Plurilingual
French acts as a bridge to Spanish. African languages known by the learner will be available as optional layers, with none made compulsory.
KAN
KAN EspañolFunctional pilot · internal access
Learn a new language with everything you already know.
KAN is a family of cognitive, multimodal, integrative and plurilingual digital methods designed for foreign-language learning in African educational contexts.
Understand the method Explore the pilot
Initial phaseSpanish · francophone secondary school · from 4e
Languages learners already know become resources for learning.
01
One simple principle
The learner’s linguistic repertoire is a foundation to build on.
Multimodal
Voice, image, rhythm, gesture, reading and writing reinforce one another within the same learning experience.
Integrative
KAN works alongside official curricula and textbooks. It complements them; it does not replace them.
Cognitive
Explicit contrasts, guided progression, recall and reuse help learners understand and develop automaticity.
02
Active progression
Listen, compare, act: a language is built through several pathways.
Each sequence connects perception, production, movement and meaning. Learners progress through short, cumulative steps, with support gradually reduced as autonomy grows.
- 01Listen
- 02Compare
- 03Pronounce
- 04Move
- 05Read
- 06Write
- 07Act
Contrastive architecture
One shared bridge language, individual sources of support.
Learner repertoire
Known African languages and other languages already learned
Optional national-language layers — next stageFrench
Language of schooling and shared explanatory bridge
Spanish
The first target language in the KAN family
03
One coherent system
The teacher, the textbook and the app move forward together.
KAN replaces neither the teacher nor official resources. It adds what a phone can offer to classroom learning: listening, repetition, interaction, personalised practice and immediate feedback.
Guides, supports and enables cooperation
The classroom remains the setting for mediation, pair or group interaction and shared tasks.
Structure learning
Official curricula and materials provide the framework; KAN complements them through a compatible progression.
Creates more opportunities to practise
Learners listen, pronounce, read, write, record themselves and listen back to their own voice, in or out of class.
What digital adds
Personal practice that prepares learners for collective action.
- 01Listen to models and repeat them at an individual pace
- 02Record and listen back to one’s own voice
- 03Develop writing progressively with guided feedback
- 04Reuse learning in individual and collaborative integration stages
04
Today
KAN Español leads the way.
The first phase focuses on francophone secondary education, with Côte d’Ivoire as the initial reference context. The experience is designed mobile first, supporting classroom teaching and the textbook.
Teenagers beginning Spanish in francophone secondary education.
A reference setting for designing, adapting and trialling the first version.
Clear, touch-friendly, progressive and accessible activities for small screens.
Pilot status
A complete first phonographic pathway is already operational.
The internal version brings together the essential graphemes and systems of the first pathway, with guided progression, targeted review and a final assessment. It remains reserved for validation and experimentation: public access is not yet open.
Within each module
- 01See and listen
- 02Compare
- 03Read
- 04Work on prosody
- 05Write
- 06Pronounce and listen back
- 07Sing and move
- 08Interact and mediate
Progress is saved automatically on the device. Human voices and general secure synchronisation are still being prepared.
A clear model, recognised diversity
Grapheme–phoneme production initially follows the Peninsular Spanish norm. Varieties across the Spanish-speaking world, including seseo, are acknowledged in short discovery capsules.
Initial reference context
Designed with Côte d’Ivoire in the foreground.
Situations, characters and school practices are grounded in recognisable Ivorian realities, with a contemporary, dignified and stereotype-free representation.
05
Inside the app
A complete pathway into Spanish through sound, spelling and action.
KAN Español is a mobile-first application that turns the first phonographic pathway into short, guided and cumulative activities. The internal pilot brings together 31 modules, five intermediate stages and one final stage: 37 structured activities.
Current product status
The pilot works; public distribution remains closed during validation.
The pathway, pseudonymous profile, automatic resumption, local voice recording, progress tracking and teacher area operate in the internal version. The application file is neither published nor offered for download on this site.
31 + 5 + 1
Level 1 in six blocks
The sequence moves from the foundations to more complex spelling systems, then checks that learners can use them together.
Foundations
Vowels · M · P · N · L · S
Core contrasts
T · D · B · V · F
R sounds and /k/
R · RR · C · QU · K
Context-dependent spellings
G · GU · GÜ · J · Z
Distinctive graphemes
Ñ · Y · LL · H · X · CH
Final integration
Review and assessment across all systems
KAN Español
What learners actually do
Modules go well beyond listening to a word: they connect perception, memory, gesture, voice, writing and communication.
See, listen and distinguish
Observe the spelling, listen to a Spanish model, select the sound heard and discriminate between close contrasts.
Compare to understand
Use French as a bridge language, identify similarities and differences, then discover Spanish rules and varieties.
Read, trace and write
Combine syllables and words, read aloud, observe cursive and print letter formation, then move into writing and mini-dictation.
