12 games and puzzles to level up language learning

A group of friends sat around a table playing games

Enhancing your English skills doesn't have to be limited to studying textbooks and doing grammar exercises. One of the most enjoyable and effective ways to improve your proficiency in the language is by playing games and solving puzzles.

These interactive activities not only stimulate your mind but also provide a fun way to challenge your cognitive abilities and immerse yourself in the English language.

In this language learning blog post, we've put together a list of puzzles and games that can help you boost your vocabulary, grammar, comprehension, and communication skills while having a great time.

Games and puzzles to help your language learning
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1. Boggle

Shake up the letters and find as many words as you can within a set time limit. Boggle sharpens your vocabulary, speed, and pattern recognition skills. If you don't have the physical game, you can .

2. Hangman

This classic game involves guessing a word letter by letter. It's a fun way to learn new vocabulary and practice spelling while uncovering the hidden word. You can play it just with a pen and paper, or .

3. Taboo

In Taboo, you describe a word without using certain words or phrases. This game hones your ability to explain concepts and reinforces your vocabulary. If you don't have the game you .Ìý

4. 20 Questions

Play the 20 Questions game where one person thinks of an object, and others ask yes-or-no questions to guess what it is. It's an excellent exercise in constructing questions and practicing conversational English. This is super easy to play with friends and family; you can also play it .Ìý

5. Pictionary

In this drawing and guessing game, you have to illustrate words and phrases without using letters. Pictionary improves your descriptive skills and helps you understand context. This is easy to play with friends with little equipment needed; you can also play .

6. Story cubes

Roll dice with images on them and use the pictures to create a story in English. This game enhances your storytelling abilities and encourages you to think on your feet. You can buy or make your own story cubes with card and pens. There are also various .

7. Language learning apps

Perhaps an obvious one but, many language-learning applications use gamification, such as Mondly. These kinds of apps provide a range of interactive exercises, quizzes, and challenges to assist you in learning English in an engaging and interactive way.

8. Text-based Role-Playing games (RPGs)

Engage in text-based RPGs where you interact with characters and make decisions in English. This immersive experience enhances your reading, comprehension, and decision-making skills. There are online ones like and BBC's ''. If you're feeling creative, you can also write your own.ÌýÌý

9. Tabletop RPGs (TTRPGs)

As well as text-based ones online, if you have a group of friends interested, you can also look at getting into tabletop RPGs. You can find ones for every world or scenario you can think of. Ones like , and . There's lots of online tools to help you play like . You can host games online or in person, so it's very flexible. TTRPGs are great for learning new vocabulary and improving your story writing and world building.Ìý

10. Trivia quizzes

Participate in English language trivia quizzes to test your general knowledge and language proficiency. Trivia quizzes expose you to diverse topics and help you learn new words and concepts. For example, Sporcle, hosts a range of fun quizzes that can test your English skills, where you have to translate Shakespeare quotes into plain English.

11. Wordle

Wordle is a popular daily word puzzle game that challenges players to guess a five-letter word within six attempts. Each guess is met with feedback, indicating which letters are correct and in the right position, helping players deduce the hidden word. It helps with engaging with diverse word combinations and deciphering clues that helps develop language comprehension. .Ìý

12. Waffle

Waffle is somewhat similar to Wordle, but you have to shuffle around letters (within 15 moves) on the grid to complete the whole 'waffle'. Which can help with your spelling and word knowledge. It

Learning English doesn't have to be boring. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced learner, using puzzles and games can help you improve your English language skills while having a good time. Remember to bookmark these sites for when you fancy mixing up your English studies.Ìý

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  • A teacher leaning on a table where students are working on various activities

    6 tips for planning your first English classes

    By Nicole Kyriacou

    You are nervous, yet excited. You want to appear relaxed and fun, but still be taken seriously. Most of all, you are keen to make an excellent first impression.

    With all that in mind - planning your first English classes of the year can be a daunting experience.

    Here are six things to consider when planning your first classes:

    1. Set clear aims

    Whether you are teaching young learners, teenagers or adults, it’s important you discuss the aims and objectives of the course from day one. You’ll need to learn more about your students' needs to do this. Why are they learning English? Do they want to prepare for an official exam? What activities do they enjoy? What things do they need to improve the most?

    The way you do this will depend on the age of your learners. For example, with adults and teens, you could get them to interview each other and write a report about what they found out. With younger children, do a survey they can complete using smiley faces.

    2. Find out students’ interests

    Although you should understand your students' needs and why they want to learn English - to help make your classes relevant and engaging - you should also discover what they enjoy doing outside of class.

    To do this, get students to write mini bios you can stick around the classroom. Or have them prepare presentations where they share something they are passionate about with the rest of the class - using coursebooks. As a class, go through the contents page, vote on which topics students find most interesting, and start with those.

    3. Break the ice

    You want your first class to be fun so that students are motivated, and associate English language learning with something they can enjoy. Ice-breakers can also be an excellent way to get to know each other and learn about your students' current level of English.

    Activities where students have to ask each other questions work well.

    4. Provide a comfortable environment

    Young learners and teenagers tend to be shy at the start of a course - especially if they don’t know each other. Develop a rapport and break down boundaries by including team-building activities in your first class.ÌýYour aim is to have all the students feeling more comfortable with each other before the end of the lesson so that there are no awkward silences in future lessons.

    5. Manage expectations

    Managing expectations is an essential part of a teacher's job. Make sure in the first class you are clear about what you expect from your students and what they can expect from you.

    Have students brainstorm the rules for the class and then make a big poster or ‘class contract’ which all students have to sign. Display the poster on the wall so you can always refer to it if someone misbehaves.

    Try to keep the rules as positive as possible. Instead of writing: 'Don’t speak your first language', write: 'Try to always speak English and ask if you don’t know a word'. If you are feeling really brave, you can even get your students to devise a list of rules for you which you can display on the wall next to theirs.

    6. Make it challenging

    It’s great making your first lesson fun - but there’s nothing more motivating than leaving a new class and feeling like you’ve made a good decision and you are going to learn lots (and you aren’t wasting your time or money). This is especially important for adult learners.

    So, as well as getting to know each other and finding out their needs, teach them something new. This could be 10 new pieces of vocabulary, how to structure a letter or report, or a list of resources they can use at home to practice their English.