Tag: vocabulary

To say dates in English is quite simple. However, as there are two ways to do this, students often get confused and mix both of them together. I hope that this post will help them clarify this extremely important area.

To be able to say dates in English correctly, it is necessary to know the ordinal numbers. Most of the ordinal numbers are made by adding the ending -th.(If you have a problem with this sound, I strongly recommend this BBC video) However, as always, there are several exceptions to this rule. The rules are explained in ther upper right corner of the mind map.

ADVERT: [showmyads]

Notice the way the change of spelling of the words twenty and thirty. In English there are only two ways to say dates. You can either start with the month and then say THE and the ordinal number, or you can say THE + the ordinal number + OF + the month. Do not mix the two ways!!!

Once you have studied the mind map, it is time to practise everything. In the first game you have a chance to practise all the ordinal numbers. Your task is to shoot all the invaders and from time to time write the given ordinal number. There are all the ordinal numbers which you will ever need to say date.

Ordinal numbers – Teacher invaders

In the second game, called On target, your task is to choose the correct way a given date is said. I believe that if you play this game twice or three times you will learn the correct way to say the dates.

Dates – On target

If you come to this site using a mobile device you might hate the fact that most of the games do not play there. That is why I am trying to add a few HTML5 games to play even there. Here is one of them.

Find the ordinal numbers: Ordinal numbers – Find the words

All the materials in this post have been tested in the classroom and they have been improved on the basis of students’ reactions and suggestions. I hope that you will find them useful. If you study dates, you might need to improve your NUMBERS too. You can find a post on numbers here.

Here we go at last! This is the last chapter of the story Two Dates. Are you curious what will happen to Alan, Martha and Bruce. I hope that the ending of the story will surprise you at least a bit and that you will like it.
So, what are you waiting for? Start with the mind map and revive what happened in the previous parts of the story Two Dates. Then translate the vocabulary on the vocabulary branch. This time some of the words are pretty challenging. And once you know the new words start the story video.
In the end answer the comprehension questions in the mind map and discuss your opinions with a partner. Good luck and enjoy the story.

Here is the mind map which serves as a worksheet. Complete first the What happened and Vocabulary sections.
Advert:
[showmyads]

Once you have check up all the new vocabulary, it is time to watch the final chapter of the story Two Dates:

Now that you know the ending of the story it is time to concentrate on the language. There are two games here to practise the new words. The first one is a Hot Spot quiz and your task is to click on the word whose definition you can see at the top of the page. As the game is in HTML5 it should be viewable on all devices. Enjoy and I hope you will score 100%.

Two Dates – hot spot Html5 quiz

If you are using a mobile phone or an iPad you might be interested in another HTML5 game, you can go to Two Dates Chapter 3 where there is the memory game in HTML5.
The last game is in Flash and it is called Half a minute. Your task is to unjumble the words in 30 seconds. Good luck 🙂

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

If you prefer reading the story, here is the text of the fourth chapter:

Alan decided to hide out in the library where it was quiet, and he knew most people would not be able to find him. He knew he was not a bad kid. True, he might not have the best qualities, or he might not be the best student, but he knew he was a pretty nice guy. He loved animals, and he loved helping people out. He did not deserve such a cruel treatment, so why were they so mean to him?

The sound of footsteps coming up towards him made Alan look up. Susan stood in front of him, with her arms across her chest.

Alan frowned. “What do you want from me?” he said rudely. “Haven’t you guys had enough?”

The look on Susan’s face softened. “I did not laugh at you Alan. That was mean of Martha.” She smiled gently at him and asked him if she could sit next to him. Alan grudgingly agreed. He was wary. Susan could pretend to be nice and then humiliate him again in front of the whole class just like Martha had.

“Why did she do that?” Alan asked Susan. “What did I do wrong?”

Susan shrugged. “Kids do stupid things. Kids can be mean. Martha is just being immature. Forget about her.”

Alan groaned and hid his face into his hands. “I’ll just switch schools. I can never go back to class again.”

Susan hit Alan lightly on the hand. “You can’t give up just like that!”

