Young primary school aged kids are like sponges that soak up everything so its important that kids learn languages at an early age to make it easier to recall in later life. The Irish language is especially important as a cultural marker for Irish kids.
While there isn’t a huge range of apps to help with Irish to choose from, here are a few that may be useful in helping the kids with their homework, or just improving their Irish in general:
Cúla4 is the young people’s service on TG4 and this free app is designed to cater for younger viewers. Explore, learn and be entertained with Irish language content. Cúla4 shows are updated regularly for all ages to enjoy. On start-up, the viewer is guided to the relevant viewing zone that is appropriate to their age group. There are 2 age zones in the app: a pre-school area and an over 6 years zone.
Aimsir is an Irish weather app providing weather forecasts for countries all over the world through Irish. Although not specifically designed with kids in mind, the app will allow the little ones to learn lots of useful weather phrases, while also learning about the climate of other countries.
Irish is both a game for Android smartphones and tablets, which helps you learn the vocabulary of the Irish language, as well being an (offline) dictionary with over 7500 words. No more need to use flashcards or scribble on vocabulary lists. Let LingoBrain do the organization and keep score for you. Start with the Easy Level and work your way up.
Nemo Irish Gaelic aims to teach the user the most essential words and phrases in the Irish language, covering topics such as food, shopping, conversation starters and travel. The most important sentence building blocks are also provided. Built in audio will allow kids to ensure they are pronouncing words correctly, allowing them to speak confidently in the language.
This app will come especially handy for kids who have just began primary school, providing them with a powerful learning tool to widen their vocabulary. Designed to resemble a pop up book, with beautiful child friendly visuals, kids will love learning Irish in this way. The app also includes an option to add a second language into the mix, allowing kids to choose from English, French, German, Spanish or Chinese.
Duolingo is a helpful app for learning a wide range of languages and the app has now grown to include Irish. Specially designed to slowly introduce the user to the language through listening, reading and writing, the app is easy to use and adapts to the pace of the learner. The daily progress chart allows you to keep an eye on how you're doing and the app also offers an option to practice your weak skills so you can work on the areas you need to.
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