Inspiration

As technology continues to advance, children are being exposed to screens at increasingly younger ages. While technology itself is not inherently harmful, excessive and unstructured screen time, especially for young children, can significantly delay language development, attention, and social interaction. Completely preventing screen use is unrealistic in today’s world; however, we believe the focus should shift toward introducing apps that actively support cognitive development rather than dull it.

This belief is the core inspiration behind MiniLingo.

MiniLingo is designed to transform screen time into a meaningful learning experience. It is a language-learning game aimed at young children who are beginning to learn a second language. The app focuses on building vocabulary in a way that is engaging, age-appropriate, and educational. Currently, MiniLingo is available in French, as many Canadian children begin learning French as a second language during elementary school.

MiniLingo was created as a response to this problem. Rather than passively entertaining children, it encourages active participation, decision-making, repetition, and reinforcement. All key components of effective language learning. The app allows parents to feel confident that their child’s screen time is beneficial, and it can also be used in classroom settings, particularly in language classes, as a tool for review, practice, and preparation.

Simple language learning for curious kids

MiniLingo helps children build French vocabulary through fun word matching.

Classroom Friendly Learning

Teachers can use MiniLingo as a simple vocabulary tool, helping students practice word recognition and language association in a classroom setting.

What it Does

Uses Gemini API to generate random words in French for kids to learn and translate
Presents a gamified learning experience where children can earn points for each correct answer.
Builds winning streaks through consecutive correct answers, encouraging motivation, confidence, and continued play.
Intuitive front end design and GUI catered towards the eyes of children

How we built it

Frontend: React.js, HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, Javascript
Backend: Flask

Difficulties Faced

We could only access Gemini’s API Free tier. This meant lower rate per limits and requests per day. Because the free plan restricts the number of requests per minute, we frequently hit quotas that blocked our ability to generate new lesson content. To keep the project running during development, we had to manually and tediously swap API keys whenever a limit was reached. While this was a time-consuming manual process, it was a necessary workaround to maintain the app's functionality without moving to a paid subscription.

Our team initially planned to have Gemini API generate image, then spew out text based answers, however, it was extremely costly.

What’s Next For MiniLingo?

Introduce a wider variety of global languages to make MiniLingo accessible to a more diverse range of young learners.
Implement image-friendly games where the Gemini API can generate or interpret visual assets
Improve our server response times and transition away from manual API key rotation/moving to a paid tier