Lyriko Will Teach You Spanish with Music!

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this product, free of charge,from Lyriko, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it



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Do your New Year's plan and resolutions include travel, or learning a new language?

Are your kids struggling with learning Spanish?



A new app called Lyriko might just be YOUR solution!

Available for Android and IOS, this new FREE app mixes rhythm and music in a fun language learning game, that will have you singing along in no time, and learning vocabulary with ease!

Lyriko has been in development for a couple years now and has already received great reviews!

Check out the trailer for the app, before I tell you more:


It is so easy for kids to learn a new language, but SO hard for adults, isn't it?

 With Lyriko you can quickly learn language skills you can use NOW, and be able to meet educational and travel challenges! 

Founder Dan Roy says this about the program:

I always loved music and games, so I thought if I could make a game out of it, I'd enjoy practicing, want to spend more time studying, and progress faster. Similarly, when I found a new favorite song, I would listen to it often until I knew all the words and could sing along. Also, if I learned a language through songs, all the words would be in context. Song lyrics are a memorable way to connect a word with the way it sounds, what it means, and the feelings it can evoke.


With those ideas in mind, I designed Lyriko. It has four modes, to help people with a range of learning preferences practice the foundational skills. If you're already studying in a course or with another program, think of Lyriko as an extra tutor that can help you meet your goals even faster!


Let's check out those four game modes: 


Picture It
Learning new words with both text and pictures creates multiple connections in the mind, making remembering easier. The mind has ways of thinking that are comfortable and familiar for it, like paths through the woods. Each time it thinks in the same way, that path gets stronger. Remembering a word is like finding a clearing in the woods - the more paths there are to that clearing, and the stronger each path is, the easier it is to find it. This is especially helpful for people who prefer visual learning. Miss Grace excelled at this section, but then she is more of a visual learner, than I am, so that makes sense. She enjoyed going though all. The program goes at a steady rate, making it asy to follow!





Impostor 
When learning a new language, you're overloaded with unfamiliar text and sounds. The brain responds to overload by ignoring information it thinks is not as important, like small differences in spelling or pronunciation, especially at the end of a word. Many words have multiple endings (learn/learns/learned/learning), and these differences can be hard to notice. Impostor changes the spelling of a word in each line of the song, and challenges you to listen and read carefully to find that mistake. This trains the brain about what kinds of information are important, so it doesn't ignore it. Over time, these small mistakes become more obvious, helping learners find them in their own writing or speech, too.

This was a fun way to compare different words, and to see them in context in a sentence, to actually start visualizing sentence structure as well.




Interlude
The first time you hear a new language, it's hard to separate words from each other; all the sounds seem to run together! Even if you know the meaning and spelling of a word, you may not hear it when it's used in a conversation. Interlude strengthens this text-sound connection, challenging you to match what you see and hear by removing one word in each line. Seeing and hearing a word at the same time also connects the spelling and pronunciation in your mind so you can read out loud without fear!

With the Romance Languages, words can easily blend together, and with Spanish, the trill can confuse early learners, so seeing the words on screen, AS they are being said, ala karaoke, allows the mind to make the associations, and remember them. 


Reference
Sometimes, you just want to know what the song is about without the extra challenge of the game modes. In Reference mode, there's no score, so you can calmly listen to the song and read translations. There are whole-line translations to help you understand the idea of the song quickly, and there are also translations of each word and phrase - touch anything to find out what it means in this context and see a picture. When you're comfortable with the song, challenge yourself in one of the game modes!

Knowing a good bit of Spanish, I actually liked this mode the best, as it allowed me to learn new words in context, and in a really fun way!


Achievement
Learning a language takes time, and sometimes you might feel like you’re not progressing. Our achievements will help you measure your progress and stay motivated. Even better, as you complete achievements, you’ll get credits to unlock new songs for yourself or...

Miss Grace was thrilled to be able to earn points and then use them to unlock new songs! For the gaming generation, this type of achievement credits is something they can really relate to and love to earn!




Friends
Another good way to stay motivated is to share the journey with friends! Connect with friends inside Lyriko to see each other’s progress. Also, you’ll earn credits from achievements that you can give as gifts to your friends to encourage them and help everyone stay motivated! This is fun for teens espeically, to see who can get the most points and then share them!


Lyriko comes with four free songs, and you can unlock a bunch more for free, by completing the achievements and sharing free gifts with friends. If you want to get even more songs, check out the store inside the app, and you can purchase more! 

This is a really fun and easy to use app, and we can't recommend it enough! And once you try this app, you'll be hooked at how easy it is to learn a new language this new year! 

Comments

  1. This just makes soooo much sense!! Definitely a "duh" moment for me. As an adult I have tried to both learn the piano and learn Spanish without success. But growing up I remember creating jingles to help me remember things for tests at school with great success. I would love to give Lyriko a try.

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