Thanks to FrogAsia and Word Mania, I love spelling now, and I am improving

We've been receiving amazing stories from students and teachers about their Word Mania Challenge experience that we just have to share! Here are a few: 

"I always hated spelling... But when my teacher knew my problem about my spelling, she recommended Word Mania to me... I found out that Word Mania is a game to make students like spelling and to let students know how important it is to know English well. Now I can score full marks in my weekly spelling. Thanks to FrogAsia and Word Mania, I love spelling now, and I am improving."

- Chelsea, SJK(C) Chung Shan

"Word Mania makes me more confident in my English. My family is proud of me. Even my little sister enjoys Word Mania. Now I can play Word Mania everyday. My mum installed the Word Mania game in my iPad. I promised myself I will get a better mark in my English exam. Thank you Word Mania."

- Ayna, SK(1) Selayang Baru

"Word Mania is a good game for students like me to play. This game helped to improve my speaking and taught me to use good and excellent words in my essay. My parents supported me in this game and my teachers gave me a moral support to make my school proud. This game made my family happy whenever we helped each other create the best words. I love and like this game because it makes me happy and it is fun."

- Mohamad Aiman Aliff, SMK Pondok Upeh

Read more stories from students who enjoyed Word Mania at The Pond and from teachers who found that Word Mania improved their students' attitudes towards English at the Community Site. 

If you're a parent and would like to try out Word Mania and other effective learning games brought to you by LiteractPlanet, redeem your FREE trial of LiteracyPlanet today at www.frogasia.com/wordmania

Share your Word Mania story and win Frog goodies!

It has been an exciting few weeks as the Word Mania fever has taken off all over Malaysia! It has been an intense battle for over 1,700 schools that have entered the competition, and in less than two weeks, we will find out who are the National Word Mania Champions.

We have heard many incredible stories from schools all over the country who have put in a lot of effort to be a part of this spelling challenge. If you are from one of these schools, we want to celebrate YOU!

We are giving away Frog merchandise to schools with the most outstanding stories of their participation in Word Mania. Read on for two examples of outstanding Word Mania stories.

CLICK TO SUBMIT YOUR STORY

SMK(A) Tun Said, Kota Belud, Sabah

There are a total of 420 students currently enrolled in SMK(A) Tun Said, and approximately 300 of them are actively competing in the Word Mania Challenge! The school’s computer lab only has seven functioning computers which perform slowly due to outdated processors. This has not stopped them as the students are happy to take turns among themselves. Although Bahasa Malaysia is his students’ first language, Cikgu Hanafi tells us that their attitude towards the English language has improved and they are motivated to learn more words through the game.

SJK(T) Ladang Bute, Sepang, Kuala Lumpur

Since attending the recent Leaps of Knowledge Conference, Mr Senathi Rajah, a teacher at SJK(T) Ladang Bute, was inspired to make learning through technology work for his Tamil school of only 29 students. He got his school and other Tamil schools excited about Word Mania by translating the 1BestariNet ID activation guide and the Word Mania guide into Tamil so that they would find it easier to participate! Although the school is a small school, this has not stopped them from climbing up to the Top 10 schools on the Primary Leaderboard, and the currently are ranked in 3rd place nationwide!

FrogStore Featured App: Enhance your child’s English skills with LiteracyPlanet

Looking for fun and engaging learning activities that can target your child’s weak areas and at the same time, cater specifically to your child’s individual learning needs? Help your child excel with interactive resources from leading international educational providers on the FrogStore!

LiteracyPlanet is an online learning app designed to improve students’ English language skills through fun, educational games and activities. *Price available below

Why We Love This App

1. LiteracyPlanet allows students to explore fundamental literacy skills in a fun and engaging way.

2. LiteracyPlanet also provides a range of lessons and learning activities that cater to the individual needs of specific students.

3. LiteracyPlanet provides an engaging game-based program with challenging tasks that can target areas requiring improvements.

Why Frog?

“FrogAsia is ambitious and forward-thinking, and we believe their project will revolutionise not only the way education is delivered in Malaysia but throughout the wider region and eventually the world. With its reach to students in excess of 10,000 public schools and a highly motivated team - we believe that the FrogStore is the best way to bring LiteracyPlanet to Malaysia.

