We launched the Spanish Bingo – El Bingo – and it’s currently in the store, for $0.99. Our native speaker, Celeste Lindo, has a gorgeous accent. Be sure to write us a note, too, at bingueau-at-gmail.com if you do download!
Check it out- and of course we’d love to know what you think.
Here are some screenshots to wet your appetite:
Words around the house- El Bingo
I’ve noticed my retention of the words is a lot higher if I try to say the word before I click the button. It’s like flashcards, saying the word or guessing it, before flipping over the card.
So I’m learning Spanish, and with the test version of El Bingo we have, I do the following: the word is “floor” and I say to myself, “el suelo” before clicking on it, and then I touch the word. If it’s right, it helps re-affirm that I really know it. I also challenge myself a little more.
I’m surprised at how much I’ve picked up after only playing El Bingo maybe 3 or 4 times (in the process of testing functionality).
We here at the awfully plush Le Bingueau HQ are hard at work on new levels for Le Bingueau. But before we force feed our idea of WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW down your lovely language-learning gullets, we thought we should at least go through the motions of asking what kind of themes you’d like to see in the next levels.
Heck, if any of you come up with a really creative theme, we might just have to publicly congratulate you and ditch our own brilliant level ideas! (Unheard of!)
Go to it, my pretties! Vote and comment away!
Recently, I wanted to give some of my twitter followers free Le Bingueau codes, so they could test and review. I sadly realized that a lot of them don’t have iPhones (our current device platform for Le Bingueau). Hence, this poll!
Oh dear readers, ever in the quest of serving your needs, I’d like to know what phone you have- so we can better direct our development efforts.
There are hundreds of iPhone apps to learn French. When we created ours, we mostly were focused on a learning tool that we would use- instead of a competitive analysis of what’s out there and what needs to be built. But, as a marketer and developer, I couldn’t hold back from downloading 20 or so French apps that cought my interest- and were under $2.00. Here’s the round-up, in 3 parts, first The Good, then The Bad (coming soon) and The Ugly (also coming soon). Basically- the good are well constructed, fun apps, the bad are just awful, and the Ugly are – “have potential”.
1 Minute French Vocabulary - by funvid apps.
A quick multiple test of 100 different French words, a game, and a suspenseful timer gets you pressurized. I laughed at first because of its hectic nature, but I ended up liking it and playing more and more.
Le Bingueau - by the authors of this blog (kikatka.com, banane.com).
I know I’m a little biased, but our app is very tightly constructed to use audio cues and touch events- to maximize the device for learning a new language. Making it an interactive game also combines learning with a fun activity- for all levels.
7 Jours sur la planète – by Tv5Monde
A very relevant, global current events vocabulary list, with 3 different games associated. Another great addition to a regular course, and for the grown-up learner. I enjoyed timely and relevant vocabulary. Free version is also quite hefty.
Recently I borrowed my Mom’s iPod, and on it she had a podcasts of Coffee Break Spanish- the award-winning podcast series recorded in Scotland, by Mark Pentleton. Sure, you get a dash of brogue in between the lessons, but who can’t use a little brogue for Sean Connery impressions?
I drove down the California coastline last week, from San Francisco to the border and back. I’m a fan of local radio so I did some serious dial spinning. I usually cruise right by the Spanish stations, but this time I lingered on a few truly beautiful ballads with clear lyrics. Listening to them, (by the way- a key word to know, that will serve you well: corazon) was both beautiful and instructional. Instead of the blank wall of and unknown foriegn language, now there was an inkling of what was going on in the song. “He loves her, but she’s got his heart? She won’t let go? Or does he want her to have it?” I’m even more curious to continue my lessons, and the boredom of the freeway went by more quickly as each song was a new puzzle to solve.
