Tag: learn English

SVOMPT rule is one of the most important rules in English. If students learn to follow this rule, their English will improve dramatically, and they will be understood. Once a student knows some words and follows the SVOMPT rule, we can say that he/she can speak English.

ADVERT:
[showmyads] I love Darren Crown’s explanation of the origin of the SVOMPT word order. In his humorous book “Angličtina na rovinu” he writes that English was first used by a primitive tribe whose members did not want to use their brain too much and thus they created a word order which is always the same – Subject, Verb, Object, adverbs of Manner, adverbs of Place and adverbs of Time. So let´s stop looking for some complicated explanations and let´s think like the primitive barbarians and stick with the SVOMPT word order.

The path shows the way an affirmative English sentence is created. You start with a Subject at the top and then you go down and add the words according to the SVOMPT rule.

At the moment you feel you understand the grammar it is time to put your knowledge into practice. First, to be able to follow the rule you have to know what part of speech a given word is. You must know whether it is a Subject, Verb, Object, adverb of Manner, adverb of Place or adverb of Time to place the word into the correct place in an English sentence. To help you with this, you can try the following quiz where your task is to tell what part of speech a given word is. If you pass the test, you can play the game Angry finches.

If you want to play the quiz on the full screen, click on the button below.

SVOMPT – what is this word

In the second quiz your task is to put the sentence into the correct order. If you pass this quiz, you can improve your vocabulary in the game called Word Boggle.

If you want to play the quiz on the full screen, click on the button below.

SVOMPT – Arrange the sentence

Both games and quizzes are in HTML5 so they should play on all mobile devices.

Have you tried our vocabulary placement test for elementary students, and it was too easy for you? Have you scored close to 2000? Then this is the vocabulary test you should take. Here we test the words which belong between 2,000 and 5,000 most frequent words in English.
ADVERT:
[showmyads] There are 60 questions and the score at the end tells you how many words from the 3,000 words you know. If you add this score to the score from the test for elementary students, you will know how many words from the five thousand most frequent words in English you know.

Give a try to the following test. The score at the end of the test tells you how many words you know. So if it tells you that your Score is: 2,350 points it means that you know 2,350 out of the 3,000 words which belong into the group of 2,000 to 5,000 most frequent words in English.

If you want to do the test on the full screen, click the button below. The test is made in HTML5 so it will play on your mobile phones as well:
Vocabulary placement test – full screen

If you want to know the total number of English words that you know among the 5,000 most frequent words in English take the Vocabulary test for elementary students and then add the score to the score from the test above. Thus if you score here 1,750 and in the elementary test 1,800, you know 3,550 words from the 5,000 most frequent words in English.

Remember, THE MORE ENGLISH WORDS YOU KNOW THE BETTER YOUR ENGLISH IS!!!!

Please, if you spot a mistake, or you come up with a better definition, please leave a comment. We are trying to improve each activity, and your comments help us a lot.
Thank you.

Students like reading comics. Comics are often the only thing students read. When I started an extensive reading project last year, students did not mind reading comics, however when we moved to short stories, more than half of them stopped reading and started to hate the programme. On the basis of this experience I have prepared a fairy tale comic for students to read.

ADVERT:
[showmyads] To be able to read a text and understand it, it is essential that you know the words. The more words you know the more you can enjoy the text. That is why I have so many materials dealing with the vocabulary here. First, learn the vocabulary with our associative method and then play the games. Once you know the words, watch the video and answer the comprehension questions.

First, learn the vocabulary using our associative learning method.
When I study vocabulary, I am able to learn about 50 words a day. And here is how I do it.

The Associative learning method.
Take each word and find in your mother tongue or any other language you know some words it reminds you of. Thus for example, when I see the word GIANT I come up with these associations: Gigantic, Gigi (my former student´s nickname, anténa (antenae). When I create these associations I move to another word. I go on like this with four words. Then I cover the English words and I see just their translations and I recall them.
In this way I go on for as long as I feel like it and my vocabulary grows.