Our favourite channel on the the FrogStore is TedEd. We believe that the best way to transfer knowledge and skills to students is through providing content to them in a fun and engaging manner and TedEd does this superbly.’ - Chris Roberts, CEO of LiteracyPlanet.

Want to improve your child’s English Language skills further?

LiteracyPlanet and FrogAsia is proud to bring you Malaysia’s biggest word building competition - the Word Mania Malaysia Challenge 2014! The Word Mania Malaysia Challenge is a national word-building competition for all Malaysian primary and secondary school students aged 7 to 17 years with a 1BestariNet ID.

Support your child as he / she takes part in the Word Mania Challenge to beat the clock and build as many words as possible in three minutes! Your child stands a chance to win a Samsung 4G Chromebook, Yes 4G devices, and more! 

Find out more about the competition and register at www.frogasia.com/wordmania today!

*RM65 for a one-year LiteracyPlanet student subscription on the FrogStore. Parents will need to make this purchase for their child on the FrogStore and gift it to them.

Register Your Child for the Word Mania Challenge Today!

LATEST UPDATE: Round 3 of the Word Mania Challenge ended on 23 February 2014 with 11 School Champions and a shortlist of 20 Individual Finalists who will be competing at the Word Mania Grand Finals on 27 March 2014. 

If your child was one of the 70,024 students who registered for Word Mania and thoroughly enjoyed it, you can now get fun and effective learning games like Word Mania and more by purchasing the LiteracyPlanet app for only RM50 a year at the FrogStore! Or you can start by getting your FREE TRIAL of the LiteracyPlanet app at www.wordmania.com.my before 30 April 2014!

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Malaysia’s biggest word-building competition is here! Register your children for this challenge and stand a chance to win a Samsung 4G Chromebook and other Yes devices too! There’s up to RM1 million worth of prizes to be won!

The Word Mania Challenge is a national word-building competition that celebrates fun with literacy. The theme of this year is ‘To the Moon and Back’ where every game students play contributes to taking the Word Mania rocket on one (or several) return trips to the moon!

The challenge begins with a practice round followed by three competition rounds that lead to the Grand Finals event. Students stand a chance to win a Samsung 4G Chromebook, Yes devices and school prizes that are worth up to RM10,000 including LiteracyPlanet subscriptions for every student in their respective schools!

Who can play? 
The competition is open to all Malaysian primary and secondary school students aged 7 to 17 years with a 1BestariNet ID. There are four individual prize categories: Lower Primary, Upper Primary, Lower Secondary and Upper Secondary so that every student will be able to compete with others at their level. Students can also win prizes for their school! If you’re a teacher, all you need to do is ensure that at least five students from your school have registered to participate in this competition and your school could walk away with prizes worth up to RM10,000!

When does it start?
Registration: 2 Jan – 12 Jan
Round 1: 13 Jan – 26 Jan
Round 2: 27 Jan – 9 Feb
Round 3: 10 Feb – 23 Feb
Grand finalists will be announced between 26 – 27 Feb

Students can activate their 1BestariNet ID here and REGISTER NOW at www.frogasia.com/wordmania

Get into the FUNTASTIC WORLD of Chupa Chups!

The Chupa Chups Funtastic World Colouring Contest is now open to Primary (age 7 – 12) and Secondary (age 13 – 17) school students! Stand a chance to win these prizes for yourself when you join the contest on The Pond: 

• 1st Prize x 1: Samsung Tab 2 (10.1) & Chupa Chups Hamper
• 2nd Prize x 1: Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini & Chupa Chups Hamper
• 3rd Prize x 1: Sony Camera W730 & Chupa Chups Hamper
• Consolation Prize x 17: iPod Shuffle & Chupa Chups Hamper

Students can also win prizes for their school by inviting their friends to join this contest as well! The more entries received by a particular school, the higher chances that school has to win. 

Login to your Frog VLE and download the Contest Form on The Pond today!

Hoppin' Tunes: "The Making Of" with Rebecca Fernandez

Have you seen the first Hoppin' Tunes video that was produced by our awesome FrogAsia interns, called "Never Going Back to Textbooks"? It's brilliant! Get to know the creative geniuses behind this catchy production and find out how they managed to pull off this project as a team. 

