The importance of play
Play is extremely important to our development and wellbeing, and not just for children, adults also hugely benefit from playing around, nor just for mammals, many species play (apparently even frogs!).
Our bodies and minds are wired to improve the skills needed to survive and thrive, so there is something about playing that really gets our systems going. Gamification is getting more and more popular in this digital era (although it is not new!). Apps like Duolinguo have turned learning a language into a game, and many get very hooked to this way of learning.
Also, games are often social. Once you reach a certain level, you will be able to socialise in your target language with others.
Based on my own experience (and I know I am not alone), studying can feel boring and daunting, so turning it into a game is one of the most motivating and energising mind hacks you can apply in order to learn, practice, and improve any skill.
So I, as a serial learner and gaming enthusiast myself, wanted to compile and share some of the games I like to use when learning, and when I am teaching languages.
If you didn't know, I also host game events (more info at the bottom of this post) where we practice some of the following games.
Language skills and the games to improve them
Numbers and letters
The hangman, or any non-executionist version of this game, to put the alphabet to use, and work on your letter name recall.
A similar, more complex variation of this game would be The Wheel of Fortune, either in boardgame format or any sort of homemade version.
Battleship brings numbers into play too. To play with my students, I use Libreoffice Calc (similar to Excel) to create a personalised grid with all the letters of the alphabet, and use colour coding to mark each element of the game.
When it comes to numbers, you can use either single units, or tens, or hundreds, or whatever numbers you are struggling to remember and need to drill.
Prepositions of place
Pin the tail on the donkey, or again, any variation of this widely known game, is ideal to practise directional vocabulary.
If playing online, I would suggest using Google Jamboards, whiteboards that can be shared and changed in real time, with a big repertoire of google images available(including PNG files and vectors) to create your own version.
As a variation of this game, I would suggest mixing it up with blind pictionary. In Blind Pictionary one draws, but blindfolded, which makes everything confusing and super fun. By fusing the two, one blindfolded person draws, whilst another one directs where the pen should be going, and someone else guesses.
Vocabulary and recall
Memory games such as Simon says, which you can play with colours, with actions, and so on.
With my learners I play "In my suitcase I carry..." or “To a desert island I would take…”. Each turn, each person repeats the list of elements mentioned previously (if any) and adds one more.
This type of game helps learning and memorising any lexicon, as it is very versatile and makes repetition (so important to learning) more entertaining.
Matching game can be a fun way to bring concepts that one wants to commit to memory, too.
Categories, also commercialised and known as Scattergories, is another fantastic game to work on vocabulary recall by category.
For the sake of the events I host, I wrote some recommendations on how to prepare here.
Crosswords can be completed with or without company (convenient, at times), and are great fun for those who love them.
You can find them in newspapers, online, buy a crossword book, or even make them yourself. So far, my favourite platform is Crossword Labs, and I like to make crosswords-homework for those lessons that allow it.
Boggle, such a challenging randomised letter soup. Apart from the board game, there are many online versions out there, like Puzzle-words' boggle, a solo version, available in a few different languages and difficulty levels.
Grammar
Once you have acquired more vocabulary, and started getting comfortable with some verbs, you can start accessing slightly more complicated games.
Spot the difference (out loud, of course) allows you to start practising with some elementary verbs, adjectives and nouns. There are tons of free samples online of varying difficulties, and are often found in the crossword section of newspapers and magazines.
Guess who is perfect for basic descriptions through closed questions.
You can find some free samples online, but I personally like to make mine in Jamboards, so I can make them specific to the area of vocabulary I want to work on.
Who am I? Which is also based on closed questions, takes descriptions a little bit further, due to the wider range of possibilities to choose from. In person, this game is typically played with a bit of paper or a post-it stuck to one’s forehead, but it can be played online with the Guess who boards, or simply by choosing a character, and picturing that on the other player/s forehead/s. You can also use online platforms like Who am I? - Online guessing game
Taboo (and any of its variations) is one of my favourite games to play with anyone learning a language.
It requires some basic knowledge to start with, but it really sharpens your description skill and synonym association, often needed for those pesky times when you either forgot that word you wanted to say, or simply don’t know it.
My students and I play either via Play Taboo, or using a random word generator. We each open the link on our end and take turns guessing and describing.
20Q is another closed-question-based game. In order to discard possibilities, categorising vocabulary and the use of comparatives will come particularly handy, on top of a good questioning strategy.
You can play with others, simply talking, or via the creators’ website: 20Q.net
Dark stories is the ultimate yes-or-no question-based game. It can get very difficult, and it will require more knowledge of the target language to cover the questions required to solve these mysterious puzzles. There are many stories and versions out there, from apps to commercialised board games (see black stories), but if you want to play for free, check out YesNoGame, available in a few languages!
Two lies and one truth is not only a fantastic icebreaker, but will also give you the chance to practise anecdote sharing.
Learning by immersion: video games
Immersive learning is how we learn our first, native language.
Exposing yourself to your target language is a slow, yet deep and powerful way of learning, so changing the language of your video games to the one you want to learn will help you solidify your knowledge. Games like The Sims (4) or Don't Starve Together display, as you hover your mouse over things, the names of the different elements of the game and possible actions (verbs) to do to or with them.
Most games with verbal content will support learning in a similar way.
From simpler phone apps, to more complex computer and console games, if you are into them, you have a potential gold mine of immersive learning in your hands.
Do you want to play?
If you are learning Spanish or English, and would like to play these games, let me remind you that I often host online game events on Zoom. For information about upcoming events, check the “Events” section of this blog, or follow me on instagram, where I also announce them.
If you have any suggestions for other games I might have not thought of, please let me know in the comments.
Keep learning, and keep having fun!
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