Here are the words and materials to learn them using the associative method. You can verify your knowledge of the words at the end where there are two quizzes. If you pass the test you can play a game. All of the activities are in HTML 5 so you can learn using your mobile whereever you are.

For a better mobile experience it is better to click over here and see the activity full screen.
Vocabulary – associative method

If you prefer doing these activities offline, you can print out the following worksheets and try them out:
Word games_part01_giant

Word games_part01_key

Giant_page_pdf – associative method worksheet

If you like crosswords on your computer, you can try the following one. It is in HTML5 so it will play on all mobile devices too:
Jack the Giant killer – crossword

Now, that you know the vocabulary, you can watch the first part of the video and enjoy it.

And now try the comprehension quiz. If you pass the quiz you can play the game called HOT RACE. The quiz is in HTML 5 so it will play on any mobile device. However, the game is only in Flash and it will play on your desktop only.

If you want to play the quiz on full screen, click the following button:
Comprehension questions – part 1

• How did the method work for you?
• How many words were you able to learn this way?
• What problems did you encounter?
• Is there anything more you would like to tell us?

Do not hasitate and comment below. Thank you 🙂

I have already dealt with the usage of prepositions in the posts Prepositions AT, IN and ON for time and Adjectives with prepositions. However, this post is different because it concentrates only on the phrases IN THE END, AT THE END, IN TIME and ON TIME which are frequently used incorrectly by students of English. In this post I would like to explain the usage and meaning of the phrases. To achieve this I have created a mind map, an interactive video and two quiz games.
ADVERT:
[showmyads]

In this mind map I try to explain the meaning and the usage of the phrases IN THE END, AT THE END, IN TIME and ON TIME.

If you feel that this explanation is not clear enough, there is a video explanation which can help you.

In this interactive video you can see and here the explanation of the usage of the phrases. The video contains many questions which you have to answer to move on. In this way you can check immediately whether you understand the phrases and use them correctly. The video is in HTML5 so it will play on your mobile device too.

Now, I hope, you understand the usage and meaning of the phrases IN THE END, AT THE END, IN TIME and ON TIME. So do not hesitate to try out our interactive exercises and games. The first game is in HTML5 and it will play on any mobile device.
Your task is to complete the quiz with the correct phrases and if you pass you will be given a chance to play the game Word boggle (really great addictive game which might help you improve your English a lot).

Set phrases – Word game

The second game will play only on your desktop. It is called Hoopshoot and your task is to choose the correct answer and then score. Good luck.

For many learners of English the slight differences between the words BIG vs. LARGE and HIGH vs. TALL are very difficult to understand. In this post I will try to make the differences clearer and easy to remember. To achieve this, I have come up with two videos, two quizzes and two mind maps. I hope you will undestand the differences now.
ADVERT:
[showmyads]

The following video has been created by Australia + Learning English. This video clearly explains the differences in the usage of the words TALL and HIGH. Watch it and then complete the mind map below.

Once you have watched the video, try to complete the following mind map. Of course you can watch it several times if you need. Keep the completed mind map for your future reference.

BBC learning English produced a great explanation of the differences between the two words on their pages. I have just turned it into an interactive video, which you can see below. At the end of the video there is a quiz to check whether you remember the most important facts.

The sound track comes from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1837_aae/page24.shtml
ADVERT:
[showmyads] To watch it full screen, click on the following button:
BIG and LARGE – video explanation

Once again it would be ideal if you completed the following mind map to remember all the facts about the usage of the two words.

Now it is high time to practise all that you have learnt so far. In the following quiz you have to answer more than 70% of all the questions correctly to be able to play the game Angry Finches. Of course you can use all the materials from this post. All games and videos here are in HTML5 so they should play on your mobile devices.