Meet Rebecca Fernandez, an intern with great leadership qualities and lots of personality. 

How did you choose the song for this video? 

The song had a really catchy tune and everybody just loved hearing it. It was also easy to change the lyrics of this particular song. 

Explain the lyrics and why they were chosen for the song? 

We were told that we had to talk about the features on the Frog VLE. So we just started brainstorming. We also included lyrics that talked about what students typically go through on a daily basis such as trying to fit in too many books into their school bags, but now with the Frog VLE, we never have to struggle again.

What was the process in making this video? 

It was a really fun and interesting process! We sat down together and started thinking about how we could make it fun. We tackled one verse at a time, and after each verse was done we would film it, so that we wouldn't lose the idea. Then it came to the video editing part which Jason did. I recorded the song for the video. Rachel and Chrislynn were in most parts of the video so they're the 'stars' of the video. 

Is there anything you discovered about yourself during the process of making this video with your team? 

I realized that I could do so many things, like how I never knew how to use a recording programme to record a song before this, but when the time came I could do it. Unspoken gifts you can say. I think every member of our team realized the we had a hidden talent, and we got to use it. Also our group dynamics were so good, we got along really well. Teamwork is the key! 

If you had the chance again, would you enjoy working on a fun project that requires creative thinking like this one?

Of course! This project was so fun! I learned so much and was able to exercise the creative side of my brain. I just loved every bit of this project. 

To know more about what Rebecca was talking about, watch their video below! 

We want to showcase your creative ideas in your Hoppin' Tunes video too! Hop on into The Pond to find out how to FrogBomb the lyrics of your favourite song and stand a chance to win great prizes just by participating in the Hoppin' Tunes Competition! 

Keep checking our Facebook page and follow our Twitter feed @frogasia for more tips and new updates! 

Hoppin' Tunes: "The Making Of" with Rachel Fernandez

Have you seen the first Hoppin' Tunes video that was produced by our awesome FrogAsia interns, called "Never Going Back to Textbooks"? It's brilliant! Get to know the creative geniuses behind this catchy production and find out how they managed to pull off this project as a team. 

Meet Rachel Fernandez, a friendly and bright young lady with great personality. 

How did you choose the song for this video? 

It was a really popular song at that time (it still is), so we thought it would be fun to work with a song that everyone is familiar with and can learn fast. It also has a really upbeat tempo so we decided it would the best choice. 

Explain the lyrics and why they were chosen for the song.

I guess it came to us naturally? We've got the music in us! We wanted lyrics that spoke about the awesome features in the Frog VLE so everyone could know about it.  It also related to the problems students face these days like lugging our heavy bags around, "My bag's now much lighter, I'll be happy forever...''.

What was the process in making this video? 

First, we drew out a plan on how the video would look like. Then we decided when we were going to shoot it and who was going to be in each scene. Scenes on the video were all related to the lyrics, so that made it a lot easier to convey our main message. Editing was the harder part. Luckily, Jason and Rebecca knew how to edit videos, so we were all saved. 

Is there anything you discovered about yourself during the process of making this video with your team? 

I think it was really fun coming up with the lyrics and the video. We needed a lot of teamwork. I learned that teamwork means working together and not alone. Everyone pitched in their own ideas and that made it a lot more easier.

If you had the chance again, would you enjoy working on a fun project that requires creative thinking like this one?

Yes! This video was probably the most fun part of the internship. Honestly, without this video I'm not even sure if the four of us would have been as close as we are now. 

To know more about what Rachel was talking about, watch their original video below! 

We want to showcase your creative ideas in your Hoppin' Tunes video too! Hop on into The Pond to find out how to FrogBomb the lyrics of your favourite song and stand a chance to win great prizes just by participating in the Hoppin' Tunes Competition! 

Keep checking our Facebook page and follow our Twitter feed @frogasia for more tips and new updates! 

Hoppin' Tunes: "The Making Of" with Chrislynn Pereira

Have you seen the first Hoppin' Tunes video that was produced by our awesome FrogAsia interns, called "Never Going Back to Textbooks"? It's brilliant! Get to know the creative geniuses behind this catchy production and find out how they managed to pull off this project as a team. 

