At the end of the day, learning a language is still a learning process, which can often times feel arduous and not exactly the most immediately rewarding. Especially when you consider the amount of time you have to invest in it, learning a language can end up being rather boring!
Luckily, unlike other academic subjects, languages can be learned through more interesting means, ant this is perhaps best shown with the English language. There are plenty of ways to make learning English more enjoyable, from choosing to use films to learn English to making friends with native speakers.
However, for both children and adults alike, one of the most tried and true methods is using games to learn English.
What are some games to learn English for kids?
Children can sometimes struggle with sitting down and memorizing endless pages of vocabulary and grammar, but as soon as you turn something into a game, their attention span for it goes through the roof!
This has been known for a long time, and thus a lot of games to teach English to young learners have been developed over the years.
Of course, there will be a considerable difference between games to learn English for preschool students and games to learn English for students at higher levels, but luckily these are not in short supply. No matter what level you want to learn at, there are quite a lot of options!
Classic games to learn English: Hangman
One of the most popular ways to learn English vocabulary (or vocabulary in any language, for that matter!) is the classic game of Hangman. It’s a short game that doesn’t tend to hold attention for very long, but is one of the best games to learn English in groups a teacher can have in his or her arsenal.
The rules of hangman are very simple, and will involve using a lot of different vocabulary, and focusing on spelling. The rules are as follows:
- One player thinks of a word and writes a number of dashes on a whiteboard or piece of paper equivalent to the number of letters in the word.
- The other players must then suggest a letter. If the word contains the letter, the first player writes the letter in the correct spaces. If the word does not contain the letter, write it underneath or somewhere else out of the way, and draw a single line on the diagram of the hanging man. Typically, this will be four lines for the structure, and a simple stick figure.
- Continue until either the word is guessed correctly, in which case the group wins, or the drawing is finished, in which case the first player wins.
In some ways, a rather macabre premise, but primarily a fun game that will have the whole group thinking about their English vocabulary and how words are spelt! There is a good reason why of all the games to learn English, hangman has become one of the most ubiquitous, after all.
Board games to learn English: Scrabble
A classic board game in its own right, scrabble is a great game and an even better one for those wanting to learn English.
It will push the extent of each player’s knowledge of English spelling and vocabulary to its limits, requiring you to creatively come up with words using a limited selection of letters.
As well as this, it is very much so a proper board game, with score and elements of competition that will keep players engrossed and barely feel like learning at all.
Unlike hangman, scrabble does require a specialized game board and pieces to play, although there are plenty of websites and apps that let you play scrabble free online.
Another beauty of scrabble as a game to learn English is that as well as keeping you engaged for a much longer time, it is also an enjoyable game for young people and adults alike.
Scrabble is one of the best games to learn English for adults online or over the board in person thanks to its simple ruleset but endless different ways the game can play out. On top of all of this, the game is just plain fun, even for native English speakers!
Board games to learn English for beginners: Boggle
A simpler game than scrabble despite the similarities in terms of name, boggle is a classic game of finding words with random letters. You can either play boggle with a real board or a plethora of online apps, but both work equally well either on your own or with friends.
With only nine randomly chosen letters to choose from, you must form as many English words as you can, which will again call on your vocabulary and spelling skills. You may notice this as a bit of a theme among these top games for learning English, but that’s just because these are easier skills to gamify!
What are good games to learn English for adults?
Aside from the two mentioned previously, there are plenty of other more interesting board games and other games that are engaging and enjoyable for adults to learn English from.
These can be good as they are a great way to both enjoy some leisure time in a busy schedule, and learn languages at the same time. A few other great examples of word based board games are bananagrams, rewordable, and scattergories.
Each of these has their own appeal, and many of them can even be played online for free as well!
What are some good games to learn English for adults online?
Often times, the hustle and bustle of modern life can leave only a limited amount of time slots to play games to learn a new language, and these won’t always line up with your friends nearby in person. To this end, playing games online can be a great way to get your English learning practise in.
In terms of games to learn English for adults, online free apps and games can be a great starting point, not least the app or website versions of all the popular board games mentioned above. However, this is just the beginning!
Free games to learn English for PC
Something that is quite unique to English as a language to learn is something that has very much only emerged in recent years, and that is the ever expanding world of video games.
Indeed, multiple studies have shown that more and more, young people in Europe especially are more able to speak in English than ever before. This is in no small part thanks to the influence of the internet and video games.
Due to English being the de facto language of the internet, communicating online almost necessitates learning English, and this is perhaps at it’s most true when playing online games.
Many popular team-based video games such as Call of Duty, League of Legends, and Counter Strike necessitate communicating with your teammates, and this is almost always done in English.
As such, simply spending time playing any team-based game online will likely result in you picking up some parts of English, both in terms of vocabulary and grammar. The youth of today speak better English than ever before, and in part we have games to thank for this!
Ultimately though, as with all of these more fun and engaging ways of learning English, they are not always going to be the most efficient. The best way to use tools like games to learn a language is to use them in parallel with other methods.
Perhaps mix in playing some board games with your friends to your social routine, or playing some online games to learn English to your free time, and watching films to learn English before bed. But don’t let it be the only thing you do!
At the end of the day, learning languages does take time, dedication, and hard work, as well as all the fun bits.
Learn English with a Tutor
However, there is no reason to make this hard work any harder than it needs to be. English is a notoriously difficult language to learn, and with the limited time we all have in the modern world, making sure you use your language learning time efficiently is vital.
This is where a private tutor from Superprof can be a real game changer. Tutoring is shown to be by far the most efficient way of learning any language, bringing with it a multitude of benefits such as allowing ample opportunity for speaking practise, and being able to tailor lessons directly to you.
All of these and more are benefits that it is either extremely difficult to come by or downright impossible to get from apps and group classes.
Things such as actual direct feedback on your pronunciation or focusing your learning onto the most useful areas for you will always ensure your Superprof tutor is giving you the most efficient and productive use of your time.
As well as this, with many tutors offering their first English class online free, it’s easy to find a tutor with a teaching style that’s perfect for you, meaning there has never been a better or easier time to start!
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