘Story-powered language learning method’ combines humour, story and emotion to gently introduce children to more than forty simple and fun French words and phrases.
Giveaway
For you chance to win a one-year subscription of DinoLingo in the language of your choice, enter below. Good luck!
Win a one year subscription to DinoLingo
I think the younger kids learn a new language the better, I did a French exchange for a month when I was a teenager, and after just a few weeks I was even thinking in French!
In this day and age it is more important for children to speak more than one language, it helps with job prospects in the global market
My children have been loving learning Spanish at school over the past year or so, we’d love to continue the learning at home
lovely prize
This looks like such a fun way to learn new languages
Such an important part of a child’s learning nowadays, I’d be over the moon to win xx
This would be great for my grandchildren
great prize
I’d love to win this for my granddaughter.
What a great idea, will help my daughter at home to learn
I think once the present crisis has eventually ended, I think children with numerous languages are the ones to find work easier
This would be great for my boys.
would love to win this for my sons, always great to learn new languages x
What a lovely giveaway – I’d love to win!
A lovely giveaway, thank you. Would be great for my boys.
Brilliant giveaway I’d love this for my son
My son would love this! He’s fascinated with other countries, cultures and languages. I thought he was maybe too young to learn a second language at 5 but this is absolutely perfect.
Cool giveaway great for learning and nice to learn new languages, seem like a really good thing.
I love the photo in the field. What a great prize, would love to introduce French to my children!
I loved learning new languages as a child and I hope my children do too! Such a lovely prize x
My granddaughter, Ellie, would love this
My 9 year old was loving learning Spanish, but had to move school due to extreme bullying. Her new school doesn’t teach Spanish. So this would be wonderful for her to continue learning Spanish.
This is a good idea, my son has just started learning German in school and this would be great to reinforce his learning
What a super idea this is! My granddaughter would love this.
I would love to win this for Daisy. When she started the new school year she was so excited that they were going to learn Spanish, but then she got a part in the school play and every practice of the play is when the rest of the class learn Spanish. So the poor little soul has to put up with me trying to think how to teach a child when I’ve only experienced the learning through an adult education class!
Love this! Kids learn through play so this a fab way to learn without it being boring and too school-like. I’d love this for my daughter.
Lovely for my little ones
This looks great. My daughter just started French at school and this would really help her along.
A fantastic way to teach our children multilingual skills, which is an asset to have in this day and age!
I’d love this for my grandson.
This would be great for my grandson
This would be really handy for me & my daughter as she is learning Spanish in school and she is only 7. I don’t know any Spanish, so I wouldn’t be very good at helping her.
my son would enjoy this. he is learning french and spanish at school
my son is struggling with french atm so would be great for him to get the extra help in a really fun way x
Would love this for my grandson
This would be perfect for my nephew. Thanks for the competition!
Perfect for my kids!
Love Duolingo. My daughter has just started secondary school and is studying Spanish. We have family in Spain so we are both learning the language at the same level with the help of this app. So many other languages to choose from too. It’s surprising how easy it is to use. Can’t speak highly enough of it and we just use the basics. Would love to try the subscription package to see how it differs. Thanks for the chance.
Great educational game/idea for kids
This looks great, it’s always great to learn another language!
This looks great, I’ve been trying to teach my children French (learning myself as well with duo lingo) and I’ve been struggling to find resources that appeal to their age group.
This is a really fun way to learn a language.
Hi, Thanks so much for featuring my book The Fabulous Lost and Found! What a great photo. We now have the book available to learn 50 words in over 40 different languages! Thanks again!