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Globe in sand

3 more days to enter our worldwide writing competition!

By | News

We are a nosy bunch and so we’ve already had a quick sneak peek into the writing competition entries we have received so far. We’re so excited to have reached budding writers worldwide, e.g. from Finland, the USA and the Philippines! Keep the stories coming!

As Louis L’Amour said: “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” ✏

You still have enough time to write 225 words (15 words x 15 pages). The deadline is 30 June 2020.

A quick recap: the winning entry will receive £100. In addition, it will be professionally illustrated by Clive Goddard and translated into 20 languages on our bilingual books app. If you don’t already know Unuhi, just download our free book, ‘Rikki’s Week of Weather’, to see what a finished bilingual story book looks like! Get it on iOS or Android.

Please find full details at https://unuhi.com/june-2020-story-competition

We really look forward to reading all your entries! 😊

 

Images of new Unuhi fairy tales!

5 reasons why our fairy tales will speed up your kids’ language learning!

By | News, Research

Do you love fairy tales and fables? Yes? Thought so! Many parents have firm favourites, which they will introduce to their little ones. Whether these are popular tales, such as ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, or fables, such as ‘The Mouse and the Lion’, everyone will know a tale that they treasured as a child.

Surprising facts about fairy tales and fables

Of course, all cultures have their own fairy tales and fables. Many of today’s fairy tales and fables evolved from ancient stories that were passed on from generation to generation in many cultures of the world, both orally and in writing. The most well-known Western fable collections started with Aesop in about 600 BC, whereas Africa and India had their own, rich story-telling traditions.

Researchers from the universities of Lisbon and Durham found in 2016 that some tales were “older than the earliest literary records”, with some dating back thousands of years ago. Analysis showed, for example, that ‘Beauty And The Beast’ and ‘Rumpelstiltskin’ were around 4,000 years old!

Why should you use fairy tales and fables in language learning?

There are a number of reasons why fairy tales or fables are particularly well suited to language learning. (This is why we have been working on a new set of bilingual fairy tales and fables for you!)

1. Familiarity with setting and vocabulary

You and your child will likely already know the fairy tales you will be reading in your main language, which will make it much easier to introduce the tales in the second/weaker language.

2. Association of language learning with fun and mystery

There is nothing worse than pushing your child to learn vocabulary that it finds  uninteresting. Using tales kids already love will make them curious and more receptive to learn how certain words or phrases have been translated into other languages. For example, find out together whether the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood uses different expressions in e.g. English and Spanish! The British Council website has some additional clever ideas on how to make English language learning more fun for kids – apply their advice in your own language(s).

3. Extension of simple vocabulary

Within each tale there will be a set of simple vocabulary, which your child will enjoy learning (e.g. animals or plants in the forest, family members, specific food items, and so on).

4. Grammatical understanding

All fairy tales and fables usually use the past tense, which could be something to draw older children’s attention to. Additionally, you and your child could learn about comparatives and metaphors in your first language – and how these are translated into other languages. 

5. Building imagination through creative storytelling games

Once you have read the fairy tales a number of times, play creative storytelling games with your children. Start with a setting and character of your choice and introduce this to your child. Then ask your child to continue for a couple of sentences, imagining what might happen next. Repeat until you have a completely new fairy tale! You may want to start this with your child’s stronger language, but once you have played this game a few times, start playing it in the weaker language too.

Sounds good! How can I get started?

The good news is that Unuhi has just launched new books containing bilingual fairy tales and fables in 20 languages. 😊 

You can choose your languages, so you will be able to read Little Red Riding Hood or The Elves and the Shoemaker in nearly 200 language combinations… 🙂 Find us on iOS and Android. Have fun!

Busy bee

We’ve been busy bees* at Unuhi HQ…

By | News

It’s been a while since our last blog post, so we thought we would update you on some of the exciting things that have been happening at Unuhi HQ in the last months.

(*Let us know what expressions you use in your language to say that you’ve been working hard!)

