Vocabulary and Free Rice

By Caitrin McCullough

A friend of mine recently pointed me at Free Rice, a vocabulary testing game with the added benefit of each word you get right, the site donates "10 grains of rice through the United Nations to help end world hunger." The charity aspect is pretty cool, but what really hooks me is the game itself. There's no competition -- you can keep playing as long as you like, no matter how many words you get wrong. The only incentive is the little tally of rice on the side of the screen... and the "I Rule" feeling every time you get a word right. That second part is what's keeping me on this site instead of doing my work.

Why is this site so good at providing that "I Rule!" feeling for me?

It doesn't try to trick you. A lot of vocabulary quizzes deliberately try to fool you with definitions that seem plausible based on the sound or structure of the word. This site just gives you straightforward choices that make you feel like you're actually being tested on your knowledge, not whether you know how to game the system.

It draws from many different knowledge areas. In addition to the kinds of words you'd see on the SATs, it also uses terms from foreign languages, archaic words, medical terminology (I knew my extensive knowledge of House M.D. would come in handy someday), and scientific lingo. As a result, it makes me realize not just how deep, but how broad my vocabulary is.

It has changing levels of difficulty. The site adjusts itself to your own level. If you get a number of words right in a row, it raises the challenge level, and if you start to get some wrong, it lowers it. I never got bored with it being too easy, but I never felt overwhelmed that I had reached the impossible stage and was just guessing blindly.

Some of the words evoke memories of experiences. For example, "ghee" reminded me of a fancy Indian dinner a friend of mine cooked for me once, where I enjoyed many different foods for the first time. Being quizzed on the word made me realize that not only was the experience enjoyable, but I learned something from it.

It has instant gratification and low risk. There's no delay between choosing your answer and seeing if you're right. Plus, it immediately shows you the next question, so even if you got it wrong, you can quickly redeem yourself. It encourages you to guess rather than give up, and you often surprise yourself with the realization of how much you actually know.

I've donated 2000 grains of rice... time to get back to work. But first, are there any other little online games you've found that have a lot of "I Rule!" qualities to them?