Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Learn Spanish, English, or Mandarin with Lingual for iPad — A Kickstarter Project







San Diego-based Tiny Factory turned to Kickstarter to help launch a new educational game called Lingual: The Multi-Language Learning Application. According to project founder Andrew Little, “Lingual, is a multi-language learning app that has been gamified and designed to serve as an introduction to English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese.”





Lingual’s gameplay sounds like fun, and it might actually work. A player will learn not only the language of his choice but also the host country’s culture and geography during gameplay. A player’s must learn the language to best Lingual, but as gameplay proceeds the player must travel through the country during the game, passing different landmarks and experiencing its culture. Remember making a replica of the Arc de Triomphe out of sugar cubes in French class? Well, Lingual is kin of like that, only way cooler.



Lingual is a digital anti-hero with a Napoleon complex and a Twitter feed. Here’s his back story:



Once, a long time ago, all the world spoke the same, ate the same foods, wore the same clothes and lived in peace and harmony. I grew very bored of that peace and harmony though, so I spent hundreds and thousands of years separating speech and creating changes in architecture and clothes and food until people divided into groups that could no longer understand one another. Since I know language is the key to understanding, I have kept anyone and everyone from learning another tongue (and reveled in my glory).



If the project is funded the developer hopes Lingual, which will be free to download with a range of in-app purchase options, will be available from the App Store by mid-December 2012.



Even though the app might be free, project backers qualify for a range of sweet-looking gifts like a deck of language flash cards that share the app’s colorful design aesthetic. There are even still a few early bird spots available. Early birds who pledge $20 will receive a large educational poster and 40 words and icons in their choice of language. Pledge $25 and receive a pack of flash cards as a thank you gift.



Lingual is nearing its modest $5,000 project goal, but it’s not there yet. Interested backers have until Friday November 9, 2012 to help bring Lingual to market.







No comments:

Post a Comment