Wiktionary: A Free English Dictionary

 Hello everyone!

Today I would like to share a free online dictionary called Wiktionary. It's available at en.wiktionary.org. This application lets you search for words in English to find definitions and links to find out more about it. Wikipedia  offers definitions that might be difficult for nonnative readers to understand since it is aimed at native speakers,  but this is a good place to start to try to read in English before jumping to an English-Japanese English dictionary. I feel that it's better to try to understand what you can first and build connections from there. Here is a snapshot of a page for the word climate change.

The page copied below might be enlargeable, but if not, the direct link is here [opens in a new window]: the link is https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/climate_change#Translations if you need to copy it).

You can see a couple simpler definitions here along with some more difficult discussion under Usage notes. 

There are a couple interesting features. One feature is the link under Further reading which links to climate change on Wikipedia. The second interesting feature is the option to look for pages in written in other languages. Sometimes there are direct links to translations in Japanese, but clicking on 日本語 in this case doesn't. 

However, clicking on climate change for Wikipedia does lead to a page in English that does link to a page in Japanese on 地球温暖化. 

It's important to remember that any Wiki resource should just be a first place to look! The page will give you a very broad first look into the topic and will include some references and links for further reading.

However, it's important to remember these pages are crowdsourced and although there is some effort to make the pages accurate, it is safer to find other resources as well! Sometimes there will be a comment at the top of the pages suggesting there are problems with the page in terms of content. The wiki page for 地球温暖化 shows that there is some unhappiness with the page in Japanese. However, the English page offers some references that may be useful.

Simple Wiktionary

 There is a website aimed at making simpler definitions for Wiktionary accessible for English language learners. This page is available at simple.wikipedia.org. Simple Wiktionary doesn't include all words--it doesn't include climate change, for example--but it does offer a chance to read definitions in easier English, which I believe will help you make connections within English and again, not translated into your own language.  

Smartphone Apps

There are also free smartphone apps available to access Wiktionary and Wikipedia. You can find these on Google Play for Android apps and Apple Apps for the iPhone. I don't use Android, so I'm not sure I can recommend anything. Please email me if you find a good one! 

I hope you find these resources useful! Please let me know!

Words and Monsters

 Hello everyone!

This time I would like to share a fun free game that you can play to learn English called Words and Monsters. The game is available for iOS and for Android smartphones. You can find a brief explanation in Japanese and download links on the application's main website here. The link will open in a new window. The direct link is at https://free.wordsandmonsters.com/ja/. Here is a picture of the download screen.

The game is pretty easy to understand and you can get explanations in English or Japanese. The game adapts to your level and the words get harder as you learn. The words you miss will come back later to give you a chance to show that you learned them.

Here is the first welcome screen:

Once you have signed in with a username and password, you are brought to the main screen.

The screen shows your name (here the player's name is Shigeru), your rank and level, your points, and how many awards you have. Here Shigeru has 20 gems. Gems can be donated at the Temple for a chance to win more treasure.

The Study Progress link will open up once you have used the game for a little while. At that point it will show your scores and progress data.

The other links are the Store (mentioned above), Groups (see below), Settings, and the Leaderboard (where you can see how you are doing in comparison to other players).

The Settings lets you change the language, turn on or off the sounds, change your password, change your nickname (the name that other players see when you play others), log out, and delete your account.

The Groups setting is where you can join a group if you are studying in a school and the teacher has created a group for your class. In this case you can compete against people you know.

When you click Battle to play, you have a choice between a Random live player (if anyone is online), someone in your Group, or Solo by yourself. All let you gain points. 

Once you start to play you will see a couple different types of questions. In one type of question you are given a word and you have to choose the correct definition from the three words below. Even when you play a solo game, your session is timed, so try to answer as quickly as you can!

In this example, the meaning of the word tutorial is a period of instruction.

For the other type of question you need to click on a speaker icon to hear the word and then select the correct answer.

Once you have finished a session you get a chance to choose an award. Depending on your luck you might get a few or many gems to use in the Store.

At this point you might want to check the Leaders board to see how you are doing.

The Leaders board looks like this:

This game can be a very fun way to learn English, either against a random partner or someone in your class if you are competitive (but don't worry, you won't ever be embarrassed by your performance, or as a solo player.

Again, as you play the game and learn more words, you will move up and see and learn more new words as you are ready for them. The words are selected by their usefulness in English (more common words come first) and the program keeps track of how far you have come in your learning.

I hope you will give Words and Monsters a try!