This week there's an interesting website that I am eager to share with you. Here we have Vocabulary.Co. The name does not sound as fun as it is though. We'll get to the fun part.
Vocabulary.Co is basically a game-based learning website that offers a good number of games where learners can practice their English by the means of a game.
Games available on Vocabulary.Co are categorized according to different learning objectives. The layout is pretty user-friendly with clear objectives stated on the title of each category.
The number of games, as the Vocabulary.Co says, is more than a thousand. Therefore, learners have a lot to choose from, which may be the pros and the cons at the same time.
The games are not only sorted by different facets of English learning; in a game, there are also different levels to choose from. As a result, learners with varying proficiency are all able to play and see their levels.
Aside from the English learning games, Vocabulary.Co provides sources for more academic and test-oriented (e.g. GRE vocabulary) learning sources. Also vocabulary in some other languages are available, but most of them have far less resources as English one with some even being outdated or unmanaged.
Although games are generally considered fun, people especially learners' perception are fairly subjective, which makes the huge inventory of games on Vocabulary.Co a great advantage. Even students with the same level of proficiency may be interested in and have unequal motivation for learning different aspects of English.
Games containing different learning objectives serve different users. Themes like slangs, synonyms, oxymorons are usually not interesting to students in a conventional classroom setting; however, through games, they could be something that intrigues students' interest because they have to complete a mission, or even compete with others.
Vocabulary.Co to me is a useful tool for general learners of English to practice at their off-class time, and might be helpful for teachers to review some materials or to use them as an activity. Nevertheless, one thing that I expected to see but seems lacking is the self-designed templates where instructors can create a game using their own materials.
To conclude, I would sure encourage English learners explore this website for fun, but in praxis, I would probably not integrate this into my English teaching community since some the games may not reflect the goal of the class.
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