Category Archives: Apps

Rosetta Stone

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 Rosetta Stone is a very good app to learn English (and other languages).  It’s available for Apple and Android phones and tablets.  The app is also very expensive – $199 – but you can try the first lesson for free.  (Lesson 1 gives you about an an hour of practice or more) 

With this app you can learn vocabulary and grammar and practice your pronunciation.  You can also press “MENU” to get to “Extended Learning” for Lesson 1, which gives you:

  • more than 160 common English phrases (Ex: “How much does this cost?”; “We need help.”)
  • a story that you can read, listen to, and record yourself reading out loud
  • 8 minutes of basic sentences – Listen to these and then try to speak them

The free part of the app is only a small part of the whole package.

Boggle – Word Game

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  Boggle is a simple word game that helps you practice and improve your vocabulary.  You get 16 letters (4 x 4) and make as many words as you can.  In the picture example, they are making the word “SUPER”.

The most fun way to play is using the actual game with friends or family.  You can get it at Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc for about $8.

There are also Boggle apps for iPhone and Android.  You can play this by yourself, or with friends online.

There’s another free word game app very similar to Boggle called Spell Mania (iPhone/iPad) You play this by yourself – with a time limit or not.  With Spell Mania, you can look up the meaning of the words that you find and see words you didn’t find.  If you play many times, you can see information about how you are improving.

There are many Boggle-style games that you can play for free on your home computer.  One good one is on Wordplays. You drag your mouse across the letters to make your words.  At the end of three minutes, it tells you which of your words are correct – or not correct – and then it tells you other words you could have used.  And – you can click on any of the words to find out the meaning.

Here’s a video on the basic way to play Boggle:

Tinycards

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  Tinycards is a flash card app from the people who make Duolingo.  You can use Tinycards to learn and practice new English vocabulary.  It is available on their website, and there is an app for iPhone/iPad (no app yet for Android).  After you create a free account, and sign in with your username and password – you can practice with many sets of words, or you can make your own set to practice.  Search for ESL, and they will give you many choices.

For example – Parts of the Body, Summer Vocabulary, and Clothes

Google Translate Phrasebook

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   Google Translate is the most popular way to translate between two languages.  But most people don’t use their “phrasebook” – a place to save words, phrases, and sentences that you want to use or practice another time.

  • In Google Translate, translate a phrase or sentence as usual
  • Then, to save it, press the star to add this to your phrasebook.
  • Once the phrase is saved in your phrasebook, you can go there any time by pressing the star at the bottom of your screen
  • You can practice this phrase and listen to the pronunciation as many times as you like

Google Translate is available on computers, iPhone/iPad, and Android apps.

7 Little Words

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     Playing word games will help increase your vocabulary.  7 Little Words is a very popular free word game app for iPhone/iPad and Android, but it’s a little too difficult for most people learning English.  However, there is a kid’s version – with easier vocabulary – that is fun and challenging to play. Here’s an example:  The hint for word #5 is “time off from school”, and the word is VACATION.

7 Little Words for Kids is available for iPhone/iPad (99 cents) and Amazon Kindle Fire ($2.99).
If you have an Android phone, you can look at this list of the 10 Best Free Word Games for Android.

Can My Phone Understand Me?

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  Smartphones can listen to you speak, and display your words.  So can iPads and computers.  If your phone can understand you, other people will probably understand you.

Practice your speech on iPhone or iPad

  • Open the Notes App    and create a new note     
  • Press the Microphone icon next to the Space Bar on the keyboard
  • Start talking – and see what words are shown
  • Are they the same words that you spoke?  If not, try again.

Practice on Android phone or tablet

  • Install the Google Keyboard app from Google Play
  • Then open your email app, or use a free notes app like Evernote
  • Press the Microphone icon next to the Space Bar on the keyboard
  • Start talking – and see what words are shown
  • Are they the same words that you spoke?  If not, try again.

When your phone can understand you, you can use your voice for … email, text messages, Siri questions on iPhones (“Hey Siri“), Google searches (“OK Google“), and more. Continue reading →