History of the English Language
Daily word games about where English words came from and how their meanings changed.
Section page ›English, Daily
Word Passport
Four English words a day, from easy to very hard. Put each word’s earlier forms in order, oldest first, from real sentences in the languages it passed through.
Easyabout 5 minEarly version
In English, withLatinGreek
English, Daily
Then or Now?
Six real sentences, one word highlighted in each. Did the writer mean it the old way or today’s way?
Easyabout 4 minEarly version
In English
English, Daily
Family Reunion
Sixteen words in English, German, Latin, Greek and more. Sort them into four families of relatives.
Mediumabout 6 minEarly version
In English, withLatinGermanGreekGothicSanskritRussianLithuanianOld NorseOld IrishDutchWelsh
Living Scripts
Learn to read Hindi, Arabic, Malayalam and Russian from scratch, a few letters at a time.
Section page ›Scripts, Lessons
Letter Ladder
Learn a script a few letters at a time, then read real words made only of letters you know.
Beginnerabout 5 minEarly version
ChooseHindiArabicMalayalamRussian
Scripts, Practice
Look-alikes
Tell apart the letters easiest to mix up: Arabic letters that differ only by their dots, Hindi pairs like ब and व.
Beginnerabout 3 minEarly version
ChooseHindiArabicMalayalamRussian
Scripts, Practice
Name Plate
Read famous names and places in the script, then see your own name written in it, letter by letter.
Beginnerabout 3 minEarly version
ChooseHindiArabicRussian
Scripts, Practice
Vowel Builder
Put a vowel sign on a consonant and watch the syllable change: Hindi and Malayalam signs, Arabic short-vowel marks.
Easyabout 4 minEarly version
ChooseHindiArabicMalayalam
Scripts, Daily
Loanword Hunt
Find the six English words hiding among twelve words in the script.
Easyabout 4 minEarly version
ChooseHindiArabicMalayalamRussian
Scripts, Daily
Read the Sign
Three real signs a day. Tap a letter to see its sound, then say what the sign means.
Mediumabout 4 minEarly version
ChooseHindiArabicRussian
Scripts, Daily
Menu Order
A café menu written only in the script. Three customers order in English; find their dishes.
Mediumabout 4 minEarly version
ChooseHindiArabicRussian
Scripts, Practice
Map Reader
The towns on the map are labeled only in the script. Read them to find each one.
Mediumabout 3 minEarly version
ChooseHindiArabicRussian
Scripts, Timed
Speed Read
As many words as you can read in sixty seconds, with each word’s meaning beside it.
Hardabout 1 minEarly version
ChooseHindiArabicMalayalamRussian
Word for Word
Read the original beside its English: Latin, Greek, Russian, Classical Chinese and more.
Section page ›Translation, Practice
False Friends
Latin and Greek words that look like English ones, in real sentences. Does each mean what it looks like?
Beginnerabout 4 minEarly version
ChooseLatinGreek
Translation, Practice
What Does It Mean?
A Latin or Greek word in the phrase it comes from, and four meanings. Easy mode shows the English with the word left out.
Easyabout 4 minChecked
ChooseLatinGreek
Translation, Practice
Match the Phrase
Five phrases of the original and their English, shuffled. Pair each original with the English that renders it.
Easyabout 3 minChecked
ChooseLatinGreekClassical ChineseEnglishRussianSpanishGermanFrench
Translation, Practice
Close or Free?
One passage and three English versions: word for word, a century old, and plain English today. Which is which?
Easyabout 4 minEarly version
ChooseClassical ChineseGreekLatinSpanish
Translation, Daily
Daily Line
Three real sentences a day, in the language you choose. Build each one’s English phrase by phrase, then see how a translator of the 1800s put it.
Mediumabout 6 minEarly version
ChooseLatinGreekEnglishClassical ChineseRussian
Translation, Practice
Find the Word
A phrase of Latin or Greek and one English meaning. Tap the word that carries it.
Mediumabout 4 minEarly version
ChooseLatinGreek
Translation, Practice
Reading Order
Classical Chinese as Japanese officials read it. Tap the characters in the order a Japanese reader says them. Not yet play-tested or checked.
Hardabout 4 minExperimental
ChooseClassical Chinese
Ancient Numbers
How people wrote and counted numbers before ours: khipus, Roman and Maya numerals, the abacus and old money.
Section page ›Numbers, Daily
Knot Count
Read and tie numbers in knots on khipu cords, the way Andean record keepers did.
Beginnerabout 4 minEarly version
In English
Numbers, Practice
Numbers in Stone
Read and write numbers the way they were carved and pressed: Roman letters on stone, Babylonian wedges in clay, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Greek letters and Maya bars and dots.
Beginnerabout 5 minEarly version
In English
Numbers, Practice
Same Number, Many Scripts
Read the digits people write today, from Arabic and Devanagari to Thai, and build numbers from Chinese characters.
Beginnerabout 4 minEarly version
In English
Numbers, Practice
Bead by Bead
Push the beads of a soroban, the Japanese abacus, to set, read and add numbers. Five ones trade for a five, and ten carries to the next rod.
Easyabout 4 minEarly version
In English
Numbers, Lessons
Read the Chart
Read the first great data charts, Playfair's trade lines, Nightingale's wedges and Snow's cholera map, by touching the chart itself.
Mediumabout 8 minEarly version
In English
Beginner
No knowledge needed
Easy
Once you know a little
Medium
Reading real texts
Hard
For confident readers
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