We spoke with Cristóbal Viedma, founder and CEO of Lingokids, an app dedicated to teaching English aimed at children between 2 and 8 years old, which has just reached 7 million users in Mexico.
English for Mexican families
According to Statista, as of January 2024, the market for apps to learn other languages has been dominated Duolingowith 16,208,589 downloads monthly, while Lingokids is in second place with 1,883,522 downloads a month.
The difference between first and second place is enormous, but Lingokids is specifically focused on a children’s audience, and although they have a presence in 190 countries, a significant part of these comes from Mexico.
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Cristóbal Viedma, founder and CEO of Lingokids
The success of Lingokids in the Mexican market, explains Viedma, is due in part to alliances with Apple and Amazon to increase its reach, to the freemium model that makes Lingokids a free and accessible app, but especially to the philosophy behind the software, which they call Playlearninglanguage teaching through games suitable for children.
“The fact that our content is in English is fundamental for Mexican families, since, according to various studies, learning English as a second language among children interests the majority of parents,” says Viedma.
The company’s plans include partnering with schools and educational institutions in Mexico, an opportunity that they have already taken advantage of in other countries, as well as the possibility of opening up to other languages. Although for now they are focused only on English, the teaching also integrates other cognitive skills
“Not only do they learn about numbers, colors, nature, critical thinking, communication, logic, and many other areas, but they also learn English almost without realizing it,” explains Viedma. “However, in recent months we have begun to open up to other languages and that is why we have produced part of our songs and educational videos in Spanish and Portuguese, having a section within the app and a YouTube channel for each language.”
Is Artificial Intelligence an opportunity or a threat?
The global English learning market suffered a severe hit during the pandemic. Statista points out that only in 2022 the market began to recover, reaching a value of 5.6 billion dollars, when in 2014, its best year, the value was 12.94 billion. However, the presence of AI and other technologies is disrupting the education industry as a whole.
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