If you want to see the quiz on the full screen, click the following button:
Confusing words – final quiz

In this post I would like to teach you how to use the words DESPITE, IN SPITE OF, ALTHOUGH, EVEN THOUGH, BECAUSE OF and BECAUSE correctly. I will explain the meaning of the words and the grammar. To help you with this there are two games, a mind map, a video explanation and a graphical explanation. I hope you will learn to use these conjunctions.

ADVERT:
[showmyads]

The meaning of the conjunctions DESPITE and IN SPITE OF is the same. ALTHOUGH and EVEN THOUGH are the same as well. And so are the meanings of the words BECAUSE and BECAUSE OF. As you will see later the main difference between these words is their grammar.
The meaning of these conjunctions is clearly explained in the following graphics:

If you want to print out the graphic, you can download the pdf file below:

The meaning

As I write above, the main difference between the phrases is their usage. To cut the explanation short, the words DESPITE, IN SPITE OF and BECAUSE OF are followed by a noun phrase or a gerund (verb + ing). The conjunctions BECAUSE, EVEN THOUGH and ALTHOUGH are followed by a clause.
You can see the explanation again in the following mind map:

To make it absolutely clear, here is an interactive video explaining the usage of the words BECAUSE and BECAUSE OF.

This video uses the free recording offered by BBC learning English at http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/165_gramchallenge10/
To experience the video full screen click on the following button (as it is HTML5 video it will work on your mobile too):
BECAUSE – video explanation

ADVERT:
[showmyads]

The first game is slightly easier but it can be played only on your desktop. It is called Hoopshoot and your task is to choose the correct conjunction. If you succeed you will be given a chance to score a basket.

The second quiz is fully in HTML5 so it will play on any mobile device you own. Your task is to connect both of the sentences into one and use the conjunction in the brackets. If you pass the test you will play the game called Math Pop and practise your Maths too.

Conjunctions – quiz and Math pop game

If you do not know a sound, your brain filters it out when you hear someone using it. That is why it is crucial to teach sounds that do not exist in students’ mother tongue. Moreover, Adrian Tennant at www.onestopenglish.com claims that you should learn to hear and say the new sounds at the same time as the fact that you can produce the given sound makes it simpler for you to hear it. Ideal for this is the book Ship or Sheep. But the book is rather expensive and so you can try out similar exercises here which are free.
ADVERT:
[showmyads] The aim of this post is to teach the pronunciation of the sound /θ/ which is the voiceless realisation of th. You can find here a video, a mind map and two difficult exercises to practise the voiceless th sound /θ/. Are you ready? So, let’s start.

At BBC learning English there are wonderful videos with pronunciation explanations and demonstrations. Here you can see the BBC video:

Source: BBC learning English http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/con_voiceless_6.shtml

Here is a simple mind map explaining the production of the voiceless th sound.
ADVERT:
[showmyads]
If you find the picture of the mouth showing the production of the TH sound too small here is the same picture again in a bigger size:

Now that you understand the theory and you can at least partially produce the voiceless th sound, it is time to test your ears. There are two games here in which you should recognise the correct sounds /s/, /f/ and /θ/. It is not going to be easy 🙁
The first game is a bit easier. First listen to the demonstration of the different sounds and then listen and complete the sentences with the correct words. If you pass the test you can play the game called Math Pop. But you have to pass the test first :-).

Voiceless th sound – Math pop

The second game is slightly more difficult. You will hear five sentences each time and you have to decide which sequence you have heard. If you pass this test you can reward yourself with the game called Angry finches. Good luck.

Voiceless th sound – Angry Finches

When students hear the phrase indirect questions, they get scared. But actually this is one of the easiest grammar points in English. The only thing you have to watch out for is that if a sentence starts with a certain phrase (Do you know or Could you tell me etc.) you have to use the word order for an affirmative sentence. To put it simply, after the aforementioned phrases do not make questions.

ADVERT:
[showmyads]

To help you master this grammar there is a mind map, a video and several games in this post.

