Improve Your English With Fun Board Games

It’s becoming paramount for engineering professionals to be fluent in English. According to the Harvard Business Review, a significant number of global organizations have embraced English as their workplace language. Not only is English often a requirement, the ability to speak it clearly can be important in order to operate as part of an international team. Additionally, a growing number of colleges and universities are requiring applicants to be proficient in English.

English is not an easy language for everyone to learn—especially depending on the learner’s native language. Furthermore, the time it takes to become fluent in English may also be a challenge for many learners. If you already have a full schedule, sitting down to study with a textbook between classes and work can be hard. Finding enjoyable ways to supplement your learning can help keep you motivated. As discussed in previous posts, fun ways to learn English during your free time include watching TV and films in English, listening to English-speaking podcasts, and reading books written in English.

If you are already somewhat proficient in English, a great way to improve is to play English board games. Not only are board games fun, they also require you to interact with others who can challenge your knowledge and help you improve—especially if you play against opponents who are more proficient than you.

Here are five fun games to get you started:

1. Scrabble is a popular board game in which players spell out words on long trays using small wooden squares each with an individual letter. It’s a great way to learn written English because it forces you to spell words correctly. In the process, you will also expand vocabulary by learning new words from your opponent.
2. Apples to Apples: Apples to Apples is a card game that can help you improve your understanding of the complexities of English. The game has two two different color cards: red and green. The red cards contain nouns, while the green cards contain adjectives. To play the game, you will need to figure out which noun cards to match with adjectives cards.
3. Scattergories: Like Apples to Apples, this creative game will also challenge you to understand the complexities of English. Players are presented with various categories. They then need to match the items with each category, starting with a particular letter. This category-matching will help you get better at learning the context of different English words.
4. Charades: A popular party game, charades is an entertaining way to challenge your English skills in a group. Each player writes down several words on separate pieces of paper, then puts the slips into a pile. Mix up the pile. Each player takes a turn to select a slip. Without giving any verbal clues, they have to act out the meaning of the word for everyone else to guess. Keep guessing until someone gets it correct or time runs out for that round.
5. Pictionary: Another classic party game, Pictionary will make you laugh while improving your English. It’s simple—Every player takes turns picking a card from a stack. (You can purchase a game or print a set of words online.) Each card contains a word. When a player takes a card, they have five seconds to figure out how to draw a picture of the given word. They have just one minute to draw their picture (which cannot contain any numbers or letters). Then, the other players have one minute to guess what word the picture represents. In an alternate version of the game, the person can continue drawing for the duration of the round while their team tries to guess the word.

Another great way to learn English is through apps. As discussed in a previous post, there are a number of artificial intelligence-enabled apps that can help you improve faster and more efficiently. 

Improve Your Technical English

Although playing games can be a great supplemental activity to improve your English, it’s not a realistic way to achieve fluency. Instead, try varying your study schedule with a mixture of both fun learning activities and online or in-person courses. 

IEEE English for Technical Professionals is a 14-hour online learning program. It uses real-life interactive scenarios to provide non-native speakers with a working knowledge of English techniques and vocabulary that are essential for today’s technical workplace. Designed to help learners master essential English skills, this mobile-friendly program is ideal for both working professionals, as well as students who are preparing to enter the field. 

Connect with an IEEE Content Specialist today to learn more about this program and how to get access to it for your organization.

Interested in the program for yourself? Visit the IEEE Learning Network.

Resources

35 ENGAGING ESL GAMES TO ENHANCE YOUR ENGLISH. Scribendi.com

Verner, Susan. Original Ways to Play 5 Classic Board Games for ESL Classroom Fun. Fluent.com Blog.