Lingokids - Monkimun Inc

App Review

This review of Lingokids was completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 24 September 2020.

About the app

This section contains details about the app provided by an ACCM Reviewer.

ACCM review

This review of Lingokids contains the following information:

• The level to which the game was reviewed
• App description
• Reviewers comments
• In App purchasing
• Online information
• Gambling
• Advertising and product placement
• Gender stereotypes and sexual references
• Coarse language
• Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents
• Other

The level to which the game was reviewed

The game was played for several hours. Activities in units one, two and seven were sampled.

App description

Lingokids is a collection of fun and engaging resources to help young children learn English as a second language. Resources include games, animated songs, tracing activities and live-action tutorials.  For example, a game of memory with 10 pairs of cards to match, each card has a picture of an item (for example, a ‘bathroom’ theme with a toothbrush, some soap, etc.) and as the child clicks to turn the card over, the name of the item is shown and read slowly so that they can see and hear the name. Another example: a letter appears, is read aloud and then the child must trace along with their finger. This is then reinforced by hearing words that start with that letter sound. There are lots of animated songs and cute characters for children to engage and interact with.

Resources are organised into 10 units that get progressively harder and build upon the previous units’ learning. Children must complete one unit before ‘unlocking’ and moving to the next. Each unit has between 34 and 77 activities that cover a range of themes to build vocabulary, reading and writing skills. There is a parent section and a child section. Once the app has been set up in the parent section, children can freely explore the many different activities. As children complete an activity, they are awarded little ‘stickers’ which are motivating and also help keep tabs on where they are up to.

Reviewers comments

Lingokids gives parents access to a large collection of simple games and activities with a focus on learning English. Parents can be actively involved in working through the units and the app could potentially be used as the basis for more formal English language lessons. Through the parent section (which needs numbers entered to access – which any child over seven will be able to do very easily so be aware!) you can monitor and see how your child is progressing through each unit, you can access forums and articles on ESL learning for children and can connect with other parents. The developer also provides many extra resources such as print outs and ‘Lingocamp’ - which is a more structured and guided approach to using the material.

The resources are very similar to many preschool-targeted games, but in addition they have clear and slow audio instructions and all words are both written and spoken – making it ideal for children learning English, who will enjoy playing but will also learn and integrate new vocabulary at the same time.

Parents should be aware that this is an ongoing subscription service – not a one-off payment. So, unless you cancel this game, you will be charged on a monthly basis.

In App purchasing

There is no In-App purchasing in this game.

Free version is available for trial but then subscription/month.

Online information

There is no online information required to play this game.

In order to use the app you need to sign up for a free trial. To get the free trial you need to provide either your apple account details or credit card. At the time of this review, the free trial was 7 days and then your account is charged for one full month access.

Gambling

At the time of review, the reviewer found no simulated gambling content. If you discover simulated gambling content in this app, please contact us with the details so we can update our review.

Advertising and product placement

There is no advertising or product placement in this game.

Gender stereotypes and sexual references

None noted.

Coarse language

None noted.

Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents

None noted.

Other

N/A.

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