Meet Chrislynn Pereira, a perky young lady who's also one of the youngest members in the production team and younger sister to Jason. 

FrogAsia: How did you choose the song for this video? 

Chrislynn: We needed a song with a catchy tune, and although I hate to admit it, Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" was perfect.

Explain the lyrics and why they were chosen for the song? 

We wanted to address all the features of the Frog VLE, and were lucky they happened to rhyme!

What was the process in making this video? 

We spent ages thinking about where to film our proposed scenes, who would act in the shots, who would make the props, hold the props, how to not completely embarrass ourselves on the internet, etc. Even then, it was probably the most fun I had in my working experience with FrogAsia.

Is there anything you discovered about yourself during the process of making this video with your team?

I realized that I'm really good at pretending to faint.

If you had the chance again, would you enjoy working on a fun project that requires creative thinking like this one?

Definitely! Not only did this improve my parody-song-writing skills, but I bonded greatly with my other team members and now we're great friends! Also I learned how to fake faints with the finesse of a true drama queen.

To know more about what Chrislynn was talking about, watch their original video below! 

Impressed? This video was fully produced by our high school interns all on their own, and if you're a student, YOU can do the same thing too!

We want to showcase YOUR creative ideas in your Hoppin' Tunes video too! Hop on into The Pond to find out how to FrogBomb the lyrics of your favourite song and stand a chance to win great prizes just by participating in the Hoppin' Tunes Competition! 

Keep checking our Facebook page and follow our Twitter feed @frogasia for more tips and new updates! 

Hoppin' Tunes: "The Making Of" with Jason Pereira

Have you seen the first Hoppin' Tunes video that was produced by our awesome FrogAsia interns, called "Never Going Back to Textbooks"? It's brilliant! Get to know the creative geniuses behind this catchy production and find out how they managed to pull off this project as a team. 

Meet Jason Pereira, a truly efficient intern with a unique sense of humor - also the only guy in the production team. 

FrogAsia: How did you choose the song for this video? 

Jason: We were just scrolling down the music chart and trying to change lyrics of songs that caught our attention. This song was the only one that sounded decent enough!

Explain the lyrics and why they were chosen for the song.

The message 'We are never ever, ever going back to textbooks' was chosen because with the Frog VLE, physical textbooks won't be needed anymore as everything is now available on the Internet and the FrogStore! 

What was the process in making this video? 

We didn't have a lot of time to shoot the video so everything was mostly on creative impulse. Most of the time, we just rolled the camera and improvised on whatever came to our minds. Harlem shake!

Is there anything you discovered about yourself during the process of making this video with your team? 

Being the only guy in the video was a little weird. Getting three girls to listen to you while trying to avoid arguing is quite a challenge, especially if its your sister. :P During the shooting process, we had to consider everyone's opinion before actually doing it. So yeah, I learnt to be more attentive to the opinions of others. 

If you had the chance again, would you enjoy working on a fun project that requires creative thinking like this one? 

Haha, YEA! Maybe after SPM. :D

To know more about what Jason was talking about, watch their original video below! 

Impressed? This video was fully produced by our high school interns all on their own, and if you're a student, YOU can do the same thing too!

We want to showcase YOUR creative ideas in your Hoppin' Tunes video too! Hop on into The Pond to find out how to FrogBomb the lyrics of your favourite song and stand a chance to win great prizes just by participating in the Hoppin' Tunes Competition! 

Keep checking our Facebook page and follow our Twitter feed @frogasia for more tips and new updates! 

Get Creative with the Hoppin' Tunes Competition!

Introducing the Hoppin' Tunes Competition - the chance for all students to show us how creative they are by picking a popular song and "Frogbomb"-ing its lyrics! 

By participating, students stand a chance to win a complete classroom makeover with IdeaPaint. This is an innovative and environmentally responsible whiteboard paint that transforms virtually any surface into a high-performance, dry erase canvas. That means they will be able to showcase their prize to the entire school too! 

Check out the video below to see how IdeaPaint works.

The Hoppin' Tunes competition runs from 6th February to 31st March 2013. Students can login to The Pond to find out more information on how to enter and to get helpful video-making tips.

For more information and updates about Hoppin’ Tunes, keep checking our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.