1. We’ve launched our new story writing competition (deadline: 30 June 2020) 

We are inviting adults all over the world to submit a short children’s story of just 225 words to us (15 words x 15 pages). The winning entry will receive £100 and will be professionally illustrated and translated into 20 languages, to be published on our lovely Unuhi app! More details at https://unuhi.com/june-2020-story-competition/.

You still have plenty of time to write and submit your story, so sharpen your pencils and fire up your laptops!

2. We’ve been working on new books to be launched in summer 2020 

We’ve listened to our fans and have been working hard on new books to be launched in summer 2020. As requested, we will focus on fairy tales and fables this time, so watch this space! Our illustrators are still hard at work, but we will show you some glimpses of their lovely artwork on our social media channels (subscribe below).

The books will be published in 20 languages, of course: English, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin (Simplified), Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (European), Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Thai. 📚

3. We have increased our social media presence AND we are planning a newsletter 

In addition to our existing social media channels, you can now also find us on LinkedINIf you haven’t already done so, please follow us on the social media channels of your choice for news, special offers, entertainment and interesting articles & stories from our multilingual world:

We will also launch a newsletter in due course. We won’t spam you and only e-mail if there is interesting news.  Subscribe to our newsletter here. 📰

4. We’re already working on new story ideas 

As you may know, we always are on the lookout for new authors and illustrators, as well as for good story ideas for bilingual children aged 3-8+. So, if you would like to be involved or have a great story idea, let us know on our social media channels above or contact us directly. We look forward to hearing from you! 💡

Finally, if you haven’t tried Unuhi yet, do download our free book “Rikki’s Week of Weather” to get a taste of what we offer! Available on iOS and Android. Let us know what you think! 😊

Simon Reid Portrait

Interview with Rikki’s Week Of Weather illustrator, Simon Reid.

By | News

Here at Unuhi HQ we love good illustrations and know how important they are to bringing children’s books to life. They need to be engaging and help tell the story, especially to a younger audience who are learning a new language.

As we grow our library we will be looking for different styles and approaches from illustrators to bring our future stories to life. Could you be the next artist to illustrate a story for us? Perhaps the next winner from our international story writing competition could be illustrated by you!

Our first story “Rikki’s Week Of Weather” was illustrated by Simon Reid, an Oxfordshire based illustrator. We love Simon’s vision for Rikki and caught up with him to find out more about how he got started, his work and inspiration.

1. Hi Simon, when did you discover your passion for illustration? Who were your inspirations and which illustrators do you admire?

Like most illustrators, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t drawing. Reading The Beano cover to cover was a weekly ritual for me, and later I moved onto other comics, like Hergé’s Tintin, which is still a major inspiration. Eventually I started creating my own characters and stories, and my parents kept buying me exciting new art materials, encouraging my early efforts (and my stationery addiction). For a while I drew a regular comic about the unlikely adventures of our pet cats, called The Cat Gang. It was drawn in fine-liner and coloured pencils on A4, assembled into a booklet with a sellotaped spine, and then circulated around family members. Seeing people enjoy something I’d created out of nothing has stuck with me, and I’ve never really stopped doing that kind of thing!

A couple of my favourite cartoonists working today are Scott Campbell and Jim Woodring.

2. What kind of illustrations do you do and for what purpose?

My style is quite cartoony and whimsical, and luckily seems to lend itself to lots of different purposes. This year my work has been seen in textbooks, museums, video games, comics anthologies, exhibitions and at academic conferences. I like having this interesting mix of work and I hope it continues.

 

Rikki Illustration

 

3. Do you prefer one medium over another?

Almost all of my work is completed digitally, using a graphics tablet and my computer – but I like to begin with lots of pencil drawings, just taking my time to develop the idea until I’ve settled on shapes and compositions that seem to work. Lately I’ve been trying to get used to drawing with an Apple Pencil on an iPad.

