Learning curve: Hanna Lenda’s educational games are a hit with parents and teachers
Learning curve: Hanna Lenda’s educational games are a hit with parents and teachers
Learning curve: Hanna Lenda’s educational games are a hit with parents and teachers
By Rawaa Talass
June 11, 2020
Summary
They say necessity is the mother of invention, and for French-Hungarian entrepreneur Hanna Lenda, her endeavor to design educational and playful games in Arabic was sparked by the arrival of her firstborn son, Adam.
"When Adam was born, I started to buy children's books and games in English, Hungarian, French and Arabic - this was nearly 10 years ago," Lenda explained to Arab News.
In 2016, Lenda - who has a master's degree in product design - established Daradam, a publishing house for educational resources offering young minds a fresh take on the basics of the Arabic language and numerical system, as well as promoting Arabic culture - including the region's architectural heritage - through visually engaging products.
Lenda interviewed a number of Arabic teachers, whose feedback was helpful to her design process.
According to Lenda, they all expressed a concern that teachers of other languages had more resources, and that the limited options available to Arabic teachers were "Not that fun."
So Lenda began crafting board and card games that are simple, educational and enjoyable.
One of her major criticisms of existing Arabic games is their "Irrelevance." Many were likely translated from English to Arabic decades ago.
For Daradam's memory game "Arabicity," for instance, Lenda invited the Tunisian artist Noha Habaieb to illustrate 12 iconic architectural settings from the Arab world, which are presented on a set of 24 wooden cards.
"Arabicouples" came about through Lenda's conversations with Arabic teachers who expressed a desire for resources that featured all 22 countries of the Arab league.
"In Lebanon, the family of an old lady who lost her capacity to talk bought her the 'Arabicubes' blocks. So, she communicates with them through the blocks," Lenda said, adding that a French saleswoman once told her that a client bought the same product just because of its "Beautiful design."
Reference
Talass, R. (2020, June 11). Learning curve: Hanna Lenda's educational games are a hit with parents and teachers. Retrieved June 11, 2020, from https://www.arabnews.com/node/1688086/lifestyle