Lyrics Training

My daughter really likes this one because she loves to sing in both Spanish and English.

It's fun listening to songs and then typing in the missing lyrics. The cool thing is that the song waits for you to finish typing the missing word or phrase. Different levels. Highly recommended!

To watch a screencast made by an English teacher named Russell explaining exactly how the site works, click here.

Which vocab game is better -- knoword or freerice?

Both of these games fun and challenging.

The main difference:

• knoword.com gives you the dictionary definition of a word and the letter it starts with. You type in the word being defined. You try to score more points by guessing correctly and quickly.

• freerice.com gives you just one word and a choice of 4 other words. You click on the one closest in meaning. The more you get correct, the harder they get. You try to reach a higher level.

Try them both and let me know which one you like better and why!

American Slang Quiz

20 Questions
Listen to the phrase, repeat using your best "American" accent, and then guess which of the 3 German translations is the right one.

Doesn't seem too hard to me... };)

https://ssl.sueddeutsche.de/reise/spiele/quiz/245/137964/1/?go=1

Spelling Bee

Because I am a word freak, I like this dictionary for many reasons.

The feature I want to share with you today is both fun and educational. It's called Spelling Bee.

Here's how it works.
1. You go to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ and look for the Spelling Bee box.
2. Set difficulty level to "easy" so you don't get too frustrated too quickly and you get more common words that people actually use.
3. Look at the definition and guess the word. Take a few guesses. This is an important part of the exercise, so don't skip it!!
4. Then click on the speaker. You will here,... sorry, hear a man say a word. Click once more if you need to hear the word again.
5. Spell the word by typing it in the box as you say the letters in English out loud.
6. Click "answer" to see if you spelled it correctly.(Not "spelt"; that's British!)
7. Now try to use the word in a sentence of your own. If the word is completely new to you, and even if it isn't but you want to get some synonyms etc, click on it to see a definition and some example sentences, synonyms, etc
7. Click "next word" to continue.

Here's the link again.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

8. Play for 10 words and record your score and the date. The nexttime you play you can see if you are getting better.

The Traveler IQ Challenge

This game is lots of fun and a real challenge, even for those of us who have circumnavigated the globe and think they are pretty good at geography.

Here's how it works:
You have a world map in your browser. After you click START! you are shown the name of a city, for example Paris, and you have to click on the map, hopefully somewhere in the center of what you know to be France. The points you get depend how close you are to where Paris is actually located and the speed at which you place your little pin. So no dilly-dallying!

FYI the first (and so far only time) I played this game I got to Level 10 out of 12 and scored 387,101 points. My Travel IQ is 113, which is not too bad I guess. The map is small, but that's part of the fun!

So give it a try!
http://www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq

Free Rice

Interesting way to improve your vocabulary while at the same time making the world a better place. Food for thought, so to speak. Thanks for the tip Ursula!

I was starting to get a little frustrated because since I kept getting them right, ie guessing the correct meaning of some really hard words, I kept getting EVEN HARDER words! I somehow got the first 19 right before I guessed wrong on "eguitation". Later I found out there are 50 levels. I would advise students to get a few wrong "on purpose"?? so they stay at a non-frustrating level.

Besides, what good is a big vocabulary anyway...?

Vocabulary Games at manythings.org

Charles Kelly has one of the best EFL sites on the net.
It's called manythings.org


What better way to give your vocab a workout than to play games?

Most of the site is a bit too easy for learners at Austrian universities (apple, banana, etc)

But when you take one of the large lists, it quickly starts to get challenging.

Take, for example,
Alan Beale's Core Vocabulary Compiled from 3 Small ESL Dictionaries with over 20,000 words

Words Beginning with A
Words Beginning with B
Words Beginning with C
etc

With each of these lists you can play a large variety of these games, so you won't get bored. You do need Flash, which most good PCs have.

Here are the games:

Click the Letters in the Correct Order
How many words can you correctly get before you run out of time.

Flash Hangman Game
Try to guess the mystery word before you run out of guesses.

Spelling & Typing Game
The faster you type the words, the higher your score will be.

Word Drop Game
Unscramble the word by clicking any two letters to exchange their places.

Every Other Letter Game (Flash Version)
See a word with every other letter missing, then type in what word you think the computer has chosen.

First & Last Game (Flash Version)
See a word with only its first and last letters, then type in what word you think the computer has chosen.

Guess the Word
With your friends, click the button and see who can be the first to guess the word.

Dictionary Flashcards
Click through the words. When you find one you don't know, click a button to an online dictionary.

Catch the Spelling
Catch the falling letters in the correct order to spell the word.

Word Web Game
Click the letters in the correct order to spell the words.

SpeedWord Spelling Game
Click the letters in the correct order to spell the mystery words.

MatchWords Game
This kind of game is sometimes called "Concentration" or "Memory."

Flash Word Search Puzzles (Word Find)
This kind of game is sometimes called "Word Find" or "Hidden Words."

Which of these games do you think are fun? Useful for you as a language learner trying to expand your vocabulary? Is this a site you'd like to bookmark and come back to? What can you do to use some of the new words and really make them your own? Do you know how these words are pronounced? Can you use them in a meaningful sentence?

