Learning English from Computer Games
Victor Epand suggests that computer games have value in language learning.
How about those games which teach English for you? They are a great addition to your child’s learning utilities. In these games the child can learn plurals. I am talking about learning that the plural for tooth is teeth and the plurals for face is faces. The child will type in the answer to each word. As they progress the levels get tougher.
Plural Girls is a great game for the beginning child to learn what the plural for words are. There are 4 levels to play. The easiest level is “Fill in the Blank”, then comes “Tough Fill in the Blank”. The harder levels include two games, “Multiple Choice” and “Tough Multiple Choice”. Each has a place in your child’s English program. After finishing a round of each, the game will score the child with a “Clever” if they have just gotten 1/2 of the problems correct. So it is not too harsh for their little egos! Even as an adult, I see that I might need to play this game to review what obviously I missed in my Junior High and High School days. Must have been looking at the boys instead of listening!
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The Grammar Girls is based on articles of speech. For the beginner they have nouns and verbs. In this game the computer will give you a sentence with two words in a bright color. One of the words is a noun and one is a verb. It will ask the child to click on the verb. If the child picks the right choice then they get a score added to the correct side.
With the Advanced game the child will have a choice of pronouns, nouns, verbs, conjunctions, adjectives and adverbs. Again the scoring is the same, but this game is so much harder that anyone under the age of 8 might not be equipped for playing it. But, what the heck, it will teach them so that they will be ahead of the game!
Then there is a game called Word Link. This is a giant scramble game where the child can connect letter to form words. After clicking on the letters that are adjacent to each other that spell a word, the letters then form the word in a box on the upper left side. If that is a verified word the child will then click submit and it will give him or her points. There is a timer that is always going so hurry up!!
The game called Keyword is a difficult game and should only be played by a student who has mastered spelling. We don’t mean first grade spelling, we mean a child who has a fairly good vocabulary going! The child is given a set of letters much like Word Link, but is much tougher. He or she must connect the letters that would make a word. Problem is that the first letter much touch the second letter much touch the third. The more letters that the child can combine to make a word the better the score is. This is a very challenging game and probably would be better played with an adult or a teacher. If your child was very good at words he or she could possibly do this alone, but again we suggest parental supervision!
About the author
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for computer memory, PC supplies, and computer games.
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