Parents and teachers

Lingogames is a free language-practice site for children about ages 4 to 10, with a parent, grandparent, or teacher nearby. Younger children listen and repeat. Children around 7 to 10 can read the lesson pages and run a game with less help. Older siblings can hold the cards. The site is not a full language course and it does not replace a teacher. It is a set of short games, word lists, coloring pages, and a few stories, built around Deb, Weebster, and Mocha.

How to use a session

Start on the home page. Choose the language you speak and the language you want to learn, then one theme. Animals is the usual first theme. Family and fun is the list of people at home. Do not open all nine themes in one day.

Play one short game. Flashcards are the right start, because the child sees a single word. Word match and memory come next, when the words are a little familiar. Five to fifteen minutes is enough. Stop while the child still wants another turn.

Then open the lesson for that language and theme. Each lesson is a real page, not a picture of a worksheet. It has a note for the adult, every word in the theme, a way to say the word, a short sentence, a Bible verse with its citation, and one coloring page that fits the theme. If a game word did not stick, find it on the lesson and say the sentence once. You do not have to finish the list.

The Learn link in the menu opens the lesson index for the language you are browsing. A game page also links to the lesson for the theme you are playing.

At home and in a homeschool

One theme a week is a comfortable pace. On Monday, play flashcards. On another day, read the lesson out loud and copy three words into a notebook. The child can draw the thing instead of writing, if writing is still hard. At the end of the week, play memory or match with only those words.

The verse on each lesson can be copywork. It is a public-domain English text, the King James Version, and the page names the book, chapter, and verse. Where a public-domain translation in another language was checked, that text is on the page too, with its name. If it was not checked, the page keeps the English verse and says so, rather than inventing a translation.

A simple narration works: after the game, the child tells you one sentence from the lesson in their own words. That is the whole review. You do not need a grade.

In a classroom

Children can play without an account. Pairs work well for word match and memory. One child can read the target word and the other can say the meaning. Flashcards can be projected, or two children can share a tablet and take turns flipping the card.

Use the lesson page as the class word list. It is the same vocabulary as the game, so you are not maintaining a second set. The language notes mention things that surprise learners: gender in Spanish and French, kana and counters in Japanese, tones and measure words in Chinese, and right-to-left letters in Arabic. Read the note yourself before you teach the theme. You do not have to teach the note to the class.

Coloring is a quiet finish, not the lesson. A child who finishes the game early can color the page linked from the lesson. Coming-soon games on the games list are not built. Leave them. They are marked so children are not sent to an empty screen.

Bible themes

The site includes a Bible theme, a short verse on every lesson, Bible coloring scenes, and three original stories with Deb, Weebster, and Mocha. Those stories are inspired by Luke 15, Genesis 6–9, and Matthew 19. They are not the Bible text. The verse on the lesson page is the quoted scripture, and it is cited.

Families who want that content can use it. Families and classes who want only language practice can skip the Bible theme and the stories. The other eight themes do not depend on it. Nothing in the games requires a child to answer a question about faith.

Printing on US Letter

Coloring pages are laid out for US Letter paper, 8.5 by 11 inches. Open Coloring, pick a theme, and use Print. In the print dialog, set the paper size to Letter. Turn on background graphics if you want the caption area to print with the line art. The picture is black line art, so you do not need color ink. Each picture is meant to land on its own sheet.

You can also print a lesson page if you want a paper word list. Use Letter there too. The navigation and the ad area are marked to stay off the printed page. If your browser adds a date or a URL in the margin, turn headers and footers off in the print dialog. A lesson is long, so expect several sheets. Printing three word cards is often more useful than printing the whole theme.

Pictures on the word cards

Each vocabulary word has a reserved picture. When the picture file is on the site, flashcards, word match, memory, and the lesson page show it. When the file is not there yet, the game keeps the word by itself and the lesson shows the theme icon. You will not see a broken-image box. New pictures can be added later without changing the pages.

Questions about the site go to info@lingogames.fun or the contact page. Children do not need to email anyone to play.