LingoZING is an audio-visual story-telling system that allows a learner to see two languages side by side; and by seeing the speech balloons in the context of an image, which is part of a story, the User can easily assimilate the entirety. Context is key since the broader story can be intuited and allow the ‘sum of the parts’ to be understood. We are wired to retain grammar. It may seem a strange statement, but as children grow – their language assimilation sets up automatically and also provides a certain logic and system of understanding, which is the reason why multi-lingual people have different perspectives according to the languages they speak (if these are, or become, part of their core ‘mechanisms.’)

The ‘Immersion’ technique believes that the best way to learn is to ‘immerse’ oneself in a surrounding where the only communication is in the language you are learning. We believe there is truth to that, however, having a parallel understanding of what words mean (in our tool box) and being able to hear and read the words simultaneously, by using our audio system, these tools can make learning easier and friendlier. Compare this to subtitles in movies, which many have successfully used worldwide for the same reasons; however, subtitles are handicapped because one cannot stop, repeat or record oneself—and learn at one’s own pace. But the mere fact that so many people have benefited from that method is proof that the brain absorbs the duality between hearing one language while reading another. One could use a regular comic book in the language being learned; however, the User is looking at the pictures and reading the accompanying texts without being fully able to ‘understand’ the word/s. The User may read them out loud—but have no idea of the pronunciation. With LingoZING, being able to read attentively and hear the pronunciation helps truly absorb the word within the sentence within the story.

LingoZING also uses two speeds: normal speed (the way people talk) and slow speed (slowed down), giving additional assistance for those who need that pace—which is many of us when learning the sounds of a new language! Story appeals to the imagination and to many psychological factors – thus it can also be argued that emulating characters one likes is further incentive to pronounce better and ‘own’ the language. Amongst the titles we have chosen, there are some that are representative of the cultures that are the backdrop of their creators. Such cultural understanding also assists in language learning on a subconscious level.

LingoZING’s comics have been  reviewed by the Institut Francais and assigned a CECRL level.