Improving Your Vocabulary with Board Games

Playing board games is a go-to pastime by a lot of people. If you want to get rid of your boredom or have fun with your friends and family, there’s nothing better than playing board games. Board games such as Scrabble are great entertainment if you want to have a good time at home, on vacation, or in a social gathering.

Aside from the fun side of playing board games, it’s also an excellent way to stimulate your mind and improve your vocabulary. Yes, you heard it right. Taking part in this fun activity can hone your linguistic ability. So, for that reason, I made a list of the best board games that you can play to take your vocabulary to the next level.

Scattergories

Scattergories allows participants to think creatively. This game is played by fitting words into a given first letter and category. For instance, if the category given is “something hot that starts with the letter C,” the players have to come up with words pertinent to that category.

There are three category cards and an answering pad for each player. A 20-sided letter dice is rolled to determine what letter to use for a specific category. After that, the players have to write down the words that fit the categories for three minutes. The winner is the one who writes the words that no other players wrote.

Scattergories is a fun game for people who are just learning English and want to sharpen their vocabulary. This game challenges you to come up with uncommon words and helps you understand their meaning. If you’re just starting out with the English language, it’s recommended to play this game with a native speaker of English.

Balderdash

Balderdash was created by Paul Toyne and Laura Robinson and released in 1984 under Canada Games. This game enables players to use their vocabulary prowess and trivia and bluffing skills. If you’re thinking of fun games for parties and school competitions, Balderdash is a great choice.

The gameplay is pretty simple. All players have to roll a dice to start the game. The player who rolls the highest number will be the first dasher. Then, the so-called dasher draws a “definition card” from a box, and rolls a dice to determine which word from the list of words on the card is to be used.

The players will then jot down a definition, which can be a real or made-up definition. The dasher reads out the correct answer and made-up answers randomly, and other players must guess the correct answer. The player who has the highest score from submitting the correct definition and triumphantly bluffing other players wins the game.

Scrabble

Invented by architect Alfred Butts in 1938, Scrabble is a classic board-based game played by millions of people across the globe. This game is so popular that you can find a Scrabble organization in each country where this game is played seriously.

Scrabble’s playing board has a set of tiles with point values and distributions. To play the game, players have to arrange the tiles – each bearing a letter – into words in rows and columns. You have to form the best words and put them in an ideal place on the board to score the highest points.

Two or four players can participate in this game. Scrabble is often played with a dictionary near the board. This game is perfect to learn English words and their definitions.

Funglish

As the name of the game suggests, Funglish is indeed a fun way to learn English. In this game, you use tiles – each bearing a descriptive word – to get other players to guess the words listed on your card. The card you have on your hand has at least six words on it. Other players have to guess as many words on your card as they can within three minutes.

If you want to increase your chances of winning this game, you need to look through all the words and identify the ones you’re not familiar with before the game starts. It’s also a great idea to always think of the time limit and beat it as fast as you can.

Taboo

In Taboo, a player draws a card that contains the main word and synonyms or terms related to it. The player holding the card has to get other players to guess the word without using those related terms.

For instance, if the main word is “cat,” and the related terms are “cute,” “furry,” “pet,” and “purrs.” You can’t say that “it’s a cute furry pet that purrs.” As such, you have to think creatively to win in this game.

Takeaway

Indeed, playing board-based word games is a perfect way to learn English and expand your English vocabulary. However, there are limitations to what playing games can do. This is why to make things even more interesting it is recommended to use the aid of special techniques such as the Pomodoro technique through a Pomodoro timer to ensure that you continuously grow faster with your ventures. Take note of the games mentioned on this list if you want to have fun at parties or any other social gathering while improving your vocabulary at the same time.

Daisey Bell

I am Daisy Bell and a pro-level blogger with years of experience in writing for multiple industries. I have extensive knowledge of Food, Fitness, Healthcare, business, fashion, and many other popular niches. I have post graduated in arts and have keen interest in traveling.