Talk to me!

How well do you know the languages spoken in Europe?

Try this little guessing game to find out!

Scrabble

Sign up and play a game of Scrabble with the easy robot.
You can always look up words you are not sure of in one of the online dictionaries on the site.

Scrabulous is a fun way to expand your vocabulary and maybe even start thinking in English.

You can find someone to play online in real time or via email.

Guess the Google

This is a surprisingly addictive Flash game where you are shown 20 pictures and have to guess which word was typed into Google Images to return those pictures. The faster you get the correct answer the more points you get.

The first time I played I got 296, which is not bad.

Can you beat it?

Crosswords anyone?

Crosswords are a GREAT way to improve your vocabulary.

These are excellently constructed themed crosswords from the New York Times Learning Network on all kinds of topics. You will definitely find some that interest you. Print some out and use them as bookmarks or to do while you are waiting for a bus...

If your browser supports Java, you can play the puzzle on-line.

Crossword Topics

American History

Patriotic Quotations

The Great Depression

The Civil Rights Movement

The 1960's

The 1950's

American Labor History

The Declaration of Independence

The Pilgrims

Westward Expansion

The Fifty States

Life in Colonial America

Thanksgiving

Native American History

The Civil War

The Roaring 20's

Civil Rights and Freedoms

The American Revolution

Independence Day

Black History Month

Civics

The U.S. Constitution

America's First Ladies

Voting in the U.S.A.

Women's Suffrage

The U.S. Congress

The American Judicial System

United States Presidents

The Electoral Process

Economics

Currency Around the World

Money

The Stock Market

Fine Arts

Famous Painters

Broadway 2007

Now Playing

Curtain Up: Broadway

Musical Notation

Oscar-Winning Films

Museums

Ancient Greek Theater

On Broadway

Musical Instruments

Famous Artists and Works

Music

Geography

Geography of the Middle East

Olympic Host Cities

World Capitals

State Capitals

Hispanic Heritage

Bodies of Water

Architectural Marvels

Landmarks and Monuments

Places and Regions

Rocks and Minerals

Biomes

Latitude and Longitude

Global History

World War II

The Renaissance

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

World Leaders

Africa

China

Life in the Middle Ages

Ancient Egypt

Immigration

Japan

Mesoamerica

Health

Health Literacy

Nutrition

Physical Fitness

Journalism

In the Newspaper

Page One

Language Arts

Building Blocks of Vocabulary

Classic Children's Books

Women Novelists

Scary Stories

Literary Terms

Grammar

Joking Around

Fairy Tales

Mystery and Suspense

Tales of Terror

Mythology

National Poetry Month

Great Books and Authors

Mathematics

Units of Measure

Geometry

Mathematics

Science

Virus Outbreaks

Global Warming

Plants

Hurricanes

Meteorology

Winter Weather

Genetics

Cell Biology

Periodic Table of the Elements

Paleontology

Space Exploration

Scientists

Under the Sea: Aquatic Life

Electricity and Magnetism

Botany

Animals: Life Cycles

Volcanoes

Earthquakes

Endangered Species

The Human Body

Archeology

Weather

Insects

20 Years of Science Times

Biodiversity

Stargazing

Social Studies

St. Patrick's Day

Olympic Host Cities

Summer Olympic Games

Sports Heroes and Legends

The Olympics

Famous Couples

Community Service: Lending a Hand

People of the Millennium

Explorers

Women's History

Technology

Inventors

Internet Safety

Computer Jargon

Transportation

20th Century Inventions

Miscellaneous

Preparing for College

Saying ''Thank You'' Around the World

Expressions of Love

Back to School

The Study of...

Summer Camp

Summer Safety

Summer Vacation

What Are You Afraid Of?

Winter Sports

Winter Holidays

Jamestown

Inspired by the culture questions I put on the Diploma Exam, I decided to learn more about Jamestown. A very nicely made and very educational National Geographic site.

I like the videos, especially the one with author Charles C Mann talking about the impact of colonization on the New World.

If you're in a playful mood, try the interactive Jamestown game.

Anyone like Geography?

Brought to you by National Geographic, a name that stands for quality.

Take today's quiz, or yesterday's or the one from two days ago.

Just 10 questions about world geography. Reminds us that it is a big world we live in...

Word Association

Click on PLAY!

I agree with the person who said "it is a fascinating exercise on two levels: 1) how you will answer and 2) how others have answered."

It claims to have as many words in its database as an average adult has in his/her vocabulary. May be true since I typed "rambunctious" into the search box and got a few good associations. Can you guess them?? Answers here.

Here are a few ideas of how you could use this site for a language workout.

TASK: Using this link, try playing this word association game, preferably with someone else. Quickly type in the first word that comes to your mind that you can justify somehow (can say what the connection is; there may be a strong collocation or a compound noun or some association on some deeper level...whatever...).
Save the associations you each have made and then go thru them and explain the less obvious ones.
What do you learn about your partner?????Yourself????

Another idea: Try very hard to think like a native speaker and make a point of trying to guess the most common associations other people have had for a particular word. Try it with "cork" for example. Check your answer here.