Have fun increasing your vocabulary
Someone made the point recently, by way of a comment to an awesome post by DStaple (Dave) on the vital importantance for us internet marketers and website builders, that some folk will have a harder time than others writing lively and engaging posts due to their vocabulary being limited and not so well developed. In his post, Dave urges us to post often, daily if at all possible, to improve our skills. Dave, I hear you, and if not daily, there will be more posts from me too (aaargh! - just tried to pull my finger out - I will have to try something else :(.
While for many here, this would not be a chore, but something they would love to do anyway, if only they could get around to it (more on that later), brushing up on word skills, or vocabulary building, is something that would benefit those who have not paid much attention to it.
How to ramp up the vocabulary, though, without making it dreary and tedious? We all spend long hours at the keyboard, working hard already and learning, learning, learning at every opportunity. How to do all this and find time for family and friends at the same time? How to do this and have some vital time out on a regular basis? You can pull out your dictionary and study it until you fall asleep (about 15 minutes is my time span on this one!) or ......................... you can dust off your Scrabble board, invite some friends around and have some serious fun while you learn.
While Scrabble may not be everyone's idea of fun, it really can be! A random Scrabble night with a couple of long time friends recently (more of an excuse to get together) turned into such fun that it is going to be a fortnightly occasion. While the
Scrabble was the secondary reason for getting together, we eventually dutifully got the board out and started playing. Before long, we had to reach for the dictionary, and then again, and again, until one dictionary didn't cut it, and a second one was found and kept on hand; both dictionaries were being checked and used throughout the game. Anyone can play Scrabble, and there is a place for words of any simplicity. Some people win games simply by building their own strategies using small words and placing them very cleverly. You just have to use the letters you have as creatively as possible. Warning - it can become addictive!
We also kept a box of chocolates on hand, and 20 points or more earned you a chocolate. This really ramped up the motivation and competition, with the game rules being checked and applied mercilessly (amidst protests and peels of laughter) as one person was getting most of the chocolates (no names mentioned!). While Scrabble was the excuse for us getting together (we had only previously managed this around once in 12 months!), it is now THE reason for a fortnightly occasion, so not only are we improving our vocabulary, we are having fun and staying in touch on a regular basis. Life is short and we should make time for our friends as well as our families. We are all busier these days, it seems, and are at risk of sacrificing our precious relationships.
Play Scrabble with your friends, have fun and improve your vocabulary all at the same time (oh, and you can always share the chocolates around at the end of the game if you are winning them all - that way, your friends WILL come back:)
Recent Comments
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Thank you, Paul - it can only be a good thing; we actually had a great night; fun and learning can go hand in hand :)))
I love this idea! Pairing fun and learning while strengthening friendships (as long as the groups doesn't get TOO competitive haha)
Yes, it is not often when NOT playing Scrabble that you are grabbing a dictionary with relish to find out if a word is legit, and to check the spelling and the meaning. If correct, Setting a deadline when the game should finish helps keep moving it along, too, so it doesn't get heavy and tedious (or too competitive, lol)..........
I love this suggestion! I grew up playing Scrabble. My Mom and Dad were both very good and my grandma is still very good! My husband thought it sounded very dry but he likes it now too (we mostly play on our phones (Scrabble app) so even when we are not together we can still take turns). I have a 7 letter word waiting to be played on our phone game right now!
I never thought of incorporating something like chocolate! That is a brilliant idea. We always use the dictionary!
Lovely to hear this! Scrabble keeps our family in friendly competition too!. My 89 year old mother is a champion and between rows of knitting while waiting her turn, beats all the uni students in our family. We're convinced she's just playing for the chocolates, but she does share (sometimes :)
Good on you with the 7 letter word! It's a while since I have come up with one, though! I will have to lift my game!.
All the best to you in all your endeavours - lovely to meet another Scrabble player! I have not done it on my phone as yet, so will be looking into that one.
I don't do a lot on my phone but I do like the Scrabble app. It has a dictionary built in and a "teacher". You can ask after you play a word if there was a higher point word you could have played instead. If you play the best possible word at that time it tells you congratulations.
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Fun with friends and family are at the top of my list! :)
Hi Jude
Good on you!!! Family and friends are what it's all about for me too. Too easy to get caught up working 7 days a week and making no time for them - when I saw how easy it was and how happy it made them (and me), I will definitely be doing more of this!!! I always did before, but these last couple of years, my job has been really demanding and I am still trying to make a go of it here at WA, and I was sacrificing time with family and friends. Well, I will plug away here, but family and friends are top on my list too. It really was a fun night, and we will be doing more of that too.