Learn Languages With Amy

Learn Languages with Amy is very well presented with quality animations and audio features that will captivate you and your children, effectively guiding them through the initial steps of their language-learning journey. The language app aims to improve your child’s vocabulary and pronunciation, while also helping older children with their reading skills. It features puzzles, memory games and quizzes using an colourfully animated interface.

The majority of the language pairings come with well over twenty themes (for Dutch, German, and English – thirteen for the remaining languages) that cover words used in common activities and situations, which will enrich their language development and vocabulary-base. The app, offers free ‘sample’ lessons – three in total – but the remaining will require an in-app purchase or subscription to unlock. 

The app is geared at regular, immersive, interval learning, whereby little and often’ will reap the greatest rewards, with each language to be studied broken down into various, easy-to-navigate topics. 

It is available as a free download on iOS, Android, and via the dedicated website; however, extended content needs to be purchased on a monthly subscription of $2.99. Subscription prices are lower when availing half a year ($14.49) or annual plans ($26.49).

What we love about Learn Languages with Amy

Learn Languages with Amy is an extremely well-presented app that is clear and effective in what it sets out to do, as it guides learners through some of the most common and highly useful-initial vocabulary topics for the given languages. The app itself is divided into easy-to-navigate topics, which are presented in playful and engaging ways.

The app is free to install and use, but a subscription is required to extend beyond the three ‘sample’ lessons. Subsequently, the user can easily choose his/her language pairings for study and then will embark on their language-learning adventure. You can set instructions in your own mother tongue, or of the language your child is learning as they become more advanced and grow in confidence. To which I have previously alluded, there are some six language pairings, each with well-structured topics, broken down into instructional ‘slideshow’, interactive reinforcement games, and culminating in the option for a ‘test’.

Learn Languages with Amy offers an easy-to-follow progression, divided into core topics, which comprise of approximately 20 of the most common words and phrases per topic – you can choose from categories such as numbers, colours, zoo, food, sport, house, and more – and, subsequently, complete some reinforcement activities aimed at gradually increasing familiarity and, thereby, accuracy of use and understanding. Content is regularly updated – as well as regular updates and improvements – meaning that there will always be new and interesting ways for your child to explore and extend within the platform.

Study sets or ‘topics’ usually begin with a ‘slideshow’, whereby you get an overview of the core language to be covered seeing it visually presented in the form of simple, intuitive, and effective flashcards, with the audio overlay being read aloud and the word itself appearing at the top of the screen. The positive it that the vocabulary and phrases are being learnt in a gradual and naturally receptive way; however, anyone looking to explanation as to why language is structured in certain ways will be left none the wiser.

For example, in German: why do the articles preceding a noun keep changing? Such questions will go unanswered, yet it must be pointed out that this is not the intent or scope of Learn Languages with Amy – here, this platform seeks to introduce the basics in an interactive and engaging way that feels natural and accessible. The same is true for the other more interactive elements, as the variety of tasks on offer allow for fun and interesting engagement with the language, without the inevitable boredom that occurs with repetition of the same words over and over again. Following on from the ‘slideshow’ facility, there are options to play a ‘memory’ style pair-matching game, and a ‘puzzle’ – where you drag pictures over their silhouettes and listen to the audio overlay.

Finally, the ‘test’ option concludes the topic, where the key words must be matched to its appropriate picture. Each activity is an effective and engaging tool to reinforce the prior learning process and recap the words and/or phrases that the user has recently explored. Through the aforementioned games, children’s listening and reading skills are measured by the app, and can be viewed by parents and/or carers. It should be noted that the results are available for a limited time only; namely, with a subscription you can view the results of the last two weeks which can be filtered according to theme and skill.

Conveniently, there is no obligation to complete the activities in a set order, nor is there a pre-requisite that content needs to be gradually unlocked. Once you take out your subscription all content is immediately available.

Overall, it is an extremely well-presented app with quality visual and audio features that will not only enrapture but also support your child’s emotional and cognitive development.

Is Learn Languages with Amy easy to use?

Learn Languages with Amy is neatly and attractively designed and is extremely easy to select the content that they wish to watch / their child to watch. Users will see that both the apps and website are intuitive and very easy-to-navigate.

How much does the app cost?

Learn Languages with Amy is available free on the App and Play Stores, as well as having a more comprehensive, dedicated website, with in-App purchases ranging from $2.99 per month for all language pairings. Subscription prices are lower when availing half a year ($14.49) or annual plans ($26.49).

The in-app purchases pertain to unlocking additional content beyond the three sample lessons’, which cover the topics of ‘zoo’, ‘body’, and ‘food and drink’.

Is Learn Languages with Amy safe to use?

Yes, Learn Languages with Amy is safe to use, with it being ad-free and all content being appropriate for all age of user. The app is incredibly straightforward to use and is clearly designed for small children. Scrolling is completely intuitive, there are no unnecessary buttons or add-ons, and the interface will ensure that your child will only remain on the intended content. Further parental settings allow for change of language features and accessing the dedicated support website. You can also find the comprehensive ‘Test results’ section whereby you can track what content your children have been accessing and how long they have performed.

What Learn Languages with Amy, can improve on

There are some minor areas for improvement as the audio and visual elements are of very good quality, in my opinion. The app interface is clear, entertaining, but not over-stimulating for young users, and can be easily navigated. As far as I could see, there are no content or pronunciation errors, which is highly commendable.

The initial learning process for your words and/or phrases is, in that you will see a term or phrase presented within a slideshow, which displays a picture, the target-language words at the top of the screen and reads aloud the target language word for your child to repeat – although, a small number of pictures are not entirely clear as to what they may represent. In this case, there are some aspects of the instructional flashcards where the content is a little inaccessible to language novices as the image is not inherently obvious without context. Some examples include the pictures for fruit in general – does this represent fruit or a specific type (i.e. citrus fruits); jungle gym and slide. With a little more context, pictures less open to interpretation, or the option to rotate a flashcard to reveal the word in child’s native language would be a useful addition to this facility.

I would, also, like to see a greater range of interactivity beyond the core four exercises. The memory and puzzle activities are very intuitive and easy to navigate; yet, older children may begin to lose interest due to their simplicity – the puzzle task involves matching a picture to a silhouette, with the learning element arising when the child listens to the audio overlay.

Overall rating of the app

In conclusion, I would easily give Learn Languages with Amy a rating of 5-stars, according to Educational App Store ranking system. It effectively introduces users some of the most common words and topics across six different language groupings. The immersive intent, whereby slideshows and activities repeat the terms will help young learners gradually and effectively learn and retain vocabulary, nicely supported with authentic-sounding audio pronunciation. The games allow good scope for a young audience to begin and then progress in their chosen language.

You can download Learn Languages With Amy on your iOS or Android devices from the app stores. Download the Learn Languages With Amy app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.