Pronounce and listen back
Repeat a model, record a voice on the device, listen back and try again without sending the audio to a server by default.
Rhythm, music and movement
Consolidate sound systems through prosody, short songs, call-and-response, gesture and collective movement.
Interact, mediate and assess
Work in pairs or groups, explain a point with a support language when needed, and finish with an acquired / developing / reinforce profile.
Three complementary views
Learner pathway
A name-free KAN code, a button to continue from the last point, percentage progress and an option to reset local data only.
Protected teacher area
The internal version can display the current session or local history, show a detailed pathway summary and export events as JSON for authorised analysis.
Respectful research
Participation in improving KAN is voluntary. No name, email address, phone number or postal address is requested; real server synchronisation is not yet active.
What is ready and what comes next
Pathway and local use
37 activities, automatic resumption, local progress, an on-device voice, recording and playback, a low-data guide and an internal teacher area.
Quality and protocol
Usability across phones, device-dependent voice quality, pedagogical consistency, data-protocol security and supervised field testing.
Controlled distribution
Human voices, secure synchronisation, release of the validated application and progressive development of national-language support layers.
06
App and resources
Learn anywhere without relying on a permanent connection.
The internal KAN pilot already includes local progress tracking, a low-data guide, an audio explanation and a practical PDF. They will be published with the validated version of the app.
Low data use
One complete initial load, then the essentials offline.
The pilot loads its content once through the available network — operator mobile data or Wi-Fi — and keeps the activities and progress on the device to avoid continuous downloads.
- 01Load once
Use operator mobile data or available Wi-Fi; Wi-Fi is not required.
- 02Continue without reloading
Loaded activities and local progress remain available on the device if the connection drops.
- 03Reconnect later
An occasional connection will support updates and, once enabled, the secure synchronisation planned for the research setup.
Practice voice recordings remain on the device and are not sent to the server by default. Scientific improvement relies on optional consent.
KAN Español app
A complete mobile pathway with 31 modules, 5 intermediate stages, a final stage and automatic progress resumption.
Public access after validationLow-data guide and PDF
Practical guidance on the initial load, using mobile data and continuing activities offline.
Publication with the validated versionListening, recording and oracy
An available Spanish voice on the device guides listening; learners can record and listen back to their voice locally. Human voices are planned.
Human recordings in preparation07
A growing family
One method, several target languages.
KAN Español
First implementation: a complete phonographic pathway for beginning Spanish as a foreign language from 4e.
KAN English
Planned adaptation for English as a foreign language, from 6e in the Ivorian reference framework.
Other languages
Each new branch will mobilise African languages, school French and languages already learned.
Deux champs, une vision éducative
KAN and MOPAM-Lire Afrique: two complementary projects with different purposes.
Foreign-language learning in African educational contexts.
Literacy and learning to read and write in French as the language of schooling.
08
Responsible research
Measure learning without exposing people.
KAN is designed to support rigorous scientific observation while keeping research data strictly separate from personal data.
Pseudonymous profile
Each learner uses a unique code. The pilot does not request a name, email address, phone number or postal address.
Local by default
Progress and practice voice recordings stay on the device; voice is not sent to the server by default.
Consent and separation
Using learning data to improve KAN is optional. Scientific data remain separate from any real-identity table.
Scientific and institutional setting
A project firmly rooted in UCLM.
KAN brings together research, educational innovation and knowledge transfer within the University of Castilla-La Mancha, the Faculty of Education in Albacete and its Edulab, as well as the LIMITE research group.
University of Castilla-La Mancha
The university framework for the project’s design and development.
Faculty of Education, Albacete · Edulab
The setting for educational design, coordination, innovation and the development of digital educational resources.
LIMITE Research Group · UCLM
Scientific and knowledge-transfer setting. Alfredo Segura Tornero is co-principal investigator of the group.
University collaboration in Côte d’Ivoire
Two Ivorian universities are joining the development of KAN.
KAN will be developed in collaboration with Université Alassane Ouattara in Bouaké and Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan. Their participation strengthens the project’s university foundations and its adaptation to the Ivorian educational context.
Université Alassane Ouattara · Bouaké
Ivorian partner university contributing to the scientific and educational work of the KAN project.
Lecturer and researcherKaridjatou Diallo
Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny · Abidjan
Ivorian partner university contributing to the scientific and educational work of the KAN project.
Lecturer and researcherBi Drombé Djandué
Developed through the UCLM SAFICEP projects
Scientific direction: Alfredo Segura Tornero
Principal investigator (PI) of the 2025 and 2026 SAFICEP projectsCo-principal investigator of the LIMITE Research Group (UCLM) · Faculty of Education, Albacete
Design and authors
An identified and protected educational work.
KAN is designed and developed within a university framework for research and educational innovation.
Intellectual property
Each resource includes its authorship, version, date and protection notices. Any reproduction, modification, redistribution or commercial use requires written permission.