Change iPad’s Language

This little tip may be well-known to many, but it was new to me. Plus, making this short tutorial gave me another chance to practice using an amazing app called “Explain Everything.” I will have to blog about that one at some point because it is just awesome!

Here’s the tutorial on how to change your iPad’s language settings:

You might be pleasantly surprised to find that this helps change some of your apps to your language of choice! You can also check by googling the app title with “iTunes” to view the languages available. See picture of this in this blog post. <—Look down to the second picture. If you find the language you want when you research, and you don’t see a way to change the language in the app itself, try changing the entire iPad’s language settings.

That’s all for now! Hope you have an appy day! 🙂

Today’s English & French Freebies

Here are few apps for kids that may be of interest to families with younger children. All are available today for free.

The English freebies are:

Montessori ABC for Kids HD: Learn and Trace Alphabet Letters

Here’s a YouTube video that give you a sneak peak. Oh how I wish this was available in French!

and The Trip Little Critter GamePac

Here’s a YouTube video of the Little Critter app. This would be a great find for children learning English! Once again, I really wish this was available in French.

 

The French freebie pick of the day:

Expand It! More information and a sneak peak available in this YouTube video. From the looks of this video, there unfortunately doesn’t look like today’s only French freebie will provide my children with much language input. It does look like there will be some written text, but I don’t seem to hear much language in the app. It does look like a fun thinking game for young ones, though.

 

I’d love to see more apps available in multiple languages that provide language input! I’m alway disappointed when I see an app available in French (or Spanish), but then find that there is very little language involved once launched.

If anyone can point me in the direction of more fun French or Spanish apps, please send them my way! Thank you!

Le goûter de Miss Spider

Le goûter de Miss Spider is a wonderful French freebie! The language used is quite advanced, but my 4 and 5 year olds were able to sit tight and give a listen. I’m thinking that with time, this story will become more comprehensible for them, but in the meantime, the animation provided by the “regarder” button helps them for sure! You can choose to watch the animation, where the text is highlighted as it’s being read. The animation runs like a movie, so you can pause, rewind or fast forward. You cannot, however, interact with the “regarder” feature. When you choose the “lire” button, children have a chance to touch the pictures in order to make parts of them animate. There is also some fun to be had with the “Memory,” “Colorier,” and “Puzzle” buttons. I love the story and the lesson it teaches…don’t judge a book by its cover!

Since the level of language being used in this story is so complex, I wouldn’t recommend this app for teachers with novice learners. I would, however, recommend it to parents raising their children bilingual children who have had previous exposure to the language for some time. The app is also available in English and Spanish. All versions are free. Here’s a video review of the English version. I’m looking forward to using this app again with my children soon!

Apps Gone Free

This is my new favorite app! Apps Gone Free.

Every day, I’ll check for new freebies. Be forewarned, the apps provided on Apps Gone Free are only free for a short window of time…about one day or so.

I browse the freebies and look for apps that look interesting to me and for my 4 and 5-year-old. Then I search the titles online to see if they are available in other languages. If they aren’t available in French or Spanish, I skip them. If they are, I’ll download them to check them out…after all, you can’t beat free!  When you search the titles and choose the link that brings you to iTunes, look to the left underneath the app icon to see what languages the app offers:

Check languages available before downloading! 🙂

I’m now on the search for a similar app that provides a list of freebies that are only in French and Spanish. If anyone knows of one that exists, please share! Merci & Gracias!