PENpal Audio Recorder Pen Tap and listen to talking books, posters & voice recordable labels
The award-winning digital PENpal Audio Recorder Pen allows readers to hear content in many languages* by simply touching the pen to books, charts, labels and other learning resources. You can download pre-recorded sound files for free to turn many of our bilingual picture books into “talking books.” Or, use PENpal to record your own narrative, music or sound effects. PENpal is portable, durable and easy to use, and allows for over 250 hours of audio content. The possibilities are endless!
Who is it for?
PENpal supports reading, writing, speaking and listening for:
English Language Learners
New arrivals from foreign countries
Foreign language learners
Learners with special needs
Any student in need of an inclusive resource that develops literacy skills
It’s interactive, enjoyable and effective!
Tap and listen to talking books, posters and voice recordable labels in English and ~40 languages!
Personalize instruction to meet the needs of a diverse student population
Use individually, in groups, and send home with parents
Download hundreds of free audio files in many languages*
Switching between languages is easy and instant
Colorful, interactive books are easy to use and personalize
*Engage Dual Language Learners with Exclusive PENpal Literacy Sets in many languages!
Language Lizard offers an extensive selection of literacy sets that include the PENpal Audio Recorder Pen along with our award-winning bilingual "talking books".
PENpal Interactive Literacy Sets are available in Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Haitian-Creole, Hindi, Lithuanian, Panjabi, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese and more! Books with sound files are available in about 40 languages. Multilingual Charts, English-only ELL Literacy Sets and Phonics Learning Products are also available to support literacy development.
Record Your Own Voice with Recordable Labels
Animate any object with sound
Record language, music, messages or sound effects
Change recordings any time
Record instructions for students, role play, story tell
Allow students to record, save, and playback their own recording
Teachers Love PENpal
“Verdict - Be inspired! This is one of the most enjoyable and useful resources I’ve seen in a long time. The recording function opens up all sorts of creative avenues. You’ll be amazed at what it inspires you to do!”
- Dave Lews, teacher review, Teach Primary
“PENpal and accompanying materials can help in provision of culturally responsive instruction, forging strong links between the home and school. This resource also supports schools in developing home literacy partnerships as it is easy to use and can be lent to families to work with at home.”
- Dr. Raymonde Sneddon, Cass School of Education
“We are the first library in Westchester County to circulate PENpals and they are a wonderful asset to our collection. PENpals help our patrons to learn a new language, reinforce their native language, foster a love of reading and enhance their vocabulary and listening skills via an interactive format. One of our patrons mentioned that her son loved it and another mom said that they are super tools that are helping her daughter reinforce her Spanish and her reinforce her English. She is so grateful to the library for having such innovative materials.”
- Barbara Cohen, Bilingual Children's Librarian, Warner Library
“Differentiated instruction is possible with PENpal and recordable labels. It’s perfect for the varied needs of all my students who struggle with learning and need customized instruction.”
- Kris Cresco, Administrator
Download free dual language sound files from FreeLINK
Need more information? See our PENpal Basics page To see a list of books that have US sound files, contact us
