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
Three English words a day. 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, withGermanLatinGreekRussianSanskritOld IrishDutch
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 ChineseRussianEnglishSpanishGermanFrench
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
ChooseGreekLatinSpanish
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
ChooseLatinGreekRussianEnglishClassical Chinese
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
Andean khipus: learn to read the knots, check a chief’s accounts, mend a worn khipu and read a real one.
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, Daily
The Keeper’s Accounts
Check a chief’s tribute against his khipu, as Garcilaso de la Vega did as a boy in Cuzco: gold on yellow cords, silver on white, soldiers on red.
Easyabout 5 minEarly version
In English
Numbers, Daily
Mend the Khipu
The knots are worn away. Read what survives and use the top cords’ sums to tie back what was lost.
Hardabout 8 minEarly version
In English
Numbers, Lessons
The Huando Khipu
Read a real khipu from Peru, group by group, as Leland Locke did in 1912, worn knots and a count that will not add up included.
Mediumabout 10 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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