Madrid / Panama City, April 28, 2020. The Spanish company Lingokids, and the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, have joined forces to facilitate free English learning for 3 months. Interested families from Latin America and the Caribbean will be able to openly access the app specialized in English learning for boys and girls from 2 to 8 years old, and to provide continuity in teaching this language during lockdown.
In the region, almost all schools are closed. It is estimated that more than 159 million children have been affected, which represents more than 95% of the student enrollment, according to the latest available data from UNESCO.
“While all children are locked down at home, it is extremely important that they continue to learn and play, but at no additional cost to their parents”, said Bernt Aasen, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Through this agreement with Lingokids, we immediately offer to Latin American children the opportunity to improve their knowledge of English free of charge, playfully and online. This collaboration illustrates how the private sector can help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on children’s education.”
“Not all boys and girls are fortunate to be able to continue learning English if it is not in their schools. Through this alliance with UNICEF we want to make our tool available to families in vulnerable situations completely free of charge,” says Cristóbal Viedma, CEO and co-founder of the company.
The Lingokids English course consists of 10 units with 60 learning routes and more than 600 activities with which children can learn and review different contents such as colors, numbers, body parts, shapes, food, animals, professions, sports, etc. In addition, it currently has a section specially dedicated to hygiene habits, one of the most efficient measures in the prevention of the pandemic.
The app uses interactive play as the main methodology (playlearning™), so it is also fun and entertaining for students, managing to retain their attention and improve their results. Likewise, the app is configured in such a way that the progress of the course adapts to the evolution of each student, with which a personalized learning is achieved, while the youngest learn other values and skills, such as empathy or critical thinking.
Lingokids joins #LearningAtHome
In addition, Lingokids joins UNICEF’s #LearningAtHome challenge, in which parents and children are facing confinement in a more fun and instructive way, meeting challenges through teaching at home and taking them together up to the social networks of the hashtag #LearningAtHome. Through content such as the Bubbles Chant by Lingokids, children can wash their hands while learning English and singing the song.
