Talkie Articulation

What is Talkie Articulation app?

Talkie Articulation app is a clinical designed app that helps young children understand, learn and practice speech-sound production, a key facet of learning to read and being immersed in language.

What we love about Talkie Articulation

There are so many aspects that make this is an excellent app that it is hard to mention them all in one review! I really love the ability, at the beginning of the app, to build the wordlists for the game by selecting from a whole range of parameters. This allows the user to really drill down and personalise the learning experience for each individual user.

The graphics on the app are excellent with bold, simple pictures depicting the themes and words that the user works their way through. The screen allows for the main picture to take up the whole screen in the game play aspect with extra features around the main picture to aid in the practice and the main features of the app.

Then there are the actual games within the app and how they go about helping the user to learn and practice each sound. The user is encouraged to listen, then repeat and then listen back to a recording of their own voice to understand whether they have correctly learnt the sound.

What skills does it improve?

Talkie Articulation app is a language learning app. Using it, children learn how listen to, read and speak certain sounds through a range of different games.  Although each of the 5 games is slightly different their premise is very similar: from utilising the pre-build word list users must listen to the sound, repeat it then listen back to the recording of their voice and judge whether they are correct.

By listening to the sound children are challenged to comprehend what has been said and specifically how it has been said and then they must repeat it correctly. In having to listen back to their voice they are able to listen to the correct sound and then their version of it to see if they have got it right.

The tasks and their learning potential are well matched to pre-school children and those who have just started school.

What age is it appropriate for?

Talkie Articulation is rated for children between 3 and 7.  Any child who can understand how to interact with a touch-screen device can enjoy playing this app.

Is Talkie Articulation easy to use?

The app is incredibly easy to use however, in the beginning part of the app it is designed for a professional to judge the need of the user and to set the correct parameters for the user to make sure the learning is as personalised as can be. Due to this some parents may not understand what they are doing if they have not had any guidance. However, once in the gameplay of the app it is very easy for the child to understand and use.

How will students benefit?

Children will enjoy the experience of the game. Moving their way through the specified word lists that have been created for them and learning as well as practicing all the sounds. There are games and bonus games to keep them engaged in the learning and wanting to come back for more.

How will teachers benefit?

Teachers can make use of the personalised learning element of the app and can direct word lists for specific children, dependant on their need and can direct parents in how they think the app can be used utilised with their child.

How will parents benefit?

In having such a personalised learning experience parents will benefit from knowing that the app is being directed specifically at their child’s needs. With the word lists able to be created by the professional the parent is able to simply use the app with their child in the knowledge that the whole content of the app has been specifically created and directed in the right way to make the biggest impact on their child’s learning.

What Talkie Articulation can improve on?

Talkie Articulation is easy to use, and is fun for children to play, has a great premise and has been designed in a smart way. It’s very difficult to pick any faults in the app except to suggest some things that might make it even better. One of these, in my mind, would be to have a way of recording progress within the app. This would allow parents as well professionals the ability to see what a child has already completed, how long they have worked on a sound, the app as a whole and can then inform an even more personalised learning experience.

There is also no specific way to be able to share a word list that a professional has created to another device. Only by sharing the parameters for the parent to copy when they get home can this be achieved. Although this is perfectly simple to do maybe a way to share word lists simpler could be an improvement.

How much does Talkie Articulation cost?

Talkie Articulation has a couple of different versions, from a free version to a pro version. Within the app the In-App purchases as certain extra costs dependant on how much content you wish to unlock. The free version allows you to use the m sound in all games. The paid version at $27.99 allows access to everything and single sounds can be purchased at $5.99. 

What is included with the free version vs. paid?

Purchases allow the user to access more content. The user can buy single phonemes for $5.99 or the whole phoneme list for $27.99

Is Talkie Articulation safe to use

Talkie Articulation content is completely child-friendly and contains no content that could be considered inappropriate or unsafe for children.

Overall rating of the app

If you want to a very well designed app that personalises learning to the individual user and that will help to improve your child’s spoken language then you would be hard pushed to find a better than this. Designed specifically for speech therapists the learning within the app is completely focussed on creating improvements in speech-sound production and it does it wonderfully completely deserving its 5 star EAS review.

You can download Talkie Articulation on your iOS or Android devices from the app stores. Download the Talkie Articulation app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.