Want To Learn Another Language? MindSnacks to the Rescue!

If you are like anybody on planet earth, then you wish you knew another language.  If you have a fancy phone, specifically an iPhone (or an iPad) then you can learn another language and it won’t feel like pulling teeth.  In fact, it’s really fuckin’ fun.

Having looked up apps for learning another language in the past I have been fairly underwhelmed.  Most of them look cheap and the ones that are simply decent cost eight to twenty dollars.  That sucks.  And then one day, the clouds parted and the mighty interwebs bestowed upon me an app called MindSnacks. With a variety of different languages to learn and developed by a team of people who truly look like they are having fun, I highly recommend MindSnacks for anyone.

Hit the jump and I’ll give you some more details!

So I’ve wanted to learn French and Chinese for a long time.  I even went to school and took a few Chinese classes, but depending on the teacher the results were less than extraordinary. Worst of all there wasn’t any way for me to practice my language skills outside of class other than opening a book and sitting there and studying.  … Which is boring.

When I found MindSnacks French and MindSnacks Chinese I went “Golly jee, I hope these are better than the other language apps out there” and they were.  So much better.  And they have quite a few other languages besides French and Chinese, if dreaming of crepes and Jackie Chan aren’t your thing.

In MindSnacks French my slug is level 37 and has a little diploma. Every 5 levels your slug “levels up” starting as a baby and becoming a master by the end.

With 50 levels of lessons and a layout that looks professional, colorful, and is easy to use I was impressed initially.  But did it work?

With six different games that range from a flash-card type game that has you plugging holes in a fish tank that loses water faster and faster with every hole plugged….

My high score in Fish Tank is a speed of 340. I bet you can’t beat it.

To a vocabulary game that has you attempting to zap meteorites out of the air before a small village is crushed….

I had to complete around 10 in-game achievements to unlock this mini-game and it was totally worth it

To a spelling game that electrocutes birds if you fail (lolz)…

There is also a second version of this particular game called Phrase Birds

To one of my personal favorites…. picking the correct Chinese accent tone to see how far you can fly into the solar system.

The games work!  All of these games provide a different way to help you memorize vocabulary (and more importantly context) and get a sprinting head start on a number of different languages.  As I’ve continued playing and learning with their apps I discovered that their staff is made up of some incredible people.  They run a blog so you can see behind the scenes of developing these apps.

Click the pic of the MindSnack developers on Skirt Day to be taken to their blog

Now what really made a difference to me was that these apps didn’t break the bank.  If you want to try the app for free you can download the Lite version and play the first lesson for free, but for all 50 levels it’s only 4.99$, so if you decide to skip on one “Junior-Bacon-Make-You-Fat burger” you can afford a MindSnacks language course.

The current languages that are available are French, German, Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and English.

BUT WHAT ABOUT JAPANESE?!  ALL NERDS DEMAND JAPANESE!!

No worries.  If you go to HERE you can vote for the next subject they will turn into an app.  Currently Japanese is in the lead, followed by Russian and Korean.  I personally voted for Russian, but feel free to support whichever subject peaks your interest the most.  It seems they are even branching into subjects outside of language like Geography and History.

If you’d like to see a video on MindSnacks here is a quick trailer

And here is a review of the MindSnacks Lite Italian version.