Hi everyone!
Just a short post for you all today. To keep you busy this weekend, I have found something quick and fun which is also a valuable learning resource. This great online game, which has been developed especially by the British Council for English language learners, is known as Word Shake. If you want a fun and different way to practise your vocabulary skills, then Word Shake is well worth a visit. The fact that it is a free learning resource from the British Council alone indicates that it is a great way to practise and extend your English language skills.

So, what is the game about? Well, basically you are given a 3 minute time limit to find as many words as possible using the 16 given letters. Your aim is to try and make your words between 3 and 7 letters long (the longer the word, the higher the score you achieve) and to not repeat the same letters within your chosen word. Of course it is also important that you use the correct spelling, otherwise your word will be considered wrong and you will not be given any points for that attempt.

Points are awarded according to the length of each word as follows:
-3 letters: 1 point
-4 letters: 2 points
-5 letters: 3 points
-6 letters: 4 points
-7 letters: 5 points
So, the goal is to try to find as many ‘long’ words as possible so that you can get a higher score.

This is what the game looks like:

So, from the above 16 letters, how many words can you find?

I tried combining the above letters for 3 minutes and didn’t get as many words as I had hoped (and to tell you the truth, most of the words I found were quite short – how embarrassing!)

In the end, my score was not very high, but the game really made me think quickly and I definitely drew on my vocabulary skills to help me get through!

Why don’t you try this Word Shake for yourself – here is the link to the website http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/word-games/wordshake

I guarantee you will have fun – and it will only take 3 minutes! Have a try and let me know that you think.
:) Nicole

© Nicole Sammer, Sydney English Teacher, 2015.

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