Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Even if you can't speak German now, you'll be fairly accomplished after practicing with the games and words that make up the greater part of this app!
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App Overview
Learn German - MindSnacks is a language development program built with fun in mind. When you first open up the app, two of nine games are unlocked. As you play and gain experience, you level up, which causes the additional games to unlock. In order to unlock the final game, you must reach level 36. But don't worry about that big number! Once you start playing, you'll have a hard time stopping. This setup encourages hours of engaging game-play, during which you complete motivating side quests and master vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and more.
How to Get Started:
- Create an account or log in to an existing account
- Choose your level of German from a list of four options
- Go through a brief tutorial
- Tap each word in your first lesson to hear it read aloud by a native speaker
- Start practicing with a game of Swell, one of the two unlocked games
Access to Lessons:
- The first lesson is free
- Upgrade for $4.99 to receive the full 50-lesson German Pass
- Lessons include 1000+ German words to master
- Pick up even more languages by purchasing the MindSnacks language series for $19.99; this includes lessons for: Mandarin, Japanese, German, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and SAT Vocab
Browsing and Selecting Lessons:
- Tap the book in the top left corner or drag the main page to the left to view lessons
- Open the menu within the lessons page if you wish to choose a specific topic; otherwise, the app will move straight down the list
- Your words will be categorized automatically into two lists: Current and Mastered
- After the upgrade, lessons will range from basic nouns and greetings to more complex expressions and verb conjugations
- As you play, MindSnacks will adapt to your level, tossing previously-mastered and trouble words at you from time to time
- If you are interested in reviewing and practicing mastered words, simply select the Mastered tab and press Play
Game Features:
- Entertaining animations and charming illustrations
- Lively music that is different for each game
- Progress tracking for individual words
- Proper pronunciation of each word by a native German speaker
- Results and scorecard for each game
- Restart, pause, and randomize options
On Your Profile, Check Out:
- Percentages that express your mastery of:
- Spelling
- Recall
- Image recognitions
- Error recognition
- The number of days you've been active
- A count of your mastered words
- A tally of hot streaks (sets of five correct answers in a row)
- The number of lessons you've finished out of 50
Instructional Ideas
Since Learn German - MindSnacks was created with a single user in mind, the app will work best as an independent practice and homework tool. Users can select specific lessons from the list, so you can assign lessons of your choice to the class. That way, everyone will be on the same page.
Several users can practice their German on the same device, since the program allows multiple users to sign up. Set up a sign-up station one day in class if you have access to several tablets. Class members can then later log in easily and you can track progress through the profile screen.
Classroom Considerations
If your school is interested, the developer offers bulk licenses for 50 percent off. Take a look at their website for more information.
MindSnacks is addictive and educational; however, it cannot teach your class everything they need to know about German. The app will teach pupils vocabulary, grammar basics, and more, but it is still a supplementary material. Students will still need to be taught about gender, conjugation, and sentence structure, and will need to be provided opportunities to write and speak in German.
While many of the words are represented with colorful illustrations, others are paired with photographs. Some of these photos are of questionable quality, so consider looking through the images for each lesson before assigning.
Pros
- Entertaining, addictive, and educational
- Progress tracking built in
- Content is scaffolded and retaught periodically
Cons
- Users are not asked to speak or write
- Single user interface eliminates some classroom uses