Emma's Words: learn your vocabulary as a game

The Idea

Emma came home from her first day of elementary school with a long list of new words to learn. Her web developer dad figured there must be an app out there to make her homework a little more fun. Unable to find anything suitable, he decided to build her an app of her own: Emma’s Words.

The idea is simple enough: help children learn the vocabulary they see in school — not just the words, but the expressions and verb tenses too. In the app, children create an exercise using words they’ve recorded in their own voice. Next, they review the words and take a quiz to test if they can spell what they hear. Throughout the game, Emma is there to encourage them and celebrate their success.

The most important part is to create your own exercises and review them thoroughly — that’s where the learning happens. That's why you have to go to the word list to begin the quiz.

The Game

In order to advance in the quiz, each word has to be spelled correctly. After a mistake, the proper spelling is displayed on the screen and the child has to enter it in order to continue. Since there is no time limit, everyone can take the time they need to do their best.

Children and parents can also track their progress using the app, which stores the results of every quiz. The exercise summary shows the number of stars earned as well as the day and time that each quiz was completed. You can also see the results on a per-word basis, which helps to identify areas of difficulty. This app is not intended as a substitute for a parent, but rather as a tool to enrich the learning process.

The trial version of Emma’s Words allows a maximum of three words or expressions per exercise. It is designed for children and parents to try it before buying the full version, which costs $5 USD for lifetime access.

Emma

Emma is there to provide a little extra support to a child while they study. Her smile brightens whenever she sees good spelling, and she frowns when she sees a mistake. The illustrations, based on photos of the real-life Emma, capture the spirit of the curious little girl who inspired the app.

Questions, comments, support : [email protected].