Tag: learn English vocabulary

In this post, you can learn the vocabulary to describe personal qualities. Here we will try to teach you the following words: sociable, friendly, sensitive, talkative, confident, ambitious, dull, cheerful, easygoing, loyal, honest, worried, modest, shy, sensible, hardworking. These words are quite useful, as you can speak about other people and describe them.
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[showmyads] To learn these words you can use the mind map or the revolutionary method of learning called random repeat. Moreover, you can practise the words in two interactive crosswords, a wordsearch and a sudoku. I hope you will like this post and you will find the words you learn here useful.

The first way in which you can learn the words is called Random Repeat. Play the following game. Listen and repeat the words and once the screen turns white, read the definition and click the right word. To make this method more effective, it is a good idea to say the words aloud while you click.

Random repeat – full screen

If you feel that you are a visual learner, then the following mind map might be more useful for you. Study the words, then cover them, read the definitions and try to remember the words.

Full size image In this part, you can practise the words. The first interactive puzzle is the wordsearch. Your task is to find all the words.

Full screen word search

Crosswords are another way to practise the vocabulary. There are two crosswords here. Can you solve them both? If you fill in a wrong letter, it will be red. Correct letters are black.

Personal Qualities – crossword 1 Personal Qualities – crossword 2

And as there are many sudoku lovers, I have prepared vocabulary sudoku for you, too. Fill in the words loyal, dull, friendly, sociable, shy,
worried, sensible, cheerful and modest in such a way that each word is just once in every line, every column and in every small square.

If you would like to learn more words, you can try our post on punctuation.
You can learn the food vocabulary here.
You can learn the words connected with health and disease here.

It is vital to learn the words for different kinds of food. If you know the words for different kinds of food, not only you will not die of hunger, but you will be able to choose the food you like. Therefore, it is worth learning these words.

In this post, there is a pictionary with sixteen words. Then there is a game called random repeat which helps you learn the words really quickly and effectively. You can then practise the vocabulary in three crosswords, one wordsearch and a sudoku. I hope you will find this post useful.

Start learning the words with the following pictionary. Study the words, then cover them, look at the pictures and try to remember the words.

The best way I know to learn the new words is called Random Repeat. First, listen and repeat the words. Once the screen turns white, look at the picture and click the right word. To make this method more effective, it is a good idea to say the words aloud while you click.
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Random Repeat full screen In this part, you can practise the words you learnt in the previous paragraph. The first interactive puzzle is the wordsearch. Your task is to find all the words.

Full screen word search

Crosswords are another way to practise the vocabulary. There are three crosswords here. Can you solve them all? If you fill in a wrong letter, it will be red. Correct letters are black.

Food vocabulary – crossword 1 Food vocabulary – crossword 2 Food vocabulary – crossword 3

And as there are many sudoku lovers, I have prepared vocabulary sudoku for you, too. Fill in the words tomato, pasta, chips, meat, salad, muffin, bacon, soup and crisps in such a way that each word is just once in every line, every column and in every small square.

In this post, you can learn the words connected with health and disease. Here we will try to teach you the following words: breathe, allergy, obesity, heart attack, depression, decrease, blind, asthma, infectious, disease, lead to, diabetes, increase, deaf, suffer from, dramatic. These words are really important because they can save your life one day.
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[showmyads] To achieve this, you can learn the words using the mind map or the revolutionary method of learning called random repeat. Moreover, you can practise the words in two interactive crosswords, a wordsearch and a sudoku. I hope you will like this post and you will find the words you learn here useful.

The first way in which you can learn the words is called Random Repeat. Play the following game. Listen and repeat the words and once the screen turns white, read the definition and click the right word. To make this method more effective, it is a good idea to say the words aloud while you click.

Health and disease – full screen

If you feel that you are a visual learner, then the following mind map might be more useful for you. Study the words, then cover them, read the definitions and try to remember the words.

Full size image In this part, you can practise the words. The first interactive puzzle is the wordsearch. Your task is to find all the words. The remaining letters will give you a hidden message:

Full screen word search

Crosswords are another way to practise the vocabulary. There are two crosswords here. Can you solve them both? If you fill in a wrong letter, it will be red. Correct letters are black.

Health and disease – crossword 1 Health and disease – crossword 2

And as there are many sudoku lovers, I have prepared vocabulary sudoku for you, too. Fill in the words breathe, asthma, allergy, increase, obesity, blind, deaf, disease and decrease in such a way that each word is just once in every line, every column and in every small square.

If you would like to learn more words, you can try our post on punctuation.

In the issue 105 of English Teaching Professional there is a wonderful article by Chris Payne. It is called Plan V and it deals with vocabulary teaching. Chris explains that teachers should teach vocabulary every lesson, they should teach high frequency words and they should not teach semantic sets. He supports his arguments with research and the whole text is really worth reading.

