Little OrbitLittle Orbit › Languages for kids
A language learning app for kids: Thai, Chinese, Spanish and 7 more
Little Orbit lets children aged 4–10 learn any of 10 languages through games — listening, matching, tracing and playing — while the rest of the app speaks their home language. There are no worksheets and no reading needed to start.
How children learn a new language in Little Orbit
- Hear it. Picture Words shows a picture, says the word in the language being learned, then in the child's own language. 26 topics cover animals, food, family, the body, school, jobs, transport, weather, feelings, space and more — over 300 words.
- Find it. In Listen & Find the tablet says a word and your child taps the right picture. It trains the ear before the eye.
- Play with it. Word Balloons (pop the right word), Word Match (memory pairs of pictures and words) and Opposites (big and small in two languages at once) repeat the same words in new ways, so they stick.
- Say it. Say It! has 20 everyday phrases — hello, thank you, please, sorry, I'm hungry — to hear and copy.
- Read and write it. Alphabets of the World covers 10 alphabets, Missing Letter fills gaps in real words, and Trace & Write teaches letter shapes in Thai, Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Russian, Chinese and the Latin alphabet.
Learning Thai, Chinese or English as a second language
Many families use Little Orbit the other way round: the app runs in Thai or Chinese and the child learns English, with every English word spoken by the tablet and paired with the word they already know. For English-speaking families living in Thailand, switching the learning language to Thai gives children the ก–ฮ alphabet with a picture word for every letter, plus everyday Thai words and phrases.
Tips for raising a bilingual child at home
- Little and often. One or two short language games a day beat a weekly marathon. Little Orbit's daily challenge always includes one language game for this reason.
- Say it together. Repeat the words out loud with your child and use them later in the day — "Can you find something red? ¿Rojo?"
- Keep the home language strong. Children learn a second language more easily when their first one is rich. Read stories in your home language too — Little Orbit's Story Time has read-aloud stories in all 10 languages.
- Follow their interests. A child who loves animals will learn more from the farm, wild and sea topics than from a list.
Questions parents ask
What age can children start learning a second language?
As early as they like. Young children pick up sounds and words easily when learning is playful and repeated little and often. Ten minutes a day of picture words and listening games works better than one long session a week.
Which languages can my child learn in Little Orbit?
English, Thai, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Spanish, Arabic, French, Bengali, Portuguese and Russian. The app itself can also run in any of these languages, so a Thai child can learn English with Thai instructions, or an English-speaking child can learn Thai.
Does my child need to read first?
No. Every word and phrase is spoken aloud and shown with a picture, so pre-readers can play by listening and tapping. Older children can read along and trace the letters.
Where do the voices come from?
Little Orbit uses the text-to-speech voices built into your Android tablet. Most tablets include many languages; if one is missing, Little Orbit shows a note and a grown-up can add the voice in Android's text-to-speech settings.