4. What were your thoughts for how you might illustrate Rikki’s Week of Weather?

Due to the target audience of the app, I had to resist adding too much visual information – it was all about communicating the particular vocabulary. It was also important not to clutter up the areas at the top and bottom of the screen, so that the text in the two chosen languages is always as readable as possible. Even within those limitations, I enjoyed coming up with the incidental details like the crab on the beach, the duck-shaped cloud, or Rikki’s spare arm left on the desk. The snowy day was my favourite page to illustrate!

I’m quite pleased with the friendly style with chunky, clean linework that we settled on, and I think Rikki has potential for more stories. I’d like to find out more about his home life, and how often he needs recharging.

5. What are your personal hobbies and interests?

Books, cats, music (I play bass guitar in a band) and video games.

6. What advice can you give to all the budding illustrators out there?

Draw a lot! But try to draw lots of different things, rather than settling onto a few things you can reliably doodle – that way you’ll keep developing and it’ll get easier to translate everything you see (or dream up) into your own unmistakable style. But it’s never that easy, so don’t get discouraged if it’s not quite working, as the next breakthrough might be one sketchbook page away. Don’t worry too much about having the best tools – just find something that feels comfortable, and get cracking. Don’t compare yourself to other artists’ successes or styles. Encourage and support other creative people that you like, and collaborate with them when you can.

We will certainly be working with Simon again soon on another adventure for Rikki, he’s proved really popular with our readers worldwide. For more information on Simon please visit his website at www.simonhreid.co.uk.

Unuhi: Bilingual Books for Children is available to download free on both iOS App Store and Google Play for Android. Rikki is our free book for everyone to try and it’s available in any combination of 20 languages, as are all our stories and flashcards. You choose!

Reading A Bilingual Book

What is a bilingual book and how do you read one with your children?

By | News

How do bilingual books work?

Bilingual books are a wonderful aid to learning a second language and are particularly effective for toddlers and young children. They are sometimes referred to as ‘Dual Language Books’ or ‘Side-by-Side Books’ and have 2 different languages on the same page with the second language being a translation of the first, allowing the reader to compare vocabulary, language style, grammar and alphabetical characters with ease.

Bilingual books have been around since the 1980’s and are widely recognised as a valuable resource for parents and educators to use with children, as they provide a child-friendly bridge to reading and speaking in another language.

Some reading methods for you to try

There are many different ways to read a bilingual book and you will find the right method for you and your child. There is no right or wrong and bilingual books are there to bring the joy of storytelling to a language learning environment in a fun and interactive way.

1. Read the book first in the main language, then in the second/weaker language

One of the most popular methods is to read the story aloud in the child’s main language first, so that they can get to know it. Treat it like any other story book and look at the pictures, talk about the story and interact with the characters. Understanding the story in the stronger language can help in the process of learning the weaker language.

Go back and read the story again, this time in the second or weaker language and then again in the first language. Don’t worry if your pronunciation isn’t quite correct in the weaker language, just have fun trying it out. The idea is to stimulate curiosity and interest in the second language. When you think you and your child are ready, you can try reading the story in the second language only. Ask them to read it with you if they are keen to try.

2. Let your child have a go!

Above all encourage your child to have a go. Unlike adults, young children are usually not that self-conscious and this is excellent for building up confidence in a foreign language. Remember, having fun is the most important part of learning a language. Bilingual books provide a good base for this on many levels. Comparing the words, the different sounds and showing the new letters in a language’s alphabet are just a few ways to make languages fun and exciting.

A bilingual book will work in any language combination and here at Unuhi we feature 20 languages which makes for a total of almost 200 different language combinations! We are bringing bilingual books to as many kids as we can across the globe.

3. Remove the weaker language and ask your child to translate

For more advanced learners, try removing the weaker language and ask your child to have a go at translating into it. Then reveal Unuhi’s translation and see how they compare.

4. Go wordless

Remove both languages and go wordless! Wordless picture books are a fun way to promote creativity and imagination. You can enjoy Unuhi’s illustrations, talk about what you see and even create your own story.

