GOOD DAY, EVERYONE!
Who says you can't have fun while learning? Of course you can, with the advance of technology we are currently experiencing has made learning more fun and exciting. Now, you can learn English by playing games. Killing two birds with a stone, right? :)
Who says you can't have fun while learning? Of course you can, with the advance of technology we are currently experiencing has made learning more fun and exciting. Now, you can learn English by playing games. Killing two birds with a stone, right? :)
These are the websites which will make your study on another level and you will experience a brand new thing.
1) Games To Learn English (https://www.gamestolearnenglish.com)
WHAT IS IT?
The aim of this site is to provide a place for students to practice English in an engaging and fun way. A lot of other similar sites are more geared towards providing teachers with resources to help their students, but the intention of this site is to be a resource that language learners can use independently.The main page for example only has a brief summary of each game and the games themselves are quite easy to figure out and interact with. However, it is necessary to have some text descriptions and longer text articles to that search engines can better index the site appropriately.
The games are aimed at a relatively low level of English with pretty much all the content being around elementary level. A lot of the vocabulary content would probably even be more like introductory or pre-elementary level. The reason for this is simply that it is a lot easier to make games that use simple content than it is to make ones that use difficult abstract concepts. Things like colors or food are easily to represent with an image whereas the something like “multiculturalism” would be much more difficult.
This site has been around since about 2010 with all the games initially being flash based. Recently though, I have started to replace all the flash content with javascript versions. Using javascript is actually more difficult and time consuming that flash, however, more and more people are using the web on phones and tablets that do not have flash enabled and so this is a necessary change. Last time I checked, something like half the visitors to this site were using an Android or iOS device. Using javascript is made easier by using the CreateJS framework which I highly recommend. This framework is basically a bunch of code resources that makes it easier to do things with javascript.
Below are the example of games that students can play while learning English.
Download Desktop Games
You can download this site's content to use on your computer without internet connection. Or you can put these games on your students' computers in a classroom.
Click on the link or right click and select "save target as" or "save link as".
Fast English - Learn English vocabulary items in a fun way
Fast Phrases - Make sentences in English
Fast Falling - Arrange phrases to match the images
Hangman - Spell words against the man
Bubbles English - Practice making English sentences
Spelling Bee - Spell vocabulary items in a fun way
Animal Mystery - Practice making questions in English
Concentration - Match English words and pictures
Describer English - Read descriptions and match the image
Phrase Maker - Learn English phrases
2) ESL Games Plus (https://www.eslgamesplus.com)
WHAT IS IT?
ESL Games Plus features interactive board games which provide the ultimate fun English learning experience. Battle your way across the Pirate Waters whil practicing English grammar and vocabulary.Pirates are your nasty enemies.
EXAMPLE OF GAMES THEY HAVE
QUIZZES
BENEFITS OF LEARNING ENGLISH THROUGH GAMES
*Games have a great educational value and it can be used in the classroom to make learners use the language instead of just thinking about learning the correct forms.
*Games encourage learners to interact, cooperate, to be creative and spontaneous in using the language in a meaningful way.
*Learners want to take part in activities; to play games and are generally quite competitive. In order for them to take part they must be able to understand and communicate in the target language.
*Games also encourage learners to keep interested in the work and a teacher can use them to create contexts in which the language is useful.
*Games are used as methods or techniques to involve students in learning.
*Well-chosen and designed games are invaluable as they give students a break and at the same time allow learners to practise language skills.
*The benefits of games range from cognitive aspect of language learning to more co-operative group dynamics and as a result games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time challenging.
*Well-chosen and designed games are invaluable as they give students a break and at the same time allow learners to practise language skills.
*The benefits of games range from cognitive aspect of language learning to more co-operative group dynamics and as a result games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time challenging.
Important things to consider when using games in the classroom
- Choose suitable games (depending on the number of students, proficiency level, cultural context, timing, learning topic, and the classroom settings).
- The way students perceive a game depends on the actual design and implementation of the game.
- Give clear instructions, give clear rules and give clear time limits.
- Rather demonstrate than explain.
- There must be a clear purpose and achievable goals.
- Clear objectives and goals must match the difficulty level of the game and ability level of the students.
- Ensure that shy or quiet students are not alienated and have an opportunity to take part.
- Debriefing, or the evaluation of results/ events in the game, is crucial to the game’s success.
- It must still be fun, but still help the students to learn.
