Tag Archives: polyglot

Polyglot Board Game - the fun way to learn languages

Polyglot Board Game is the Fun Way to Learn Languages

Language enthusiasts, if you have ever wondered if a multilingual language learning board game exists, the answer is yes! Polyglot board game was created by Polyglot Inc. of Miami, Florida, in 1987. I don’t know if the company is still active or if they have created other language learning resources, but let’s take a look at this amazing game.

 

Polyglot Board Game

Polyglot Board Game

My game is obviously a bit faded… but at only $14.95, it was a great deal!

From the back of the box: A mind expanding educational game designed to enrich the understanding and knowledge of foreign languages. Play this fast paced exciting game of words and phrases in one or up to six languages. You’ll not only race for the win, but learn new words, phrases and better pronunciation for languages you want to improve or master. Elevate your command of ENGLISH, SPANISH, GERMAN, FRENCH, ITALIAN, and YIDDISH.

 

How to play Polyglot

Instructions are included in all of the languages, except Yiddish (though it could just be missing from my game). Read the instructions in English below. Click on the images to make them larger.

Polyglot Board Game Instructions Polyglot Board Game Instructions 2

 

Polyglot Vocabulary Cards

The two decks of cards include 1,800 words in each of the six languages plus 150 commonly used phrases. Phonetic pronunciation is included for each word and phrase. Even if you don’t have any polyglot friends nearby to play the game with, you can just use the cards to study vocabulary.

White cards are for individual words:

I’m not sure why the Romance languages are split up among German and Yiddish, as I think it’s easier to learn them side-by-side. [Take a look at my Romance languages comparative vocabulary lists if you want to learn several languages together and be able to choose which languages are next to each other.]

Yellow cards are for phrases:

 

The Polyglot Board

And the Tower of Babel board:

Polyglot Board Game board that resembles the Tower of Babel

I bought my Polyglot board game at the International Book Centre in Shelby Township in Michigan back in 2005.

If you’d like your own copy, you are in luck because there are some third-party sellers offering it at Amazon!

Has anyone else ever heard of this game or played it? Know of any other polyglot or multilingual board games?

Scandinavian Languages Compared - Learn Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish Together

Scandinavian Languages Compared – Learn Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish Together

Learn three Scandinavian languages together

If you are studying a Scandinavian language, it is quite easy to learn other Scandinavian languages at the same time due to how closely related they are. Comparing the vocabulary among languages makes it easier to see the similarities and differences.

I have recently updated the multilingual vocabulary lists to create Scandinavian lists that include Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish. I am still adding more Norwegian vocabulary so not all categories include that language yet. If you are studying other Indo-European languages, the Romance lists include French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese while the Germanic lists include German, Dutch, and (some) Afrikaans.

Three Scandinavian languages compared in vocabulary lists

Just like with the Romance and Germanic vocabulary lists, you can change the order of the columns as well as hide columns for the Scandinavian lists. View the video below to see this in action:

 

Go to Scandinavian Vocabulary Lists now to start learning three languages at once.

I am also creating videos that compare Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish so don’t forget check out the Youtube channel too.

If you can help add more Norwegian or the vocabulary for other Scandinavian languages, please let me know!