5. Play games

Play games to identify the nouns, adjectives, pronouns and verbs in the stories. Find things that are interesting in the illustrations. (For example, have you spotted the duck-shaped cloud in ‘Rikki’s Week of Weather’?)

6. Try different languages

Randomly select a language and have fun letting another person guess which one it is.

7. Have fun with our flashcards

When you’re reading our flashcards, try to guess which other languages use the same word for the object you’re looking at. You might be surprised at the similarities!

Tell us your methods!

If you have a unique way of reading your bilingual books, or a game you play with the app, we would love to hear from you so please do get in touch with us

Why not download and try your first book for free? The Unuhi App is available on iOS and Android. Start reading bilingual books to your children today!

Living In Italy

The Bilingual Journey of our Co Founder

By | News

The advantages of speaking another language are well documented with new research adding to the list of bilingual benefits all the time. From improved problem solving and learning capabilities, to being more resilient against the onset of dementia to name but a few. There are also the economic, social, and cultural benefits to consider. On a personal level, I’ve always loved being able to switch back and forth between English and Italian to the amazement of my monolingual friends, even though in recent years “il mio italiano è un po ‘arrugginito”, but I still get by.

However being monolingual in the U.K is not uncommon. 10 years ago a survey carried out by the European Commission found the UK & Ireland were the two countries in Europe with the lowest rates of bilingualism – defined as being able to hold a conversation in more than one language. In fact it’s still predominantly English speaking countries that get a failing grade in this respect. That’s no doubt much to do with the fact that, even with Mandarin at the top of the world’s most spoken languages list with 1.2 billion, English is still by far the world’s lingua franca: the language of science and technology, business relations, diplomacy, popular culture and travel. Therefore one could argue that the high levels of bilingualism in non-English speaking countries is still driven by the specific need to learn English.

I must admit, I’ve not always been particularly interested in languages. I was first introduced to a second language when I started secondary school, but it didn’t excite me. I struggled, and spent most of the time “editing” the illustrations in the language books and laughing at the guy with the horrendous French accent. He would have us all in stitches.. but looking back now, at least he had a go.

No, I became interested in languages a couple of years later. I was about 15 and it was my first family holiday abroad in Spain. We were all sat in a restaurant to eat when I decided to ask the waiter where the toilet was in Spanish. I’d found a guide book on the aeroplane with a short list of Spanish words and just put some together to form the question. It did backfire a bit though, as the waiter replied to me in full speed Spanish. I hadn’t a clue what he’d said but not wanting to disappoint my proud (and surprised) parents, got up from the table, said “gracias” and casually walked towards a door in one corner of the restaurant hoping it was the loo…it wasn’t. But at least I had a go.

But that experience didn’t put me off, it rather ignited an interest for languages and travel.

I like to think I became ‘properly’ bilingual whist living in Rome during the mid 90’s. From arriving and only knowing only a few handy phrases to speaking quite fluently took about 6 months, after that I was really just adding to my vocabulary. Being immersed in the country and trying to work out there, I had little choice but to learn the native tongue. But this time I had an advantage… I actually wanted to learn the language. I loved the country, culture and way of life. I wanted to read, speak and listen to all things Italian. Oh and the food wasn’t bad either.

Being bilingual certainly helped me make friends, progress and make more of my time whilst living in Italy. I was even known to my friends out there as “Marco”, and was often told I spoke Italian with a roman accent, which I was very proud of. Being bilingual also helped me when I finally returned to the UK in finding work in the hospitality industry.

Thankfully now as language learning becomes ever more popular and the fact that being bilingual brings recognised benefits, many people are now exposed to a second language at a younger age. That’s good news, as we know children generally have a much easier time picking up foreign languages than adults.

We’d love to hear what motivated you to learn a second language. Was there a defining moment?

Here at Unuhi we want to play a part in a child’s discovery of new languages. We want to make the learning process between a bilingual parent and child as fun as possible, providing fun short stories in the two languages of your choice – we have 20 languages available!

Download the app (iOS and Android) and start reading your first book for free.

