Parents' Guide to Vocabulary.com

VOCABULARY.COM encourages teens to build their vocabulary skills by introducing them to high-level words in a variety of contexts. The adaptive format helps gauge teens' vocab skills and presents words designed to challenge them. They also have the opportunity to study words from subject-specific or literature-specific word lists. However, rather than simply having users study word lists, the app engages players in a game wherein they must guess the meanings of unfamiliar words, insert words into sentences, and identify words to fit given definitions. As they answer questions correctly, the questions increase in difficulty, with the game throwing in a few words for review every so often. When teens have trouble coming up with an answer, they have the opportunity to eliminate half the answers, see a definition, or see the word used in context. All passages contained in hints and contained within the game's questions come from high-quality publications, including Scientific American and The New York Times. The more teens answer questions correctly, the more points they score. They also get the opportunity to track their progress after each round and see how they stack up against the day's top scorers, encouraging them to keep playing and score even higher.