Alan sighed. “You don’t understand! Everyone laughs at me. I’ll never be able to go to the dance. I’ll be at home alone again, this year.”

Susan smiled, a little shyly. “Guess what,” she said. Alan looked at her. Susan was beautiful too, in a different way. She had a kind face, and a very sweet smile. “I could be your date for the dance.”

Alan stared at her in shock. After a while, he started laughing. “I won’t fall for that again. You’ll humiliate me too, like Martha did.”

Susan rolled her eyes. “Sure Alan. I skipped class, argued with Bruce in front of the whole class, let Martha yell at me too, defended you and looked for you all over the school, just so that I could humiliate you.”

Susan smiled at him. “C’mon, you can’t let bullies ruin your day. Chin up! The day isn’t over. So will you come to the dance with me?”

Alan hesitated for just a moment, enough for Susan to say, “What? Do you think Martha is prettier than me? Is that why you don’t want to come with me?”

“No!” Alan protested, and before he could even think, he grabbed Susan’s hand tightly. “I will come with you,” Susan smiled and kissed him lightly on his lips.

“See you in the class,” she said and walked away.

Alan smiled.

It was going to be a very different year indeed.

I don’t know whether anyone will be interested in this mini series called Two Dates. However, as all the research shows that extensive reading helps students improve their English I put it here. There is a short story cut into four parts and a mind map which can serve as a comprehension worksheet.
Moreover, you can learn the vocabulary from the worksheet and there are two games to practise the new vocabulary.

Watch the video and try to understand the story. If you want to make this exercise slightly more challenging, switch off the picture and just listen.
ADVERTISEMENT:
[showmyads]

Try to complete the mind map with the information from the story. Use your dictionary and translate the vocabulary. Once you finish the worksheet (mind map) watch the video again and check your answers.

In the first game you should write the jumbled word in the correct way. You have always 30 seconds to manage this.

Click Here to play the game – Two Dates – Chapter 1 – Hoop Shoot

In the second game you should complete each sentence with the correct word.

Click Here to play the game – Two Dates – Chapter 1 – Hoop Shoot Here is the whole story if you do not want to listen to it and just read it.

Alan was the wallflower in his class. He was always a little shy and he had no real friends when he was younger, but he always thought that this would change by the time he went to secondary school.

It had not happened.

Alan did not know why he had such a hard time talking to people, especially girls. He had no problem talking to his mother or sisters at home, but when a girl asked him a simple question in school, he would get nervous, and his whole face would become as red as a tomato as he tried to get the words out.

There were two beautiful girls in his class, Susan and Martha. Not only were they beautiful, they were smart and popular too. Susan excelled in English, whereas Martha was better at numbers and was usually the one with her hands up in the air for every question asked during Maths class.

Alan was not popular, neither was he particularly handsome. He was neither the tallest boy in class nor the most athletic one. He did not excel in any subject, and his grades were average at best. This did not help his confidence, and it got weaker year by year.

But that year, Alan wanted to make a difference. He wanted to be noticed, and he wanted to make friends for once. Their school was organizing a dance, and boys usually asked girls out to be their dates.

In the past, Alan usually chose to stay home, watch some television with his parents or play video games. He did not have the courage to ask any girl out, and he certainly did not want to go to the dances alone. He always felt left out when he returned to school the day after, listening to all the fun and good times that his classmates had at the dance. He no longer wanted to be that guy that stayed at home, miserable and alone, without a date.

Alan wanted to be different that year.

He tried by making small talk with the boys. He offered to help Bruce with his homework. Bruce, was a bully, but was also the best looking boy in class. He sneered at him and stood above him. Alan tried to look smaller in his seat. “You? Help me with my homework? Do you think I am stupid and I need some help?”

“No, I just wanted to help,” Alan’s voice sounded strange.

The whole class laughed at him. Alan sank deeper into his seat and pretended not to care. His ears were burning with shame.

He looked down on his homework and tried to ignore the students around him.

From the edge of his vision, Alan saw a pair of pretty shoes. He looked up in surprise at Martha’s face.

