Dic-Dic. Multilingual dictation

It can be such a chore to get children to learn their spellings for school. Some take to it more easily than others. However, this app makes learning the words fun and engaging.

There are three levels to choose from in the Dic-Dic app: “Easy, Intermediate and Difficult”. Each level has appropriate words with a variety of complication. You can also choose to have a hint in the spelling so that the words are already spelt in light coloured letters and all you have to do is find and type the same letters in your type pad or, if you do not want this “hint” you can turn it off so that you get a complete test game.  We thought that the best thing about this app is the voice-over of the children saying the words and the letters when you write them in. If you get something wrong, the voiceover encourages you to try again. We really liked having a child talking to a child to learn vocabulary as it makes i the process more fun and informal.  

The words and spellings can be practised in British English as well as American English, which is a nice touch.  When the user starts getting the words correct first time, there is a “notebook” feature on the right hand of the screen which lists all of the words that the user has completed. This acts as an overview for both parent/teacher and child so that they can look over all of the new words that he/she has learnt how to spell and to identify which words may still need more practice.

The illustrations that accompany the words are very vivid and serve to commit the words to memory. There is also a section with only the pictures so that you can practice the new vocabulary.

Another thing that was great to see was that spellings in French and Spanish take into account the accents in spellings. Therefore, it enhances the usage of the type pad as well as making children aware of the different rules of accents in the languages. The app also differentiates between capital and lower-case letters which is also great to add to the beginnings of a foundation for the rules of grammar.

Overall, this is a great app that can be used with pre-school kids through to primary school kids. You can set it to your child’s level or use the app to take your child through the different levels. We think that this app is a great way to progress with spelling in different languages. The app is efficient in that it will take less time for children to commit new words to memory as the drawings help to create associations between spellings and words.  Every school or home should have this app as it sets the groundwork for further vocab and grammar learning in the native language and also, it introduces children to foreign languages. This a great package in an app and we can’t wait to hear more from this developer.