It started at home.
My three-year-old son Pasky was pressing keys on the keyboard and naming the letters. He’s learning Slovak, English and Vietnamese, so I thought I could connect those key presses with learning words. That became Pasky’s letter safari.
He loves cars, so I added a garage, an excavator, a tractor and a car wash. I had boys who love vehicles as much as he does in mind, but any child can play.
For Slovak-Vietnamese families
If your family speaks Slovak and Vietnamese and your child is also learning English, you can try the game together. Switch languages while looking at the same toy and listen to its name. It can add a little play to what children learn through everyday conversations at home.
How the letters work
Choose a Slovak or English alphabet in the settings. In Slovak, A brings up a car (auto) and L a lion (lev). In English, A is for apple and C is for car. The Slovak keyboard has 25 letters and the English one has 26. K selects koleso (wheel) in Slovak; W for wheel appears only in English. The Slovak version uses marked English associations for Q and Y.
You choose the spoken language separately, so you can hear the same toy’s name in Slovak, English or Vietnamese.
The animals have a bus now.
The new bus trip has eight stops. An animal waits at each one and hops on when you press the matching letter or tap the button. Every passenger has a window. Tap a passenger to hear their name again.
There’s also sand loading in the garage: call the excavator, scoop up the sand and tip it into the truck. Spoken instructions and prompts on the screen guide each step.
For friends who don’t speak Slovak, too
The English alphabet has its own letter matches and English controls. The two alphabets share a collection of 34 different toys. In the settings, keep just the languages you use at home, or choose the English and Vietnamese preset. The game remembers your choice in the browser.
What’s in the game
- A Slovak keyboard with 25 letters and an English keyboard with 26, both with animated 3D toys.
- Names and spoken instructions in Slovak, English and Vietnamese.
- A garage with a car, excavator and tractor you can drive.
- Sand loading and a bus trip with eight animal passengers.
- A car wash with brushes and bubbles, ready for another wash.
- Keyboard controls, large touch buttons and a mute option.
Try it together.
Start with one letter. Let your child explore the toy, repeat its sound and switch languages. With the English alphabet, C brings up the car, E the excavator and T the tractor in the garage. With Slovak selected, use A, B and T. Use the arrow keys to drive and the space bar for an action.
Let’s play ↗What would you change?
Does your family use the same mix of languages? I’d love to hear how it goes. Suggestions for toys and corrections to names or pronunciation are welcome.
Write to me about the game ↗