{Review} Language Trainer by Smarty Ears

I was contacted with the opportunity to review Language Trainer by Smarty Ears recently and excitedly said yes. I have other Smarty Ears apps (Articulate It and Language Adventures), so I wondered what this one would be like. One lucky reader will also have the chance to win a copy, so keep reading!
 
*Disclaimer: I was provided with this app; however, the views expressed are solely my own*
 
Language Trainer is an app with 4 different activities including Picture Naming, Picture Identification, Divergent Naming, and Sentence Completion. 
 
I used it with my elementary aged students and it worked fabulously. It does look different that other Smarty Ears apps, but I actually really like the clean, simple layout. Sometimes my kiddos get a little TOO excited about the visual stimuli and it can be hard to focus them. With this app, I didn’t have that problem. You can see a video of the app in use by on the Smarty Ears website here. 
 
Activity: Picture Naming
During this activity, an item is named and the student needs to touch the corresponding item. If the incorrect button is chosen, that picture disappears and the student can keep trying. I loved that!! You have the option to change how many items appear (2-5) in the settings.
Activity: Picture Identification
During this activity, the student has to name the picture. You can record the student and manually score (correct, incorrect, or cued). 
 
Activity: Divergent Naming
During this activity, a category is provided and the student has to name items within the category. If correct, you touch the check and the drop down menu moves to the next box. You have the option to change how many items need to be named (2-6) in the settings. I think this was my favorite activity – my kids loved checking the box and moving on – it was motivating for them!
 
 
Activity: Sentence Completion
During this activity, the student hears a sentence and simply has to provide a word/phrase that makes sense. This helped my students with word retrieval issues! 
 
 
What I Liked:
-clean, simple design
-not too much visual stimuli (graphics, etc)
-ability to use with a variety of populations and age ranges (I see preschool-6th graders and used it with almost all grades) 
-variety of activities
-Sentence Completion activity could be used to generate other sentences. I like that this activity helps kids think outside the box and come up with different things that fit!
 
What I Would Change:
-You can only use this app with one student at a time. This is not really an issue for me. I honestly don’t really use data collection methods within apps (gasp). I actually blogged about that recently. It’s something to think about if you like using apps with groups.
-Nothing else, really. If you like to have reinforcers right inside the app, that might be something you’d like to see added. 
 
Language Trainer is on sale in the app store for $14.99 if you think this is a good app for your caseload. If you are looking for an app that you can use with a wide variety of ages and populations, this is it. I can see it working well for several goals: describing, object functions, sentence formulation, AAC users, etc. 
 
Enter for your chance to win below:

15 Comments

  1. I’ve tried their articulation app. I think it’s spiffy for a quick, on-the-go artic therapy activity. I wouldn’t want to depend on it for a 45-minute-long articulation clinic session, but for some quick practice or probe, it’s pretty darned awesome.

    WendP @ bldrnrpdx (at) ay oh ell [dot] com

  2. I have Articulate It, Language Adventures, and Syllable Splash. I use all of them often. I think this would also be a great app to have. Thanks for the giveaway!
    Nicole

  3. I have most, if not all of the Smarty Ears apps. I have to say my students like Language Adventures the best. I like it because you can have multiple students working on different objectives at the same time.

  6. I have several Smarty Ears apps–Articulate It is great, my students love Articulation Scenes. I have groups that enjoy Language Adventures, and Language Empires is fantastic for older elementary students. Can you tell I LOVE Smarty Ears apps! Oh, and I also use their Therapy Report Center–students love choosing an ‘avatar’ to represent them in the apps.

  7. I have Articulate It and love it; my students also love the Articulation Scenes app. I use Language Adventures with many students; Sentence Ninja is great for sentence structure. I use Language Empires with the older elementary students and they love it. I also use their Therapy Report Center and students love choosing an ‘avatar’ to represent themselves in the apps. Can you tell I just LOVE Smarty Ears apps and want them ALL!!!

  13. `I have several Smarty Ears apps and rely on them regularly in my therapy with school aged kiddos. Among my favorites are the screeners: CCELS. Profile of Phonological Awareness and the Sunny Test of Articulation. For therapy apps my students can’t get enough of Milo in several different apps but I have recently added Language Empires and been pleased with that for my older elementary students.

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