We have all heard of flashcards, mnemonics, and various other ways to memorize words, but those methods often end up boring us. Whether it be a standardized exam that you are planning to take or you simply want to improve your English skills, you may not have the time to sit down hours at a time to memorize words. Seeing how we live in the age of information technology and smartphones are growing increasingly ubiquitous, learning vocabulary doesn’t have to be a tedious task.
Thanks to the monumental advances in personal computing over the past two decades, most of us carry powerful computers in our pockets that can do pretty much anything. While great for personal entertainment, your smartphone can also be an effective medium for learning vocabulary.
Moreover, studies have shown that people who learn words through active interaction in a mobile-game context tend to retain words more effectively. The general idea is that greater stimuli result in increased brain activity which in turn aids memory retention. If you don’t enjoy learning by rot and recitation, it is no wonder that you are likely to give up altogether. Hence, combining visuals and auditory mediums is a much productive way to go about learning new words. Let’s explore some of the most creative ways to implement this idea through apps and games.
Vocabulary.com
What usually happens when you come across a new word? If you are like most people, you look that word up in the dictionary, read the meaning and feel good about learning a new word, right? However, what happens the next day or the day after? You end up forgetting the word and the meaning altogether.
The reason this happens is due to the incredibly mundane nature of dictionary definitions. We are not good at retaining information if we can’t put it into context. Unfortunately, standard dictionaries don’t provide anything other than the textbook definition of words, and reading it once isn’t going to do much.
This is where vocabulary.com comes in. The people behind this website have revolutionized the way we understand words. Instead of providing a simple one-line definition, this website turns the whole thing into a game.
This is how it works. Words appear on the screen, followed by four answer choices. You have to select the meaning that directly corresponds to the word in question. However, if you can’t match the word to an answer choice, you can use a little help by selecting one of the three “lifelines” given on the screen.
The best part is that once you make the correct choice, the website displays a short story that puts the word into context, giving you information regarding its origins and how it came into use.
It also helps that you earn points, rewards and badges for getting words right and the more you play, the more addictive it gets.
You can download the game free of cost for both iOS and Android.
Words With Friends
This app is the “gamiest” out of all the vocabulary apps available on the market. Why? Because it adds the element of competition to learning words. The idea is to gain the most points by arranging the letters on a board similar to scrabble. Certain words will get you more points, and whoever has acquired the highest score wins.
You can select people from your contacts and invite them to play, or you can pair up with random people from the game. Not only is this a great game to kill some time, but it also helps improve your vocabulary without you even realizing it.
Words with Friends is available on both iOS and Android.
Vocabulary Builder
While not a game, this app has helped millions of students learn new words for tests such as GRE and SAT. Vocabulary Builder by Magoosh works the same way as traditional flashcards. Only the difference is that it’s much easier to use and is absolutely free.
The app contains a library of 1200 curated words most likely to show up on standardized tests. There are three difficulties to choose from – basic, intermediate and advanced. Each of the difficulty levels will display a certain amount of words followed by the definition and other information such as origin and usage.
However, unlike traditional flashcards, this app uses what’s called “spaced repetition”, which is the best way to retain information. If you get a word wrong, the app will continue to display that word sporadically until you get it right.
The app is incredibly easy to use and can also work offline. It is available on both iOS and Android.
WordUp Vocabulary
If you are not a native English speaker and want to understand English vocabulary better, this is the perfect app. Although not meant for the more academic type of English, WordUp Vocabulary takes a unique approach to build vocabulary. It allows you learn words by hearing them in movie clips for context. These clips can be from a movie and popular english series such as Game of Thrones.
The idea is that when people are exposed to words in both video and auditory mediums, they retain the information more effectively, especially when delivered in a stimulating context such as cinema.
Moreover, it uses spaced repetition, which is known to work incredibly well by exposing you to information and different intervals so that you don’t forget it.
The app is free for download on both iOS and Android.
7 Little Words
This neat little app is a creative twist on traditional puzzle-oriented word games. The game starts you off with seven words and seven definitions. The idea is that as you arrange the different letter tiles and definitions to match them, you learn new words.
You may already know a couple of words from the list. Hence, as you narrow down the choices you begin to associate the remaining words with the definitions.
It is fun, easy to play and very addicitve. However, same as the last app, this is not meant for academic-type English. Instead, it works great for people who already have some knowledge of the English language and looking to build an improved everyday vocabulary.