How can games and competitions help to improve language skills – Back to 1925

There are certain classic and worked out tools to improve language skills. We all advise our students to read books, to watch films, to do listening exercises, to make friends with natives, or build vocabulary through practice. But there are also other than traditional ways that help and encourage students, especially young learners to enhance their language skills. These are games and competitions. There are plenty of tools to apply to all ages, from 5 to 50. The only thing ESL teachers need to do is being creative and motivated.

One of such games is Spelling Bee competition. It is widely known globally, particularly in the USA. The first Spelling Bee began in 1925 when 9 newspapers joined together to host a spelling bee. Little did they know that more than 90 years later their literacy effort would reach 11 million students each year.

The purpose of the Spelling Bee is teaching new words, enhance their pronunciation and writing skills. There are several features that make Spelling Bee unique and helpful;

• It actually “forces” students to learn new words, but does it in very soft way and at ease
• It helps participants to improve their other skills, such as imagination, confidence, public speaking, time management and organization
• Students also learn translation of words, as a tool to remember them
• It can be adjusted to any age
• It can be held at any level; from class to national level
• It can be applied to any student and actually “push” lazy students to succeed
• Spelling bee can also help your students to get scholarships and awards in future

At Lingva Training Center we try to apply any modern, interesting and creative methods to help you and your kids to learn English, and to love the process of learning English.

Fidan Baghirova