Three Nelson entrepreneurs have taken to Kickstarter http://kck.st/1iA2D2K to fund their language learning tool LingoMagic, designed to help children learn French.

The system offers a ‘magic wand’ – a device which when paired with books designed especially for LingoMagic, lets kids hear a native French speaker recite words, phrases and songs.

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Meryl-lynn Pluck created the Rainbow Reading programme in New Zealand and is working on LingoMagic with graphic designers Carolyn Sygrove and Lisa Caron. The funding target is $28,000.

“Last year, whilst producing a learn to read resource, it occurred to us the techniques we were using would be perfect for children learning another language. This is how we came up with the LingoMagic concept,” says Pluck. “Although we are designing the books ourselves, we need extra funds to meet production costs, so we’re hoping the Kickstarter campaign will enable us to move to the next stage.”

The funds raised will go towards making at least 500 audio wands and printing 500 sets of books (12 per set).