 

Unuhi App In Use

Kaci Schack reviews the Unuhi Bilingual Book App

By | News

Since our Bilingual Book App launched last week, it’s been action packed at Unuhi headquarters as users around the world have started to read our 4 launch books in the 2 languages of their choice. Hot off the press this morning was this wonderful review by Kaci Schack, mom of a preschooler who goes to a German language immersion school in Texas. Her website Language Preschools is a fantastic resource for American families.

Read full review

A few of the review highlights:

When we say “dual language,” we don’t just mean English to another language. Unuhi offers bilingual pairings for 20 languages: English, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin (Simplified), Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Thai. I’m no mathematician, but this is the rough equivalent of 200 different language combinations.

1. It’s highly accessible.

As long as you have an iPad, you can use the Unuhi App. An Android version is on its way too. Purchase, download, and start using instantly with your children.

2. It’s great for minimalist families raising bilingual kids.

When our family downsized from a 2,300 square foot house to a 1,575 square foot house, we had to adopt some minimalist lifestyle habits. We value our print books, but there are only so many we can fit on the bookshelves. Unuhi is one way to enjoy bilingual children’s books while keeping our “stuff” to a minimum.

3. It’s made for the type of screen time that’s typically parent-approved.

An understandable concern of many parents is “How much screen time is too much?” Of course, we don’t want our kids’ faces plastered to an iPad or similar screen all day. Digital bilingual books are quality material, though, and something that parents and children can enjoy together. The clean way that the illustrations are laid out on Unuhi make it easy to forget you’re even using an iPad.

Read full review
Unuhi Bilingual App Launch

3-2-1 Lift Off!…

By | News

Unuhi is now available on the App Store to download!

Almost a year in the making, we are proud and excited to release the first version of our bilingual book app for children. We have 4 wonderful books available to download, each of which is translated into 20 languages and showcased within a clean, simple and easy-to-use interface. We hope that you will find the Unuhi app a joy to use.

The name Unuhi means “to translate” in Hawaiian and our app is the first of its kind to make bilingual books available in a variety of languages. It means that as a parent or teacher, you can now introduce your child to more languages than ever before. Whilst bilingual books have always been popular in Spanish and English, for example, those languages that are less widely spoken haven’t had the same opportunity to be a part of this wonderful method of story-telling and language learning.

Are you a Romanian living in Spain with a child who you would love to introduce to your native tongue? Choose Romanian & Spanish as your 2 languages – it’s as simple as that. Perhaps you are English and your partner is Chinese? Why not select English & Mandarin and help your child to become bilingual with a fun short story.

Or perhaps you are a teacher and your classroom has children from a variety of different cultures & nationalities. Introduce them to the wonders of the world’s different languages and use Unuhi as part of your class activities.

We offer the following 20 languages.

English, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin (Simplified), Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai.

What’s the plan for Unuhi after launch?

First, we would love your feedback (good or bad) so that we can improve the platform. What did you like, what could be improved and what would you like to see in the future? We decided to concentrate on just 4 books to begin with and showcase them in 20 different languages rather than feature more books in fewer languages. We want Unuhi to be available to everyone and not just in those countries that speak the major global languages like English and Spanish.

We will of course be expanding our library of books as soon as possible and plan to introduce sound, animation and interactivity in the near future. If you are an author or illustrator and would like to join our team, we would be delighted to hear from you. Simply visit the help centre to say hello and introduce yourself.

Here at Unuhi, we are working hard behind the scenes to ensure our platform is the go-to place to read bilingual books to your children. We hope you give Unuhi a try, download the app and let us know how you get on.

If you are raising bilingual children, Unuhi could be for you. Download the app for FREE and start reading books to your kids in the 2 languages of your choice.

Download Unuhi On The App Store
Download Android App
Crafted with love in Oxford

Support

Visit the help centre to contact us, provide feedback, submit a review or ask us a question. We will be pleased to help.

Help Centre

Authors & Illustrators

If you have a story or would like to join our illustration team, please visit the help centre to find out more.