Apples 4 The Teacher.com
'Traditionally, the British are not terribly good at speaking foreign languages – the joke is that we just speak slowly and loudly in English and point a lot.'

Suzanne Elvidge offers a selection of games to help learn other languages

Small but important print: All games are free downloads or free to view online, and need the minimum of equipment. Some games require your browser to have a 'plug in' for Shockwave, Flash or Java. To play a game, simply click on its name. If you are a parent, we advise you to try the game and the site it's on first before letting your kids play them, to make sure you're happy. Don't forget, you can also find great games for kids at Christian Aid's Global Gang website. When downloading games from the Internet, don't forget to keep your anti-virus and anti-spyware software up to date.

At this time of year, many people start packing their bags to head off on holiday.

Traditionally, the British are not terribly good at speaking foreign languages – the joke is that we just speak slowly and loudly in English and point a lot. Why not play ten language games and see if you can break the stereotype this year – whether it’s in Farsi, Greek or Tagalog

Counting backwards in Polish
I think you will agree that this is a vital skill – connect the dots from 20 to zero and see what happens. The site has learning games for Gaelic, Polish and Spanish.

Learning French verbs
Learn the list of verbs and then match the words to the pictures. The site has learning games for languages from Afrikaans to Vietnamese.

The International café
Choose between items on the menu at foreign restaurants, and watch out for the sautéed aardvark! Try Plug-n-Play, Unscramble and Wordseek.

Hangman in Spanish
Play hangman in Spanish to learn some new vocabulary. When you’ve exhausted Spanish (and played the word search game), try hangman in languages from Afrikaans to Zulu.

Portuguese – English translation game
In this multiple-choice game, select the word in Portuguese that matches the world in English and hit enter to win imaginary money. If you get a wrong answer it’s game over, but there is a ‘half and half’ option which cuts the choice down to two – but you can only use this three times. Try some other Portuguese language games.

Food and drink in Estonian
Vital should you ever find yourself hungry in Estonia. Click on the item that matches the word. There are other Estonian vocabulary games too.

Counting in Russian
Match the English and Russian numbers to create pairs – it’s as easy as that (provided you know how to count in Russian). Try the flashcards and word search too.

AlefBetGo
Do you know your Hebrew alphabet? Sort the 22 basic letters into the right order by dragging them to one of four levels. To save a letter for later, drag it away from one of the other levels.

Hindi guessing game
Click on the word that is the closest translation of the Hindi word. There are games and lessons for languages from Amharic to Ukrainian.

German Oktoberfest crossword
Improve your vocabulary and your knowledge of Oktoberfest, all in one crossword. Click on the columns and rows to enter the words.

And as a free extra, just because the sun is shining as I write this – some outdoor language games.

Suzanne Elvidge is a freelance writer and Surefish Ethical Living Editor

Links

• Other games

• surefish.co.uk culture section index