My Word Coach (Wii)

My son (12) is a poor reader, whereas my daughter (13) reads about a book every two days. For twenty quid, I thought this must be worth a try as there are precious few decent fun & educational PC games suitable for your kids after they pass the age of 8 [and even fewer for the game consoles]. This game "is created in association with Dr Tom Cobb, Prof of Applied Linguistics - with words and definitions from the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary [whatever that means]."

The word games are a bit like the brain training franchise. There's `missing letter' - the word has one letter missing and you simply freehand scribble the letter on the screen and you get a yes/no, and on to the next word - text recognition is good. In another you can 'match the word to the list of definitions'. Then there's 'word cereal' i.e. alphabet soup, where you drag out the letters and write a word on the edge of the plate. Plus there's `Block letters': a Tetris style stack up a word with dropping letters. And there's `Word Shuffle': match a word with definition using a different method to that previously [and some words don't have the correct definition shown]. And finally there's 'safecracker': spell the mystery word turning a dial to get them in the right order. As you progress through any game it gradually gets harder. There's also 'recreational games' that unlock as you progress through your word training. Plus you get a review of your progression [score up to 100] and booklet help on inputting letters freehand with the Wii remote.

All the games are also playable as multi-player (3 games are 2 player and the other 3 are 2 to 4 players). The games are actually fairly fun, and more importantly our kids do play them occasionally [particularly my daughter, and she certainly doesn't storm through it]. So for the first few weeks, this games been a success. We only have a handful of Wii games which helps. So I would recommend the `My Word Coach' for secondary school kids to adults [despite the 3+ rating the words are rather hard for under 10s, and even teenagers might struggle] - and naturally don't expect boys to choose it regularly over Mario Galaxy. Being younger, My dyslexic son naturally has the most trouble with the words, and he needs help all the time. The game looks good as well, and so far we haven't noticed words repeating - although often kids like to get the odd word they already know the answer to, as 'winning' is everything to them. See mywordcoach.com for further details.

My Word Coach is a fantastic game where you can develop your vocabulary.
When you first start you get a friendly male trainer who gives you a test to see which words you know and don't know.
After this test you will receive a rank.
For instance you might gain the rank of graduate from primary school or a lawyer for instance.
Do not worry if you are embarrassed by your rank, you can improve it by playing lots of varieties of different activities that you get.
I will now explain this.
After you get your rank you can choose a trainer including the 1 you first see.
After choosing your trainer you get a few activities that if you practise with every day you can earn new activities and new icons like a progress chart.

Here are the 2 word training games that you start with.

Missing Letter: Fill in the missing letter by writing it with your Wii Remote.
Writing= Press and hold down the A Button or B Button and move the Wii Remote.
Letter Validation= after a slight delay, the letter you wrote on the screen will be confirmed.
Clear= If the letter is incorrect, swing the Wii Remote left and right quickly as if it was a board cleaner and you will clear the screen.
No Error= When you reach a higher difficulty level, some words will be spelled correctly.
If you think this is the case press the + Control Pad in any direction to confirm your decision.

Split Decision: The object of the game is to match the word at the top of the screen to its correct definition.
Tilt your Wii Remote left or right to see the different answers.
Viewing the Choices= Tilt the Wii Remote left or right to see the possible answers.
Confirm= Press the A Button to confirm the displayed answer.
Neither= When you reach a higher difficulty level, both answers may be incorrect.
If you think this is the case, press the B Button to confirm your decision.

When you a play a game a lot you will receive a harder difficulty level which makes the words even more challenging.
This sometimes makes 1 or 2 new controls in an activity.

Controlling "My Word Coach" Using a Nintendo DS: One of the unique features of "My Word Coach Develop your vocabulary" is that it allows you to use your Nintendo DS to play the single-player game of "Missing Letter" in wireless mode - all you need is a copy of the game for the Wii!
Here's how to connect your DS:
Start a Training Game of Missing Letter.
Move the cursor over the DS icon.
Press the A Button to confirm your choice.
Now you will be asked to turn ON your DS and touch DS Download Play.
Select the item with your Wii's name and wait until the download is complete.
Once complete, touch the Bottom screen to start and you will be able to write with your DS!
Use the Nintendo DS stylus to write letters on the Bottom screen in the same way you would with a paper and pencil, and watch as they appear on your television screen!
Note: You do not need a DS game card to play Missing Letter with your DS.
I think writing with your DS is easier than writing with the Wii Remote, as I find it harder because it sometimes shows up wrong when your trying to write a letter.

I and my sister got this as a gift to improve our vocabulary to use bigger words and improve our English.
It worked.

Overall this is a fun way to improve your vocabulary and is fun for all of the family but don't be fooled the words can be tricky!

I would recommend buying this game for children over the age of 10.
Lots of reviewers have also mentioned this as the easiest levels are quite difficult for young children.

Thank you for reading my review.
10/10.

The games were good for word practice, however i brought it with my 6 year old in mind, and really unless you have a very clever 6 year old then this is for older kids and adults. Its very difficult to find a learning to read and spell game for beginners. And with the 3+ rating on the box it really was not.