The following video is based upon BBC learning English recording. To make it easier for learners of English to follow I have added the text and illustrations.

We recommend that you watch the video and stop the recording every time there is a task and answer the task before MASA does. It is a great fun and a superb way to learn English.

If you want to watch it full screen, click here:
Indirect questions video

The following mind map tries to show the rules for indirect questions in a graphical form. As you can see each indirect question has to start with a phrase signalling that it is an indirect question. Then you use a question word or IF/WHETHER (if there is no WH.. word) and the word order of a normal statement.

ADVERT:
[showmyads]

Now it is time to practise what you have learnt in the following games. The first one is a quiz with two games. If you answer the quiz correctly you can play the games called Angry Farmer and Math Pop. Both the quiz and the games are in HTML5 so you can play them on your mobile phones.

Indirect questions Quiz

The second game is in Flash and it will play only on your desktop. It is the notorious On target game. If you choose the correct option you will be given a chance to shoot the bad ducks. Moreover, you can get a bonus if you shoot one of the bottles on the sides. Enjoy.

Indirect questions On Target On Youtube we have created a new channel which contains all the vocabulary videos we have created. Here are some of them. So do not miss them:
You can learn the words connected with the environment at http://youtu.be/PbBR1sNc6C4
There is a vocabulary video introducing the Town features at http://youtu.be/5Plh_LBjwks
At http://youtu.be/c0T5j-5MEg8 you can learn some vocabulary to speak about Plants in English.
For young learners we have some names of Animals at http://youtu.be/wb6Ctlvz0Ys
If you want to learn more vocabulary on Sports you can go to http://youtu.be/14_5rLiIAm0 and learn the names of Winter Olympics sports
At http://youtu.be/9IWZb61DG1M you can learn Clothes Vocabulary
Furniture vocabulary is presented at http://youtu.be/7VOpE1n74h0
One of the most difficult parts for learners of English to learn are personal qualities.
To help you with this, you can try the video at http://youtu.be/3KisHI5O6WY

When I started this website I dreamt of a site full of games that would be so interesting that students would want to play them and to play them they would have to learn English. However, for nearly a year it was just a dream. I did not know how to create a game like this. But then I had a brainwave and here is the result.

ADVERT:
[showmyads]

Welcome to Africa. Zudo is a young boy who lives in Africa with his animal friends. But one day he meets two men and his adventures start. Can you help him to survive in the wild jungle?

Zudo – full screen game As this is something absolutely new, we would like to know what you think about it. Did you like it? Did you find some mistakes in the game? Was any of the tasks too difficult?

Do you think that it is the way to go? Do you think that it will help the teenagers learn English? Will they be more motivated?

Please add your comment at the end of this post to help us improve the game. Thank you.

Did you like the Zudo story? There are several more stories at our site or sister sites.
The Kiss by Kate Chopin Two dates chapter 1 Two dates chapter 2 Two dates chapter 3 Two dates chapter 4 There are several short articles and activities at www.englishlearningmagazine.com:
Amelia Earhart story Prague story There are two more stories with vocabulary at our sister site:
Flatmates vocabulary 1 Flatmates vocabulary 2

This post is about common mistakes in English. There are two pieces of interesting research into learning and teaching English. One of them says that students learn more if someone else is corrected by the teacher than if they are corrected. The other found out that students learn and remember more vocabulary if the words are not connected in any way (they do not create so called lexical set).

ADVERT:

[showmyads]

Combining these two findings it seems logical that students could learn and remember a lot if they were presented with a haphazard collection of someone else’s corrected mistakes. So, during an exam I collected several mistakes which I will present in a mind map and correct them and explain. I hope that students will learn a lot from these.

The post contains a mind map and two games to give the students a chance to learn from the mistakes other students made.

Here are six mistakes my students made during an exam. The mistakes are in the bubbles closest to the center. In the second bubble there is the correct version of the given sentence and there is an explanation at the end of each branch.

