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Three kiwi women are shaking up the global publishing industry with the recent release of their innovative language app Lingogo.
 
Already attracting attention from respected language institutions across the U.S., U.K., Mexico, France, Argentina and Australia, Lingogo is becoming another classic example of Kiwi ingenuity impressing on the world stage.
 
Lingogo (produced by Little Mouse Co.) is a free digital bookshop for language learners. Every month a new interactive, dual-language 'Lingogo Story' is added to the shelf.
“As Kiwis I think we like to challenge the status quo. ” says Lizzie Dunn, creator and director. “The hardest part of learning any language isn't actually academic. It's finding fun ways to keep motivated, practise, and use what you're learning. That’s exactly what Lingogo is for and there's nothing else like it on the market.”
 
Lingogo users get their first story free and have the choice of three interactive modes to read and listen to it; 'Get Started', 'Get Focussed' and 'Get Fluent'. Users can aim to advance through all three modes at their own pace or stick to the one that suits them best.
 
Lingogo Stories have an emphasis on beautiful design and entertaining plots “Language learning stories can be pretty dry! Ours are exciting and tend to have a unique twist for adults of all ages to relate to. You won’t find any boring or predictable stories on Lingogo!”
 
Lizzie and her team aim to hit download numbers in the millions, and with the online language learning market growing at an incredible rate*, the goal isn’t as bonkers as it seems. Already they've struck up relationships with language learning institutions across the globe including Australia, France, UK, US, Argentina and Mexico.
High aspirations from humble beginnings. Lizzie runs the business from her Mount Maunganui home, while her mother Shelley Dunn and designer Hannah Craig work remotely from Auckland and London respectively – both while juggling full time jobs.
 
“Like any good kiwi start-up, costs and resources are pretty tight in these beginning stages. I’m the director but I’m also the receptionist and sound engineer! It's been so great to finally hit the market and the feedback we’ve received from language learners and language schools has been overwhelmingly supportive –we're already lining up more languages.”
 
The Lingogo app is currently available from the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad and will be releasing on Google Play for android devices soon.
Glenn Baker

Glenn is a professional writer/editor with 50-plus years’ experience across radio, television and magazine publishing.

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