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For me, the most important idea to teach thematic sets instead of semantic sets. Research shows that it takes much longer to learn words in semantic sets than it takes to learn unrelated vocabulary items. However, “it was found that grouping words according to a theme, so long as they belong to a different class, can aid retention and enhance learning…” (Chris Payne, English teaching professional issue 105). Therefore, teachers should teach thematic sets instead of semantic sets.
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[showmyads] What is the difference between a semantic and thematic set? An example of a semantic set is for example the category clothes. Words like jumper, skirt, shirt, trousers, gloves, T-shirt etc. create a semantic set. A thematic set are the words used for a given theme. Thus a thematic set for a frog, consists of words swim, green, hop, pond, croak and slippery. And these thematic sets are much easier to learn.

However, if you start to search the internet, you will find that these thematic sets are very difficult to find. That is why I would like to create and publish several such sets here.

All the words in the Birthday set were chosen in the following way. There can be only two words which are the same part of speech. Therefore, there are only two nouns, two verbs and two adjectives. These words are then organised into a mind map and their meaning is illustrated.

Under the mind map you can find example sentences. It might be a good idea to read the sentences with your students aloud to practise the pronunciation.

On the second page, there are two exercises for the students to practise the vocabulary. In the first task, students read the sentences and complete them with the words from the mind map.

In the second exercise, students should read the sentences aloud, replacing the pictures with the appropriate words.

You can download the pdf file with the worksheets here:
Pdf worksheet

Do you think these thematic sets are useful? Vote here:

Picture dictionaries are very popular among learners of English. In this post, I would like to offer you a pictionary with vocabulary connected with Modern Technology. This post contains an infographic, a crossword and three games.

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Print the following infographic for your students.
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It is a good idea to drill the pronunciation first. Then ask the students to learn the words. I usually give my students about five minutes to do this.

Then hand out the following crossword. Ask the students to complete the crossword. They can use the original infographic if they need to.

You can print the infographic and the crossword using the following pdf file.

Machines and appliances – worksheet pdf To practise the new vocabulary, I have created three games which students can play either at school or at home. All the games are in HTML5 and they will work on all desktop computers and mobile devices.

[wptabsy] [tab]Dice game[/tab] [tab]Time game[/tab] [tab]Length game[/tab] [tabcontent] The first game is called Dice game. Click the PLAY button and then you will see a picture. Type what you see in the picture (do not use CAPITAL letters). If you type the correct word, two dice will appear on the screen. Your task is to click the STOP button. You will get as many points as there are on the dice when you stop them. If both of the dice show the same number, you will get ten extra points. Good luck.
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Dice game [/tabcontent] [tabcontent] The second games is called Guess the time. Your task is to type what you see in the picture (do not use CAPITAL letters). If your answer is correct, a countdown will appear on the screen. Your task is to stop the countdown at the moment it reaches zero. The closer to zero you stop it the more points you get.

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[showmyadsa] Guess the time – full screen [/tabcontent] [tabcontent] The third game is called Guess the Length. Once again, you will see a picture and your task is to type the correct word (do not use CAPITAL letters). If your answer is correct a line will appear on the screen. Your task is to guess how long the line is.
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Length game – full screen [/tabcontent] [/wptabsy]

You can find some more materials to teach about Technology at British Council site.

Together with Fluency MC we have already published several interesting posts. In our latest post, we tried to help you teach 16 phrases with GET. And this time, there are 16 more. All the phrases come from the song by Fluency MC called GET A LIFE. And as the song contains many more phrases with GET there will be some more posts soon.
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[showmyads] In this post, there is the song, an infographic and three games to help you teach the phrases with GET.

As a starter play the song Get a Life to your students. All the phrases taught in this post can be found between 0:38 and 1:20.

You can join Fluency MC’s free starter course here and also get his free YouTube songbook! http://fluencymc.com/starter-course/
After introducing the phrases, move to the infographic.

Display or print the following infographic for you students and go through the phrases with them. If you teach a monolingual class, it is a good idea to translate the phrases with the students.

After you teach the pronunciation and the meaning of the phrases, it is useful to give your students about five minutes to learn the phrases on their own.
After this, play the video again (from the beginning to 1:20) and let the students enjoy the fact that they can understand.

The first game is just a simple piece of a drilling software. I call it Vocabulary Trainer. It displays a definition and your task is to write the phrase. Then the computer writes whether you were right or not. The phrases which you do not write correctly get repeated. Once you can see a zero twice it is the end of the game. I admit that it is not much of a game but I find it very useful when I learn foreign vocabulary.

Vocabulary trainer

The second game is called Dice. You see a definition and your task is to type the correct phrase. If you succeed, you will see two dice and your task is to stop them. You get as many points as there are points on the dice. If both of the dice show the same number, you will get 10 points bonus. The best scores are saved. Good luck.
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The third game is called Guess the Length. Again, first write the correct words and then you will see a line. Your task is to guess how long the line is. The best scores are once again saved in a leaderboard.

Guess the length game

To count uncountable nouns in English students need to know the containers they are most often sold or served in. In the textbook I teach at school I need to teach six of these containers: a loaf, a tin, a packet, a glass, a cup and a bar.

In this post you can find a video, an infographic and two games to teach the six containers and their usage. I hope you like the post.

Play the following video and let the students repeat the phrases after you. After the first 30 seconds, your students have to say the phrase before it appears on the screen. Play the video at least twice and share the link so that the students can practise the vocabulary at home.

