The basic targets of English Kids include:
- A basic vocabulary of 200 words
- Letter and word recognition
- "Reading Readiness"
- Independent learning skills
- Sounds and rhythms of spoken English
- Motor and memory skills
The hardware requirements of the program:
- IBM PC and compatibles; Pentium, 233 MHz or higher.
- 64 MB RAM.
- Hard disk with 50 MB free disk space.
- CD-ROM x 8 or higher.
- SVGA color adapter capable of running 800x600 resolution in 16 bit color mode.
- 16 bit or higher sound card compatible with Sound Blaster.
- Windows 95, Windows 98, ME, Windows 2000 (with latest service pack installed).
- Speakers or headphones.
- Microphone.
Here is an overview of the pedagogical decisions that lie behind the development of English Kids provided by Edusoft.
Focuses on your child: That is, we make sure that your child is engaged and motivated throughout the program. Your child first meets a loveable animated character, Gumma. Like your child, Gumma is a total beginner and needs to learn basic skills, meet new characters, and learn about their needs and wishes. Gumma and your child become partners in a journey of adventure, learning, and fun.Uses simple and natural language: Your child meets delightful animated characters that speak to him in natural language and give clues to meaning. The characters speak in simple English using natural pronunciation, tone, and pace.
Provides a motivating and exciting environment: The characters often ask for assistance, making your child an active participant in everything happening on the screen. Throughout the program, graphics, animations, and dramatic dialogue arouse curiosity, give humorous relief, and provide a sense of progress. Your child experiences a rich and living visual environment that creates motivation for comprehending and communicating. English Kids transports your child to a fantasy world that is both exciting and understandable.
Exposes your child to multiple lexical items: To enhance comprehension, the program employs recurrent activities in an uncontrived way. That is, sentences and vocabulary items are repeated in different contexts to enhance language and vocabulary acquisition.
Considers the age factor: To cater to your child's age, we present simple and colorful graphics. All screens are elaborate, yet uncluttered and neat. The story line is simple, but not condescending, and the games are appropriate for young learners.
Provides choice and control: We give your child autonomy, control, and self-direction by providing interactive tasks and activities that she can easily control.
Uses language in context: We focus on authentic language environments and natural input by providing life-like situations that expose your child to natural use of language as spoken by native speakers.
Teaches useful discourse: Your child learns some of the conventions of the English language, such as how to thank people and how to ask for things.
Provides primary alphabetic input: Your child learns the letters of the alphabet that she will come to associate with words and pictures.
Builds vocabulary: In Planet ABC your child discovers a picture dictionary that displays all the important words in the program with pictures and sounds. Your child sees the written word and a picture of an object that begins with the typical sound of the letter, hears the word, and hears a sentence using the word in context.
First Impression
The strength of this program lies in the fact that it provides fun, interactive learning games tailored to a young learning audience who is encountering English for the very first time. As such, the vocabulary in the games never depend on idiomatic language, as is the case with more popular, native language young learner programs. Each game is not only entertaining and educational, it has been well planned to teach through its story line narrative, as well as its interactive components. I played this game with my daughter (Katherine, 3 years old) and she found it delightful. Young learners develop a wide range of basic English skills giving them a solid grounding to begin simple conversations with other children in English.
The graphics of the program are simple and coherent. The only weakness in the program is that navigation was not completely intuitive - at least for a old-timer like me! There is also the ability to record yourself, but it doesn't really seem to serve any particular function as it is not combined in any way with a specific task.
My Recommendation
If you want to introduce young learners who have little or no experience with English, [b">English Kids by Edusoft is an excellent choice to bring some interactivity into the classroom or your home. However, if your young learners have more experience speaking English, you may want to choose a program with a wider range of vocabulary.
For more information visit the >Edusoft site.