If you think you will never make these mistakes, you can try the following games:

The first game is an HTML5 quiz. Try to choose only the correct sentences and if you pass the test you can play the game called Tower Defence. Both of these can be played on your mobile phone or iPad.

If you want to display the quiz in a new window click on the button below:

Common mistakes – Quiz

The second game will play only on your desktop as it is in Flash. It is called Hoopshoot and your task is to choose a correct sentence and then score a basket. Good luck.

Many verbs in English are often followed by the same preposition. Therefore it is best to learn them togehter from the beginning. However, even if you do this it is neccessary to sum it up from time to time.

ADVERT

[showmyads]

The following summary was created for my elementary students of English and it contains the verbs they know which are often followed by the prepositions FOR, ABOUT, AT and TO.

In this post you can find a mind map and two games to practise the usage of the given preposition.

The following mind map graphically shows the verbs which are used with the prepositions FOR, ABOUT, TO and AT.

Once you memorise all the verbs and prepositions that follow them you can try the following games. In the first game you should complete the sentences with the correct preposition. If you succeed you can play the game Highway Race. In this game you try to avoid all the cars on the highway. The best result has been 50,000 points. Can you do better?

The second game is a classic. It is called Teacher Invaders and your task is to shoot all the invaders before they destroy the whole planet. However, from time to time the game is interrupted and you have to complete a sentence with the correct preposition. Good luck.

If you liked this post and you feel that you need to practise the prepositions more you might like the following posts on our site.

Adjectives and prepositions

Prepositions for places

Prepositions of time.

Do you think that we should create some more posts? Please leave a comment and we might do it.

The environment is one of the most frequently discussed topics in the world. However, to be able to speak about this topic you need some basic vocabulary. In this post I try to introduce some words related to the topic of Environment. Later you can practise the new words in games.

ADVERT:
[showmyads]

In this post on you can find a video presentation of all the words given here:

Here is a video presentation of the vocabulary connected with the environment.

Once you know the words, try to divide them into the following mind map.

As it is holiday over here, I have had a lot of time and I have created several games to practise the vocabulary.
The first game is a simple quiz. Your task is to match the words and definitions, and then complete the sentences with the new words. If you pass the quiz you can play the game called Angry Finches as long as you like.
Environment vocabulary – quiz

The second game is called Reaction and your task is to complete the sentences with the missing words and then click on the ugly frog as quickly as possible.

Environment vocabulary – Reaction game

The third game is a dictation game. Listen to the sentences and if you write them correctly you will be given a chance to play the game called Hot race.

Environment vocabulary – Dictation

The last game is just loosely connected to the topic. It is called Reaction and your task is to write the adjectives of the given words. If you create the adjectives correctly you will play the game Reaction. Wait till the ugly frog appears and then click on it as quickly as you can.

Environment vocabulary – Adjectives

Comparative is used when you want to compare two things. For example one person is tall and the other is short. So you will say: Person A is taller than person B. OR Person B is shorter than person A.
You can see some more examples below in the picture.

Superlative is used if you want to say that someone is number 1. For example, you can say that Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the world. There are other examples of the usage of superlatives in the picture:
There are several rules in English how to form comparatives and superlatives. First of all you have to decide whether the adjective is short or long. Short adjectives are those adjectives that have one syllable or that have two syllables and end with “Y”. If the adjective is short you add the ending “-er” for a comparative or “-est” for a superlative. There are several simple rules concerning the spelling which you can find in the mind map below.
If the adjective has two or more syllables and it does not end with “Y” then it is a long adjective and you have to add “more” or “most” in front of the adjective.
Advert:
[showmyads]

Irregular adjectives

You have to learn the following adjectives.

good – better – the best
bad – worse -the worst
far – futher / farther – the furthest / the farthest
little – less – the least

So now that you understand the rules how to form superlatives and comparatives in English it is time to practice them in games. In the first game your task is to write the adjectives in superlative or comparative form. Be careful about the spelling.
Comparatives and superlatives – Teacher invaders

In the second game you have to complete the sentences with the correct form of the adjective.

