Definitions: identify the word from its meaning
Read the definition and name the word. The game that comes closest to thinking in the language.
This game skips translation. You read what something means, in the language you are learning, and have to reach the word without going through your mother tongue. It is uncomfortable at first, and it is exactly the habit that separates people who translate in their head from people who already think in the language.
How to play
- A definition of a word from your vocabulary appears.
- You identify which word it is.
- You check and move on.
What it trains
Retrieval by meaning rather than by equivalence. It is the same effort you make when speaking and the word will not come: you know what you want to say and you are searching for how to say it.
It also sharpens precision. Reading a definition surfaces the nuances that separate two similar words — exactly where a word-for-word translation fails. All the games
FAQ
- Is it harder than the others?
- Usually, because there is no translation prompt. Use it with words you have already seen a few times.
- Are the definitions in the language I am learning?
- Yes, and they come from that word’s dictionary entry, with its senses kept separate.