"The English language was carefully, carefully cobbled together by three blind dudes and a German dictionary." Dave Kellett

Today my wife asked me if there are any good vocabulary practice sites that her students could use that aren’t too goofy. I had mentioned Free Rice and Tree Wala before but she wanted a bunch of different sites to match a bunch of different attitudes and learning styles. Below is a list of what I found. Some are good for kids but many are for all ages. Give them a try.

Verbalearn
A really easy to use and great site. It is good for all types of learners from ABE/GED to 7th grade and it is even appropriate for English as a second language students. It keeps track of your mistakes and gives you a study list at the end. Because of the ease of use of the site you can jump into it very quickly

WordGirl Synonym Toast
This one is definitely for the younger user even though I enjoyed playing it. A bunch of toast drops with words on them. You have to click the synonym of the word on the toaster. It’s cute and has good sound effects to spur you on.

Science Vocab Hangman
The site is useful but a bit boring. The reason I mention it is because of the sheer amount of science categories. All you do is choose the segment and scroll down. You have to scroll all the way down and choose ready. From there it is basic hangman. Choose the right letter or watch your person disappear.

Vocab Sushi
This one is so huge it is not even worth me talking about. Head to the site and watch their video. They have everything one would want in a language arts site.

Grammar Ninja
For a very young audience. It is goes through parts of speech. I include this one because you get to whip throwing stars at the correct parts of speech. Pluse everyone loves ninjas. Right???

“Amnesia used to be my favorite word, but then I forgot it.”

We’ve all been there. You’re in the middle of a conversation and you are trying to describe something and you realize the word you were just about to say with such eloquence has just evaporated. No matter what you cannot think of it but you know it is just on the tip of your tongue. This website chir.ag has a project called Tip of your Tongue that is there to help. Let’s say you know the beginning of the word. All you do is type in the letters you know and on the right side of the screen it displays the possibilities. You can further filter out words by using the other options. As an example I typed in “AG” in the begins with section however I knew it also had a letter “T” somewhere in it so I added it to the filter. The word is less than 8 letters so I put that in. Finally I saw my word “Aglet”. Yes it is a real word. Look it up. I like the addition of the definitions. I find it really helps to clear up misunderstandings. I would except that this site would be perfect for the cheating…err…um…person having trouble with a crossword puzzle. The tip of the tongue thing can be so frustrating. I will be happy when they create a mobile version for the iPhone but until then I will keep using their site. Give it a try.

Note: Anonymous quotes are a pain to match an image to so you get something random. This image is from Worth1000.com

“A short saying often contains much wisdom.” Sophocles

Everyday more and more people are using shorter and shorter forms of communication like text messaging or the service Twitter to get their messages out. The problem with this form is that you have limited space. You get a certain number of characters or letters you can use. Usually you would use a thesaurus to find synonyms to fit your writing but instead you can use the service Thsrs to find a word that best fits the limited spacing of the message. As an example I typed in the word confused in the search box and hit enter. It then displayed synonyms but only words shorter than the searched for word. I got back words like baffled, bemused, lost, mazed, at sea and many others. If you find you are not at a loss for words but at a loss for smaller words then give this one a try.

“That woman speaks eight languages and can't say no in any of them.” Dorothy Parker

I am always trying to pick up bits of pieces of foreign languages but usually with nothing to back them up I forget most of it. However there is another option and that is Mango language. Think of it as your own personal language institute that is also free of charge. The tools that this site has are quite extensive when you think that there is no charge. The have tools like memory building exercises to cement the vocabulary and the color coding is a small feature but it makes a big difference. Also this is the first language site I have seen that does not tell me how to say the black cat is in the tree before they tell me anything I can actually use in real conversation. I rarely see cats in trees. They also have what they call rollover pronunciation. So if you come to a word and you cannot remember how it is said point to it and it will give you a phonetic translation. This is pretty neat stuff. I should mention that they do sell MP3s if you want to be more portable. If you are heading abroad or you just want to brush up on a language give this one a try.

“As long as I have rice to eat, and pure water to drink, I can find joy within.” Confucius

Ok you have some free time and you want to be charitable. Well free rice is blending a love of words and rice. Yes rice! For every correct answer the advertisers of this site pay for ten grains of rice. Now I know this is not much alone but played by many it would add up. However if you hate vocabulary and the elegance of the English language avoid this site. They set you up with a quick definition and 4 word choices. Get it right and rice is donated. Get it wrong and you just have to try again. So if you enjoy words, quizzes and rice give this one a try.

“It is no use to keep private information which you can't show off” Mark Twain

To continue from yesterday is a list of a few more good podcasts.

• Mugglecast is the podcast if you want to hear about all things Harry Potter from books to movies.
  
• President's Weekly Radio Address
  
• Mac OS KEN for all your Mac news. I listen everyday to this one.
  
• Craft Magazine is a great podcast for those that like hobbies
• ChinesePod for those wanting to learn to speak Mandarin. There are tons of podcasts devoted to languages.
• Wired Magazine has some nice chosen bits from it's magazine.

I have only listed a few of the thousands that are out there. Listen to a bunch and subscribe to your favorites. I like this better that then radio, no static. Give it a try.

Knowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. Samuel Johnson

Ok you are set to listen to podcasts and you are rearing to go but which ones? Well I wanted to give you a few popular ones and a couple I really like for today and tomorrow's post.

• Grammar Girl quick and dirty tips for writing. This is very popular and well done. Listen to this one if you have an interest in the English language.
  
• CNET Podcast Central is a list of podcasts. I listen to many of these everyday. Click on the more button at the bottom. There is quite a list.
  
• NPR Podcast Directory. I listen to NPR constantly but many times I miss a favorite segment so I listen to thier podcasts. One of the funniest out there is Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me.
  
• TWIT: This week in Tech. Many people love this one and find it very informative. There are many to pick from.
  
• Scientific American. There are two which I listen to all the time. They are both from Scientific American Magazine.
  

Most of these can be sampled online without any extra software. Give them a try.