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!

Awesome interactive sites for students and learners

Watch this 5 minute video by Jimmy Ruska and see if there is something you want to try out. They look like fun things to play around with. The last 3 in particular might be good for language learners.

SpongeFish - Look smart. Get smarter.

Thinkature - Real-time collaboration for the web

Flashcards: The world's largest library of printable flash cards

BuildQuiz.com: Quick Free Academic Quiz Creator

Quizlet › The End of Flashcards

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.

Tired of Leo?

There are some viable alternatives, you know...


For example, you can test your vocabulary at the main page of http://www.dict.cc/

You get an English word and 4 possible German translations. Click on the one you think is right.

If you get it wrong, you get the correct translation immediately and can add it to your Vokabeltrainer.

Spending a few minutes setting up your Vokabeltrainer will pay huge benefits!

Definitely worth a look!

Watch your particles!

Albert had great hair, but Ted Power is a great name, don't you think?
And he seems to be a great man too. (I hope it doesn't take getting hit by a car like Ted was for me to sort out my language teaching ideas and make some of them available on the web.)

One part of Ted's site I really like and would like to share with you works like this:

"Watch Your Particles!" is a set of worksheets designed to practise WORD + PARTICLE combinations in conversation and writing. The task has been divided into seven sections. Each section contains from 26 to 33 conversation questions. The questions, which are suitable for work in pairs or small groups, each contain a WORD + PARTICLE combination and should be answered fairly quickly. Students connected to the Internet can then complete a Multiple Choice Test (running on the Internet TESL Journal site) on the same range of WORD + PARTICLE combinations they have practised in conversation. A Gap Fill text, designed to test learning within a memorable context, then requires learners to produce the correct WORD + PARTICLEs.

So get yourself a partner and start answering some of these conversation questions! And keep track of any new expressions!

Easier Crosswords on various topics

Not very difficult crosswords that can be done online (with hints) or printed out. Good way to expand your vocab!

Word Web Crosswords

Airport: At the Airport
Animals: A World of Animals
Cars: Cars and Car Parts
Computer: Computer Terms
Dairy: Down at the Dairy
Entertainment: Words are Entertaining
Factory: Working at the Factory
Food: Food for Thought
Flowers: The Flower Show
Fruit: Fruit Salad
Garden: Working in the Garden
Geography: Know Your Geography
Home: Home Sweet Home
Jobs: A Job Well Done
Office: Around the Office
Personal Hygiene: Good Personal Hygiene
Plants: A Whole Crop of Plants
Preparing Food: Preparing Food
School: School's in Session
Science: Science Experiment
Seafood: Under the Sea
Space: Outer Space
Sports: Sports Fan
Tools: Tools of the Trade
Transportation: Transportation Terms
Trees: Swinging from the Trees
Utility Room: The Useful Utility Room
Vegetable: Garden Vegetables
Weather: Wild Weather

Challenge Crosswords

Challenge Crossword 1
Challenge Crossword 2
Challenge Crossword 3
Challenge Crossword 4
Challenge Crossword 5

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?

Longman Vocabulary Website

Longman Vocabulary Website has lots of challenging vocabulary exercises that will give your vocabulary a real workout! The good thing is that you can start off easy and then gradually try the harder ones. You can check your answers yourself.

Word Parts

Dictionary Exercises

Using Context Clues

Synonyms

Antonyms

Homonyms

Easily Confused Words

Academic Vocabulary

Campus Vocabulary