Show HN: I made a word puzzles app for improving your English vocabulary

https://www.dictionarygames.io

7•tomek_zemla•3d ago

English is my second language. From my experience, I learnt that developing your vocabulary is a long and arduous process. Traditionally, learners used flashcards (or their digital incarnations). I wanted to build something more engaging and more effective in building your vocabulary.

DictionaryGames is aimed mostly at ESL (English as a Second Language) students, but I am hoping it might be fun for any English language lovers.

The project is in BETA, it is free, and no registration is required.

I am looking for feedback to improve it. If you comment, please indicate if you are a native English speaker. I am in particular interested in the feedback from ESL learners.

Comments

we_needit•3d ago

Why do you make people pay yet you claim to be helpful...you know helping is not always about getting a reward in return right?

tomek_zemla•3d ago

It’s free.

AlexErrant•4h ago

> Guess the missing word to complete the following sentence:

> Everyone respects him, he's the _ _ _ _ _ in this business.

Apparently the answer is "daddy"... this is not a good question or answer. Good luck with the launch, but you might want a native speaker to audit your question bank.

tomek_zemla•4h ago

This is why it's still in BETA...

replwoacause•3h ago

Hmm, weird questions

"Question: Find the word matching the following definition: Extremely or very much."

My Attempt: "sufficient"

Actual answer: "jolly"

huh??

tomek_zemla•3h ago

The data comes from various open source, academic, etc databases. If you look up Oxford dictionary you will find for example: adverb INFORMAL•BRITISH very; extremely. "he is jolly busy"

replwoacause•3h ago

Oh ok maybe that’s why it didn’t make sense to me, it’s a British colloquialism I’m not familiar with as an American.

tomek_zemla•3h ago

Designing an ESL learning app for the global village is a challenge.

jamesdhutton•2h ago

Speaking as a native English speaker from London: I can assure you that most Brits would get this question wrong. It is true that Brits use "jolly" to mean "very" but it is, as you've noted, informal. Brits do not use it this way in formal speech. You would have to make it clear in the question that you were talking about informal English. E.G. "Name a word that means 'happy' and can also informally mean 'very'".

jamesdhutton•3h ago

I think your game has potential but, at present, the questions are too hard and the answers are sometimes simply wrong. Example:

Q: Find the noun matching the following definition: "A burden or responsibility."

A: Saddle

This is not correct. Saddle as a verb can mean "to burden", but as a noun it does not mean a burden.

tomek_zemla•2h ago

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