Beautiful, popular Martha.

“Hi Alan,” she smiled.

“H…Hi,” he said shyly.

She looked very pretty indeed, showing off her beautiful figure in a lovely yellow floral dress. Her long blond hair was in perfect curls around her sweet face.

“Maybe you could help me. Do you want to go out after school?” Martha asked Alan.

Alan nearly choked. He could not believe what he was hearing. Martha? Beautiful popular Martha was asking him out on a date! What should he say?

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

In my opinion Plants are one of the worst covered vocabulary topics in ELT. That is why, I have created the following post. There is a pictionary with all the words, a mind map, a video and four games to practise the vocabulary. I hope you will find these words useful.

Plants – vocabulary video

Here is a video with the words and their pronunciation.
Advert:
[showmyads]

Plants – pictionary

Here are all the words in a pictionary. You can print this material out (as long as you do not try to profit financially from this.)

Plants – mind map

This mind map tries to divide the vocabulary into three categories: Deciduous trees (those that have leaves), coniferous trees and flowers. Some students find these divisions useful.

Watch and practise

Watch the pictures and say the words in English.

Plants – games

Here are four games to practise the vocabulary. Give them a try:

Flashcards

Click Here to play the game

Pick a letter

ADVERT
[showmyads]

Click Here to play the game

Matching

Click Here to play the game

Crosswords

Click Here to play the game

Many people think that the topic animals is suitable only for children. Thus the learners learn the names of twenty animals when they are young and they think it is enough. However, intermediate students need to know more animals than the twenty they learnt as children. That is why I have created the following post. Here the intermediate students can practise what they learnt a long time ago and add some more new words.

Animals – pictionary

Here is a beautiful pictionary with all the animals which will be dealt with in this post.
ADVERTISEMENT:
[showmyads]

Animals – video

Watch the video and repeat the names of the animals. Each word is pronounced twice.

Animals – mind map

For many people it is much easier to remember new vocabulary if it is organised. Here is a mind map which tries to do this.

Animals – games

There are three games here. The first one is a classical wordsearch. Find the word, click on the first letter and then on the last one. Your task is to find all the animals there.

Animals Penalty game

The second game is called Penalty. Read the definitions and choose the correct animal.

Teacher invaders game

The last game is called Teacher invaders. Your task is to shoot all the invaders and write the names of the animals.

Half a minute game

And here is a bonus game. As some people do not like Teacher invaders here are the same words with the same definitions in a much quiter game:

LIKE US AND FOLLOW US

Do you think we do a good job here? Please go to our Facebook site and like us. Thank you.

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

Scientists claim that the center for rythm is located next to the long-term memory in our brain. Knowing this, we could exploit it to the students’ benefit and teach them vocabulary through rhymes or raps. So, I tried to create the following rap to teach the students the following words: beach, prefer, rhyme, crazy, bone, railway, clothes, lots, fun, sand and shower.

Crazy Vocabulary Rap -video

First listen to the following rap and answer the comprehension questions under the video.
ADVERTISEMENT:
[showmyads]

Now check your comprehension by playing the following game:

Crazy vocabulary rap – Hoop shoot

Crazy Vocabulary Rap – mind map

Now that you met the vocabulary it is time to introduce it. I love introducing new things using mind maps, so here is another one. Each word contains a definition and three examples.

Crazy Vocabulary Rap – Vocabulary games

Once you think you know all the words it is time to test your knowledge. There are three games to check whether you really know the words. In the first two your task is to complete each sentence with the best option. If you answer correctly you will get to play a game.

Crazy Vocabulary Rap – Hoopshoot game
Crazy Vocabulary Rap – Fling the teacher game

The last game is a bit different. You will see a definition and then you have to write the word. Do not forget to shoot the invaders, though 🙂

Crazy Vocabulary Rap – Teacher invaders game.

Crazy Vocabulary Rap – Lyrics

You might want to learn the whole text, so here you are:

I’m going somewhere on this train
I’m going somewhere fun
A place that has a beach and sand
Railway take me to that sun….

