Game: “Taboo”

Written By Brandon Douglas

– B1+ - C2 (intermediate to advanced) –

GAME DETAILS

GENRES:

  • Party Game

  • Word Game

AGE RATING: 13+

PLAYERS: 4-10

AVERAGE TIME: 20+ mins.

GAMEPLAY:

  • team-based

  • communication limits

  • guessing

REPLAYABILITY: Medium to High

EXPANSIONS: Available (3+)

NOTES: Required batteries not included

BUY HERE

Photo courtesy of boardgamegeek.com.

Practice Your Listening Comprehension

Practice Your Reading Comprehension

Playing games is an excellent strategy in making language learning both fun and immersive. Party games, in particular, are great tools for learning to speak and understand English in group contexts, as well as for helping break the ice in order to make new friends and establish relationships in your new language. Taboo is one of these games.

HOW TO PLAY

In Taboo, players are divided into teams, where one person must stand in front of their teammates describing a word that they must get their team to guess. This person is not allowed to say this word, nor are they allowed to say a list of five words related to it. This makes it quite a challenge for both native speakers and learners of English.

NOTE: In Canada, this game is also available in a bilingual version, so if you are learning French, Canada’s other official language, then this game is fantastic for that, too.

WHAT TO LEARN

Specific things that you can learn and practice while playing Taboo include:

  • general listening comprehension

  • listening comprehension in distracting and noisy environments

  • listening comprehension in group contexts

  • speaking

  • spontaneity while speaking

  • speaking while under pressure (e.g. due to time constraints, expectations, competition, etc.)

  • pronunciation

  • bilingual recall

  • thinking in English instead of translating from your native language

  • vocabulary building

  • synonyms

  • descriptive language

  • adjectives

  • articulation (i.e. using precise language to clearly and accurately describe something)

  • comparison

  • and much more!

Do you like playing party games? What is your favourite party game? Practice your English by telling me about it in the comments below.

Brandon Douglas
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