Author: Muna Abdullahi

I felt like it was essential I did some competitive research on apps that offer the service of learning new language as I want to incorporate this element to my app.

Duolingo is a renown business/app that allows people to learn new languages free of charge. This is a great USP as learning a new language can be expensive limiting the amount of consumers.

The app offers a personalised, tailored ways to learn for each of their costumers. Research shows that everyone learns in different ways especially those’s with a learning difficulties; those who have a learning difficulty they are more likely not to be engage, less motivated to lean. Duolingo set their aim to make learning fun by using games, they believe that children are more likely to learn if learning is fun and non conventional. With the use of technology they are able to create an effective, innovative ways to learn.

Duolingo has over 120million users which indicates there is a market for concept.

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Design interfaces 

I then went on to download the app, it was so easy to navigate which is really good for those’s who cant read English.

On the first page you have the option to pick what language you would like to learn using simple but effective icons. This has given me the inspiration to add icons instead of using text only. It also makes it the app more enticing and gives the impression that they understood there target market audience.  What also stood out was that each icon used a colour that is used in the country national flag suggestion a clear pre production research and planning. Also having a coloured background with the images of famous monuments in the colour whites gives the page a nice fluid flow (cohesive). In addition have the country’s famous monuments acts as visual signifier, this idea will come in handy when creating my app as some of the students may not be able to read English but can identify with the monuments.

 

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 Interaction 

Duolingo allows the user to make a daily or weekly goals showing the users progression. This idea works ideally with my concept because it will encourage the parents and pupils to set goals for together with their idea speed and time. Children with learning difficulties often put of by deadlines and test in school, but this option will give them the confidence to set a goal for themselves outside school which they hope to achieve without it being officially marked in school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Understanding The Limitations And Over Coming Them  

Duolingo also offers the users to pick the level of which they are in their chosen language. This is great way to create learning materials to suit different levels. Children are often are at different levels and one way that teacher can accommodate pupils is giving them worksheet that suits their level of learning. This option has given me the inspiration to have this option on my app, because it gives the variety of different materials to accommodate different levels. For example a pupil who is Dyslexic may be more advanced than a pupil who has zero to none understanding and it will be a mistake to have worksheets that is set to one level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Icons  

I one reoccurring theme throughout the app is the use of icons. Each Icon signifiers different categories and subject they are available to learn. Duolingo give the users more varieties of things to learn than Learn English Kids app. Having such a wide varieties of things to study gives the customer a chance to learn all the different aspect of the language but broken down to mini units. This is a great idea as my intended audience may be thrown by the amount of information given to them at once, but having mini units will allow them to concentrate on one subject at a time. Once they are confident about what they have learnt they are able to take a test to see how much they have learnt. This has given me the idea to add the option of having the answers available at the end of the test so they are able to see what they have answered wrong with an explanation. It will also give them the chance to re take the test and see the difference between the first try and their second try. This can also promote children’s ability to take feedback and implement it in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Findings

Overall Duolingo has given me so much things to think about when creating my App such as what time of function will it have, layout and design. Duolingo has effectively achieved their aim to make learning fun and effective, using images and simple icons to engage the viewer.

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Sites Used:

https://www.duolingo.com/

Immigration in the United Kingdom had dropped slightly in the 2016 to 273,000. This still means more children have to learn a second language (English) whist their at school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These statistic show even though there is a decline in migrant there are still a vast majorities of people who may not speak any English at all when they migrate to the United Kingdom. This strongly suggest there is a market gap for my proposed idea.

Also due to the advancement of technology now more than ever more people are using the internet which is widely accessible on their phones, tablets and computers.

 

 

This findings show that is mandatory my app should be available on all different media platforms such as Apps and websites; which are compatible with Apple and Androids to ensure I tap into   a wider market audience.

 

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Learn English British Council

 

An App and website that helps children learn English. They offer an wide range of different teaching techniques for their users, using things such as music and animation to help engage and make learning fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will be using the research from the past that show children can learning in different ways and specially children with learning difficulties tend to be more engage with education using non conventional methods such as reading a writing,

This app is only available on Google Play, this limits the amount amount of the intended audience and for this reason I will be aiming to make my app available on all different App search engines such as iTunes.

Learn English Kids also encourages interactive participation  with the parents. This option gives parents advice and a chance to see their child’s progression. I really like this concept because it also engages the parents to join the process of their child eduction.

However the target audience is 6-12 years, which can cause another limitation on how many users can use their services. Having a learning difficulty stays with the individual throughout their life and i believe it shouldn’t be limited to a certain age. Also there as many students who go to secondary school without being speaking, reading and writing english. So this app does not cater to this market gap. I will be aiming to create an app that can be used until their are 16 years old so it can give them the best chance of gaining the grades that they deserve.

In addition this app does not offer my core appeal which is converting lesson plans to different languages. This can suggest that my concept will be a great unique venture in the hopes of changing how children learn without the language barrier.

Learn English Kids has over 100,000 downloads on Google Play, this suggest that there is market gap and need for my concept.

 

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Design Interface 

Once I completed my research on Learn English Kids (British Council) I download their app and i was completely shocked by their design interface.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went and asked my peers what they felt about the interfaces and 80% stated that they where left feeling unamused by the basic layout. Some even went on to say that the page looked unprofessional and low budget. Moreover, the app in my opinion is easy to navigate which means their users are able to navigate themselves to different pages. However because of the interface i feel like it could change certain elements to make the page more visually appealing which can result to the users being more engaged.

In Addition the app has a reoccurring colour theme that can been seen on their website and app. Children with learning difficulties often are engaged by bright colours and in that sense this app has catered to their visual needs.

The one thing i really did like and what to use is the idea of a logo type opening home page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The use of different animated characters makes the app more visually appeal to the user. The use of bright colour which they all compliments each other and the colour theme gave me the impression “fun” an element  I would love to incorporate  to my own interface.

 

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Sites Used: 

https://fullfact.org/immigration/eu-migration-and-uk/

http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/

https://www.migrationwatchuk.org/statistics-net-migration-statistics

 

 

Language barriers are things that often effect most young children people in today’s world. In public schools it is rather hard for a teachers to focus and give the required time and attention to students who may be proforming at a lower standard due to the language barriers as they will be learning English for the first time in school. Moreover,  I aim to make an app that can assist these young children to convert the lesson into their chosen dialect.  The application can be used on “smartphones and Androids” that show short animations, fun activities of the lesson plan, in hope to give these students the much required assistance they require without subjecting the teachers to focus on the whole class. It may also promote independence.