≡ Menu
≡ Categories

FREE Apps: Multilingual Books

Journey to the West Monkey King

Today I found two FREE multilingual apps. They are sequels under Journey to the West.

“Journey to the West” is a classic Chinese novel written by Wu Cheng-en in the 16th century. The main character Monkey King is a very well know name in China. Kids as young as toddlers can tell you a couple of Monkey King’s stories. The novel is about a famous Chinese Monk Xuan Zang traveled to India to find the holy book of Buddhism. Monkey King and two other characters accompanied Xuan Zang on his trip for his safety. During the long trip, Monkey King fought the devils and protected Xuan Zang and the others.
Journey to the West Monkey King App
Although a long novel, Journey to the West is a collection of short stories, rich in Chinese fairy tales, monsters, legends, and religions. Many of the short stories have developed into independent ones of their own, including the two from the two book apps I am introducing today. These two stories are about Monkey King’s early life, before he started the journey with Xuan Zang.

The first app: the birth of the Monkey King. Born from a stone, Monkey King won the trust of all the monkeys on Mount Hua Guo, and became their king. He learned some great tricks and skills from a master and led the monkeys won the battle against the devil who wanted to take over Mount Hua Guo.

The 2nd app: treasures in Dragon Palace. Monkey King went to Dragon Palace to get a good weapon for himself. He ended up taking the Holy Iron, the great treasure at Dragon Palace. The Holy Iron became his best weapon that he carried with him all the time through the whole Journey to the West.

Kids can choose to read it in English, Chinese, or Japanese.  They can also choose to have the narration on or off. There is an option for the users to record their own reading.  An interesting feature is the sleep mode. When it is in Sleep mode, the screen will stay off, ie, no visuals on the screen, but only the narration. It is a nice feature for kids who want to go to sleep with the story.

iGameMom Comments:

Based on my own experience of living through 4 different cultures for extended time periods, I think learning some traditional stories from a different country is a great way to learn the cultural and custom. A lot of the cultural nuances are not in language. Learning the language helps communication, but won’t help the deep cultural understanding. I felt I started knowing American more when I started reading books with my son, from baby books, to preschool books, to today’s YA books. I thought I was helping him, but in fact, I was helping myself to better understand America. So what are you waiting for? Reading a story from a different country, at the comfort of staying home reading in your own language, you are giving your child the valuable cultural experience he/she will benefit in the future.

Both Journey to the West Apps work on iPhone, iPod, and iPAD. Both are FREE on App Store.

If you would like to check it out or purchase it, please use the App Store link provided below. The cost is the same to you, but iGameMom gets a small percentage. Thanks for your support! Note: The link works for all countries.
Journey to the West 1: The Journey to the West 1     Journey to the West 2: The Journey to the West 2

Like to receive future articles for FREE? Sign Up Below!

 

{ 19 comments… add one }
  • LOVE this!!! My son is adopted from China, and we are always looking for ways to teach him more about his heritage. This is awesome, thank you so much!!!! I spend a couple of hours reading tons of posts the other night on your site- I love it!!! Thank you so much for doing all of this hard work and sharing your research with parents like me:).

    • Thank you Becky. It is a lot work, but it is also rewarding when I know others are using the information here when choosing apps for kids. BTW, love you site too!

  • Oh how interesting! One of my son’s friends (1/2 Chinese) had a whole birthday party themed after the Monkey King – he just loves it! I’ll have to share these apps with his family (as well as check them out myself!)

    Thanks so much for linking into the Kid Lit Blog Hop. I’m a new follower. 🙂

    • Thanks Renee. Hope you like the apps. I am a regular visitor of the Kid Lit Blog Hop, I got quite few reading ideas there.

  • Thanks for linking up with “Say It Two Ways Thursdays”. I will read these with Chiquita!

    • Thanks for stopping by. Love what you do. Love the little Chinese New Year book you created.

  • Oh, my boys will love this! Thanks for sharing!

  • Cool apps. I’m a whitey, my partner is of Chinese decent, and our boy must learn Chinese in this modern world. What a great app.

    • Enjoy the app. I feel learning the cultural is even more important than language itself. Of course we hope reading things about Chinese will increase their interest in learning the language too. 🙂

  • Thank you for always checking in on my blog. I do appreciate it! Great apps – especially the multilingual ones.

  • Mariposa de los Rios

    Thank you for always checking in on my blog. As a new blogger, it is greatly appreciated. As a teacher, thank you for the multilingual apps.

  • Peggy Johnston

    Thanks so much for sharing these two apps. These are great resources to expose kids to different parts of the world. I am looking forward to using both apps. for my youngest. Thanks again.

    • Glad you find them helpful. Please stop by and let me know how do you like the apps.

  • This sounds terrific. Will pass on to the kids-they are anti -technology for the little ones but not sure how long that will last as the grands get older.

    • If they found out the educational value, they may change their mind. I was like them couple years ago, look what I am doing now. 🙂

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.