More Online Games for Studying English and Having Fun

While I have been writing for Michinoku Pro Wrestling and Yanagase Pro Wrestling here in Japan, I have also been continuing to teach English here, and I am pleased that many of my students have visited my blog and also told their friends and families about it. I have often advised my students that playing word games is an effective way for them to improve their vocabulary, so I am always on the lookout for new games for them to play.

I now know of an additional good website for word games, and it's Solitaire.org, which has hundreds of online games. Don't let the name confuse you- although solitaire games are the main focus of the site, it has much more than that.

One of the categories on Solitaire.org is Word, which is where the site's word games can be found. My favorite is, "Letter Scramble". If you have ever played Scrabble, then, "Letter Scramble" will feel very familiar to you. The goal of the game is to spell as many words as you can before the time runs out. If you are studying English, this game is useful because it is another game that forces you to, "think more in English".

I enjoy playing "Letter Scramble", but since most of my students were born and raised in Japan, there is a word game on Solitaire.org that they may enjoy more.

"Daily Wordoku" is based on Sudoku, a number-placement puzzle game that is so popular in Japan that over 600,000 Sudoku magazines are sold every month. The difference is that "Daily Worduku" uses letters instead of numbers, and the completed puzzle shows a word on the diagonal.

As for card games, the card game that I play is blackjack, and I was pleased to see that not only does Solitaire have blackjack, but it has four different versions of the game. The classic version of blackjack is called, "Casino Blackjack" on the website.

This is the version that I have played, but there are three other versions of Blackjack that I'm sure I will try out eventually: "5 Stack Blackjack", "21 Blitz", and "Blackjack Chain".

Some of my students are from China, and there is a card game category on Solitaire.org that they might be very interested in- Mahjong solitaire games. Mahjong is a tile-based game that is similar to poker and was developed in China in the 19th century. It's very popular in China but is also popular in Japan. There is a version specifically named "China Mahjong", but if you're a fan of mahjong, all of them may be worth checking out.

I'm glad I was introduced to Solitaire.org, not only did I find games that I enjoy, but I also found games that I think my students will enjoy as well. And most importantly, there are games on Solitaire.org that will help them practice English while having fun at the same time.