I prefer to go somewhere out west
But any beach will do
Before I go I need a shower
I have no water, what to do….

I need a beach where clothes aren’t needed
Cuz mine I do not have
They got destroyed by a beast
Doing something reasonably bad….

He was drinking lots of milk he was
This milk I wanted some
Cuz in my youth I want strong bones
To stay in shape and have some fun

This rhyme is really crazy
This I really know
Time for me to say bye bye
It’s time for me to go….

LIKE US AND FOLLOW US

Do you think we do a good job here? Please go to our Facebook site and like us. Thank you.

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

The whole planet is following the Winter Olympic games in Sochi. And as this site has got the word “games” in its name I think it will be appropriate to make a post on winter olympic sports.

Winter Olympic sports – video

Here you should listen and repeat the words.

Winter Olympic sports – interactive mind map

This mind map contains all the sports and the less typical ones contain a link to a Youtube video where you can see the sport.
[showmyads]

Winter Olympic sports – Mind map

Here you can see the mind map with all the sports.

Winter Olympic sports – Games

There are two games to practise the winter olympic sports. The first one is called On target. Your task is to read the definition and then choose the best option. If you answer correctly you will get a chance to shoot the Evil ducks. Do not forget that you can get a Bottle Bonus if you shoot a bottle.

Winter Olympic sports – On target game

The second game is called Half a minute and your task is to put the letters in the correct order. However, you have only 30 seconds to do this.

Winter Olympic sports – Half a minute game

LIKE US

Do you think we do a good job here? Please go to our Facebook site and like us. Thank you.

Negative prefixes are very productive. It seems that if you learn these then you might be able to create countless English words. However, it is not enough to learn only the prefixes. As each word has its own prefix and there are just a few rules you have to learn the whole words.
Knowing this, I took 4,000 most frequent words in English and I looked for the words with negative prefixes among them. Once I found them I created the following mind map:

Negative prefixes – a mind map

Advertisement:
[showmyads]

Go through the mind map above and use a dictionary if you do not know any of the words.

Negative prefixes – games

Once you think that you know the words with negative prefixes I believe it is time to test your knowledge in games. This time there are 4 games. The first two (En Garde and On Target) contain the same tasks in different games. Choose the one you like better and plaaaaaay!!!

Negative prefixes – En Garde
Negative prefixes – On target

In the game called Half a minute your task is to put the jumbled word into the correct order. It is not easy but if you know the words you should manage to do this.

Negative prefixes – Half a minute

The last game is called Teacher invaders. Your task is to shoot all the invaders and write the words with negative prefixes. I believe this is the most difficult game, so give it a try!!!

Negative prefixes – Teacher invaders

Negative prefixes – a blind mind map

Have you played all the games and they were a piece of cake? Let’s try something more challenging. Print the following mind map and complete it with the missing words:

 

LIKE US

Do you think we do a good job here? Please go to our Facebook site and like us. Thank you

Clothes vocabulary is useful and quite easy to learn. Here you will find a video introducing the correct pronunciation (American English) of the words. Watch the video and repeat. In the second part of the video you should say the words yourself.
Then there is a mind map introducing the new words. You can add more to the mind map if you want to. Further you can find here several games to practise the clothes vocabulary.

Advertisement:
[showmyads]

Video

Watch the video and repeat the words. Then say the words for the clothes you see.

Clothes vocabulary mind map

Here is a mind map of the clothes vocabulary. You can (and you should) print this mind map out and add more words you want to learn.

Clothes vocabulary games

Once you went through all the words and you think you know them, it is time to practise them in the following games. First one is fill in the blank. Your task is to write the word you see in the picture. You will get 10 words to practise.

Fill in the blank

The second game is a matching activity. Your task is to click on the word that you see in the picture.

Matching

The last activity to practise clothes vocabulary is a crossword. Click into the crossword and you will see the clue. Write the words.

Crossword

The last game is called Click the word. Read the sentence above the pictures and then click on the correct picture and on the button submit.

