Moomin Language School 4+

I found this app while looking for Moomin games for my kids, and I was thrilled to discover that it is a fun way to learn the Finnish language. We are Americans living in Finland and have had a hard time finding good resources for learning this difficult language at home. Most are too intensive for small children or simply aren’t much fun. But we don’t always have time to go to classes just to learn some basics, either. So I started using this, and within the first couple weeks, I found myself remembering way more vocabulary than I had from books I had read or classes I’d taken. When I reached the end of the free section of the app, I was more than prepared to pay a subscription fee to use it- and was then shocked to find out I couldn’t. I found the Moomin Language School website and contacted them to find out why. I learned that the app is associated with schools for in-class use, and isn’t necessarily meant to be open to the public. I told them how disappointed I was to hear this and how useful it had been to me. They then offered me access to the full app in exchange for writing a review after spending some time with it. Once again I was thrilled, and agreed to do so. After a few months using the full app, my vocabulary had continued to increase, in an actual, useful way- unlike other learning methods I’ve tried, I actually retain what I learn with this. The style of the games are just interesting and diverse enough to challenge me as an adult, but simple enough for my young kids to understand. My only real complaint is that the app will only let each member play for a short time each day- perhaps 10 minutes. I assume this is because in a school setting, children will have to take turns; or, maybe they’ve found that retention improves if you don’t try to do too much at once. But I wish I had more time for things like the pronunciation recording tool, or for my kids to play the puzzle and letter-tracing games. A higher or adjustable time per person would be great. That aside, I love the app and I’m very happy I get to use it. I strongly think they should make it accessible to the general public for a small subscription fee, as I’ve seen other learning apps do. If they did, I’d be telling everyone I know with an interest in Finnish to try it.

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