Beginner English Games
First words and pictures. Nothing here needs reading, so a child can play before they can read. CEFR Pre-A1.
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What is in here
There are 27 games here across 8 topics, about 1.5 hours of play in all, covering eight topics for a learner meeting English for the first time: animals and pets, colours and shapes, numbers to ten, family, the body, food and drink, toys, and the alphabet with first sounds.
The level is CEFR Pre-A1. Everything is free, needs no account, and works on a phone.
What it practises
- No reading is required. Every word appears as a picture first. A learner who cannot yet read the Roman alphabet can play every game here.
- The first two hundred words, which carry more everyday English than any grammar rule at this stage.
- Letters and their sounds, in the alphabet and phonics topic - the bridge to reading anything at all.
Getting the most from it
Short and often. Twenty minutes once a week teaches a beginner less than five minutes on five days, and this level is built for the five-minute version.
What comes after this level
When the alphabet and phonics topic is comfortable and most words are recognised without the picture, move to early learner, where the same kind of words appear inside short sentences.
There is no hurry. A learner who repeats this level until it is genuinely easy makes faster progress afterwards than one who moves up while still guessing.