Clicking

I hope that by now you know all the new words pretty well.

Other games to learn English

The Kiss is a classical story by the American author Kate Chopin. You can read and listen to the simplified story and then try several comprehension games at http://www.aj3000.org/TheKisspage/the_kiss_story.html .

Christmas is nearly over, but when the holiday ends I would like my students to tell me about their Christmas. To be able to do this properly they will need a lot of Christmas vocabulary. Here is a mind map introducing all the key words and concepts connected with Christmas in Great Britain and the USA. Go through all the words and content and then play the game to practise the Christmas vocabulary.

Advertisement:
[showmyads]

Christmas Vocabulary game

Once you know the vocabulary it is time to practise it. Here is a simple quiz where you should fill in the names of the things you see in the pictures. If you get more than 80% of all the answers correct you can play a game called Indiara. Good luck.

Christmas Vocabulary quiz

Christmas Traditions – listening

I come from the Czech Republic and I have prepared a short text describing the unusual traditions connected with Christmas here. You can listen to the recording and then play a comprehension game. To make the listening easier for you, you can listen and read the text at the same time. This kind of listening is very good for your pronunciation too, as you can read along.

Listen and read
Comprehension game – Hoopshoot.

If you feel that you need more listening practice, try the following dictation exercises. Listen to the recording and then fill in the missing words. You can stop the recording whenever you like and play different parts again. In this way your listening comprehension will improve.

Czech Christmas Customs Dictation – elementary
Czech Christmas Customs Dictation – pre-intermediate
Czech Christmas Customs Dictation – intermediate

I hope you will find all these resources useful.
Merry Christmas.

More Games to learn English

If you like these exercises there are many more games to learn English at this site. We recommend the following ones:
Past tense of the irregular verbs – this post contains a mind map and several highly addictive games to learn the English irregular verbs in the past tense.
And what about present perfect tense? Is it still a mystery for you? Try the following post on Present perfect tense.

Furniture vocabulary is one of the easy areas for learners of English. However, I think that it never hurts if the students experience some success.

In this post, there is a video with all the words, an infographic and three games to practise the vocabulary.

Start your lesson with the vocabulary film. Listen and repeat the words and then say the English word for the furniture that you see in the picture. The words are presented and then repeated. The video is based on the learning method described and recommended by Baddeley in his book on memory. I can confirm that it works.

Play the video at least twice in the lesson. Your students will remember the words better.

ADVERTISEMENT:
[showmyads]

Here is a mind map showing all the important furniture words. The pieces are placed in the rooms but they could appear in a different room.

And now it is time to practise the new vocabulary. Here you can find three games. First is a quiz and if you label more than 70% of the pictures correctly you will get to play a game called Indiara. The game is in HTML5 so it will play on all mobile devices and desktop computers.

Furniture vocabulary – label

The second game is basketball. If you choose a correct answer you will get a chance to throw the ball into the basket. Good luck 🙂 To play this game, you need to download the game and then open it in Adobe Reader. Then click on the game and it will work.

The third games is called Matching. Your task is to find the picture and the correct word. Will you manage it in fewer then 40 turns? This game is in HTML5 and it will play on all mobile devices and desktop computers.

Furniture vocabulary – matching game

Students often find the vocabulary for personal qualities really difficult to learn and understand. Here I try to present the vocabulary in a slightly different way and give the students a chance to practise the personal qualities in games.

Advertisement:
[showmyads]

Start your learning with this video. Repeat the words with a native (American) speaker and read the definitions of the words.

Here is a mind map where I tried to organise the personal qualities into reasonable and memorable categories.

And now it is high time to practise the new vocabulary in games.

To play the En Garde game, download the file and open it in Adobe Reader. Then click the picture and the game will start.  Your task is to choose the correct answer and then stop the target as close to the centre as possible. Hopefully, you will be faster and more accurate then your opponent. The game is in Flash and will play only on desktops:

Personal qualities Wordsearch.

To be the first to learn about our latest games and activities follow us on TWITTER:
Follow @Zdendaa

Free graded readers