Word Games and Board Games

Welcome once again to my Favourite Board Games!

Are board games a trivial pursuit (pardon the pun! hahaha), a waste of time, or simply just boring and useless? Or can board games be something useful and "uniting" in a family or amongst friends?

Obviously, my response to this question is biased. I love board games, and I think that they can be useful educational aides for both adults and children.

This week, I want to talk a little bit about one type of board games that are a clear example of how fun can be efficiently combined with learning. I'm going to be focusing on Word Games for a little while.

What are Word Games?

Obviously... "Word Games" are games where players use words to play. Examples of word games are:

• Scrabble


• Boggle


• Up Words


• Crosswords

They are just a few examples of Word Games.

The funny thing in my case is that I came across Word Games only after I immigrated to Australia. English is not my first language, and trying to play Scrabble or Boggle in English when your vocabulary is limited is a very tough thing... especially if you don't like losing!

I tried to play Scrabble in my early years in Australia. It was difficult, as most of the words I used were easy, basic words. It was even frustrating.

My first language is Spanish, and there are Scrabble games in the Spanish language. However, being in Australia, I concluded that playing in Spanish would do me no good, as I needed to gradually increase the number of words and expressions in what would become my most used language from then on.

For a while I let Scrabble aside, and continued my journey in my beloved Australia...

A few years later, though, I became interested in board games in general, and had the opportunity to play Scrabble once again.

It was a good feeling to know that I knew so many words I did not know before!

Then, I had the opportunity to play Boggle with my kids. I was lucky to get it at a bargain price from a swap meet market. The kids and I spent hours and hours playing it for several days (with the obvious sleeping and eating and working times in between, of course!).

We've had a blast of a time playing it. You know? We went through the usual and hilarious scenarios where somebody claims to know a word that does not really exist, or an imported word from a foreign language, or a misspelled word.

My next entry will be about the origins of Scrabble: something of a factual journey of discovery about this "brainy" and entertaining game.

I hope you enjoy this series of entries.

Regards,


Jeff