Comparatives and superlatives – Penalty

Have you been wondering what the big shock for Alan was? The story continues here. Once again you can learn 16 new words and practise them in a game. Then you can check your comprehension with a mind map which once again serves as a worksheet too.
The next chapter of the story Two Dates will be the last one, so do not miss it. It will be published on Wednesday 2nd April 2014.
If you have missed the previous chapters of this story for teenagers, you can find Chapter 1 here and Chapter 2 here.

Here is a mind map which should serve as a worksheet too. First answer the questions about what happened in the previous chapters and then find the new words. Use a dictionary to complete the section.
ADVERT:
[showmyads]

I hope you like the story and that you will come back for the last chapter of Two Dates.

Once you know all the words it is time to go to the next section.

Watch the video and complete another part of the mind map (PLOT). You can make this part more difficult for you and switch off the screen and just listen to the story. It is up to you 🙂

This part of our post nearly always contains several games to practise what you have learnt in the post. This time there is just one game. Your task is to practise all the new vocabulary from the story.

Click Here to play the game – Two Dates – Half a minute

 

In this post you should learn to read and write numbers in English. To help you with this I have created a simple graphical presentation and three games. I hope you will find them useful and that it will help you learn English better.

Have a look at the graphic and read the instructions how to read and write the numbers. Each explanation includes several examples which are listed bellow, next to the planet.
ADVERT:
[showmyads] In the following section you can find several games to practise numbers. The games are ordered from the easiest to the most difficult.
The first game is called Half a minute and your task is to write the number within half a minute. In fractions use a slash (/).

Half a minute – game

The second game is called Teacher invaders and your task is similar to the previous game. You should write the numbers correctly andsave the Earth against the Teacher invaders.

Teacher Invaders – game

The last game is the most difficult one. It is called On Target and you should choose the correct way that a number is written in words. When we played the game at school the students got only 40% of the answers right. Will you be better than them?

On target – game I hope that by now you know the ways to read and write numbers in English. If you want to learn more English vocabulary, you can try here Animals, Furniture or Plants. Each of the posts contains a video, a mind map and several games to practise the words. Enjoy

Phrasal verbs are always difficult to learn. Even though they consist of two or three tiny words, which are easy to remember themselves, they can create so many different combinations that students quickly become totally confused. Moreover, the meaning of the phrasal verb cannot be deduced from its parts. Therefore the students do not know the verbs and refuse to use them.

I really like the programmes which BBC produced some time ago. They are called Face up to phrasals and they are several short, entertaining stories introducing 12 phrasal verbs each. However, they created nice stories and wonderful explanations and that was it. There were no activities to help you really learn the phrasal verbs. And here I stepped in and I created a mind map and several games to help your learn the 12 phrasal verbs.

Fred and Betty – the video

You can watch the video here

Phrasal verbs – mind map

Here you can see all 12 phrasal verbs in a mind map. Each verb contains a definition and examples of its usage.

ADVERTISEMENT:

[showmyads]

 

Phrasal verbs – games

I have prepared 3 games for you to practise the phrasal verbs. First of them is called hoop shoot and your task is to choose the correct phrasal verb which best fits into the gap.

Phrasal verbs – hoop shoot game.

The second game is slightly more difficult. You have to read the tasks carefully, as here you have to choose the wrong or correct option.

Phrasal verbs – penalty game.

The last game is called invaders and it is the most difficult game. Your task is to shoot all the aliens and in the meantime complete each sentence with the correct preposition.

Phrasal verbs – invaders game.

Follow us

Do you think that the materials at this site are useful? Would you like to be first to learn about our new posts? So follow us on TWITTER:
Follow @Zdendaa