Tämä On: How I Enjoy Learning New Words

Dear beginners learning Finnish, Japanese, Urdu or any language, 

I'm excited to introduce you Tämä On - a fun language game to alter tedious vocabulary lists!

I came up with this game when learning Finnish. So it's reasonable to give it a Finnish name, which simply means, This Is.

What to Prepare

Yourself and a bilingual dictionary. Google Translate works just fine.

How to Play

1. Ask

Wherever you are, even in the bathroom, look around, pick 1 thing and ask out loud, acting like a native, 

Mitä tämä on? (What's this?) 

or 

Mitä tuo on? (What's that?) 

if you're learning Finnish. For other languages, please adjust accordingly.

2a. Answer

If you know the answer, quickly yell it with correct pronunciation, Tämä on _ _ ! (This is _ _ !)

Then give yourself a round of applause, or quietly feel the satisfaction of knowing the answer.

2b. Look for the Answer

If you don't know, say out loud, En tiedä. (I don't know)

If you don't remember, say out loud, En muista. (I don't remember) 

Then, look it up in the dictionary. Try saying the word out loud.

3. Repeat

Keep doing it until you've learned a few new words. Start it again whenever you see some other frequently used stuff or the same things but you forgot their name.

Reviews

Tämä On incorporates the physical world surrounding you. Knowing how to call objects right in your space feels more practicle and rewarding. Repeating sentences and words that feel useful won't bore the hell out of you. Moreover, it trains your pronunciation and intonation.

However, there is a limitation. Only concrete nouns can likely be learned in this game. To learn adjectives, verbs, and more complex elements, I'll need to develope other games. In the meantime, try Tämä On!

Keep up the joy in learning!