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After presenting the vocabulary in the video, it is time to present the information in print. The following infographic summs up the containers vocabulary and the food it is most frequently used with.

You can download the high-resolution image here:

Infographic full size The first game is called Teacher Invaders. In this game you should type the correct container and then you try to shoot all the invaders. The invaders look a lot like the teachers, but we do not mind as long as you learn all the words :-). Good luck.
As the game is in Flash, it will only play on desktop computers.

Simple containers – Invaders game

The second game is in Flash and will play only on desktop computers, too. It is called Half a Minute, and your task is to type the correct answer before half a minute runs out. Enjoy.

Simple containers – Half a minute game

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I have already published a post on containers. This post contains more containers than this one.

British council has a nice post on containers here.

For a long time I felt that I was missing a post on this site on parts of the body. But I wasn’t inspired enough to close this gap. Fortunately, a few days ago Jason Levine from FLUENCY MC published a wonderful video dealing with the relevant vocabulary. It got me started. This post is another result of a fruitful partnership between Engames and Fluency MC.

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Engames and Fluency MC have cooperated on a number of posts in the past. Together we created four posts on irregular verbs based on Fluency MC’s popular video. We’ve also created posts on Collocations with the Verb HAVE, on the Gerund or Infinitive, and on Parts of Speech. And here comes the latest fruit of our cooperation – Parts of the Body.

In this post you will find the song, an infographic, a quiz and a game that will help you learn or teach the vocabulary.

This is the wonderful song by Fluency MC. I recommend that you listen to it, then sing and perform it together with your students.

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I was looking for a suitable picture for a long time, and I feel this one is perfect.

What to do with it? Print it and hand it out, then check that your students can pronounce the words correctly. Once you finish, ask them to cover the picture on the left and write the names of the body parts on the right. In this way they will practice all the parts.

If you want the picture in full HD you can download it below:

Parts of the body – full image The following quiz will help your students practise the parts of the body. They can do it either at school or at home. The quiz consists of two parts. In the first part, students should match the pictures with the names of the body parts. In the second part, students have to click on the correct part of the body. The students will be rewarded with a game after each part of the quiz they pass. The quiz is in HTML5, so it will play on all desktops and mobile devices.
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[showmyadsa] To get to the second part of the quiz, you have to click on the right next to the advert at the top during the game Angry Finches!!!

Parts of the Body – quiz

This game is in Flash and will play only on desktop computers. It is called On Target. Your task is to choose the correct option and then shoot all the bad frogs and ducks. You can shoot one of the bottles on the wall to get a bonus. Enjoy.

Parts of the body – On target game You can find nice activities to teach or learn Parts of the Body at British Council site.

In my opinion, vocabulary is the most important part of language learning. If you know some words and no grammar, you can communicate. However, if you know a lot of grammar and no words, communication is impossible.
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[showmyads] In this post I would like to give you a chance to enrich your students vocabulary with words for describing items of clothing. There is an infographic, a film and an online quiz to help you teach over 30 words connected with clothing. I hope you find this post useful.

Here is a film to present and teach vocabulary connected with clothes. All the words are displayed, and pronounced by a native speaker. The video consists of two parts. In the first part the students see the clothes, and the word and they hear the native speaker pronounce the word. Their task is to repeat the words. In the second part of the video they only see the clothes, and their task is to say the correct word before they hear the speaker.

To make sure that your students can practise the vocabulary at home too, print out the following infographic and hand it out.

The following quiz is in HTML5 and will play on all mobile devices. It consists of two parts. In the first part, you should match the words with the correct pictures and then click on the correct piece of clothing.
In the second part of the quiz, you have to write the words you see in the picture. If you pass any of these parts, you will be rewarded with a game.
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[showmyadsa] Clothes vocabulary – quiz You can find some great materials to teach clothes vocabulary at the British Council site.

Everyone watches TV sometimes. Thus, to be able to speak about what they watch students need some specialised vocabulary. The aim of the following post is to introduce and teach 13 names of TV programmes.
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To achieve this, we have prepared the following activities: a video, a mind map, a pictionary and two games to practise the vocabulary you have learnt.

Watch the following video and repeat the words. Go through the video as often as you feel necessary to remember all the words for the TV programmes.

If you find the video to fast here is a pictionary. You can study the vocabulary from the following picture:

Once, you feel that you know all the necessary vocabulary, it is a good idea, to print out the following mind map and complete it with all the words you remember. Try to add the names of some real TV programmes you watch too. For example write a comedy programme to the picture of Laurel and Hardy and write there Friends, too.

Now you have a chance to practise your knowledge in a playful way. The first quiz is fully in HTML5 so it should play on your mobile devices too. Try to solve the quiz by matching the words and the pictures and by writing the appropriate words to the pictures. If you pass you will play the game called angry Farmer. My best result has been 25. Will you be better than me?

TV programmes – HTML 5 quiz

The second game is going to play only on your desktop as it is in flash. The name of the game is Half a minute and your task is to unjumble the words. Good luck.

TV programmes – Half a minute game