Did you know that only 78% of households in the United States speak English? This means that in 22% of households, a language other than English is spoken. Hispanics are the largest growing minority in the US, with Spanish-English dual language learners making up 33% of young elementary children speaking Spanish at home.

Meanwhile, there are only 10,208 certified bilingual service providers in the United States, according to the American Speech Hearing Association.

The scarcity of Speech-Language Pathologists fluent in languages other than English is not the only barrier that emerging bilinguals with speech-impairment face. A lack of vocabulary learning materials and bilingual speech therapy resources in languages other than English compounds the challenge. But one company, Smarty Ears, is devoted to bridging this gap!

Smarty Ears has always committed to providing essential resources for educators supporting emerging bilingual students. Our technology is utilized by special education professionals fluent in languages other than English, and those who may not speak the student’s native language.

With a founder who immigrated to the U.S., linguistic accessibility is woven into Smarty Ears’ mission.

Smarty Ears developed FonoLogico, an articulation app designed for speech-impairment. Available on the App Store, Fono Lógico provides over 450 carefully selected images to help Spanish-speaking children practice their sounds.