Learning Chocolate-- A Wonderful Vocabulary Learning Platform

What is Learning Chocolate? 

http://www.learningchocolate.com/

Learning Chocolate is a wonderful vocabulary learning platform, by connecting nouns of objects with cartoon pictures. In this way, the website not only makes words much easier to remember with concrete pictures, but also stimulate learners interests to memorize by funny and vivid cartoon. One can also know pronunciation of each word. Furthermore, several interesting related games are designed to each group of words, which enhance learners memory of words efficiently. It also has Chinese, Japanese and Spainish versions.
For instance, when you enter in the homepage of Learning Chocolate website, you can choose a group of words within the same topic from about 180 categories. Each word corresponds with a certain picture and sound button. After you remember all the words, you can choose little word games to evaluate achievement.

Relevance to Language Learning

Learning Chocolate can be used to enhance English learners' vocabulary, especially  those of objects close to daily life. Words associated with colorful cartoons and sound, which are totally different from boring word lists of textbooks, can stimulate students' motivation. Moreover, it corrects learners' listening and speaking of those single words with slow and standard pronunciation. It also practices learner autonomy in the process of vocabulary learning.

According to the colorful pictures and vocabulary level, it is better for young English learners (especially L1 learners) to use.

Possible Usages in Class/ outside Class

1. In Chinese schools, there are usually not enough computers accessible to each English learner. I would like to suggest to use this website as homework for students to memorize new vocabulary after class. However, teachers should show the features and guide students to be familiar with this website before they can do it themselves and give certain topic of word groups each time.Teachers can make a little test next class to evaluate if students have done their homework seriously and sufficiently.

2. If teachers want to arrange activities by this website in class, I suggest teacher chooses a topic in advance and shows each word in order. After students know the meaning and usage of every word, the teacher can  let students form several learning groups either to play the following games together and help each other to answer questions, or make a competition for winner filling in/ matching all the words correctly within the least time.

Limitations

1. The pictures are mostly simple colorful cartoon, it is better for young learners to use than adults. And the word level are mostly for beginners rather than advanced or intermediate students.

2. According to the vocabulary chosen, they are all words for objects of almost every category in daily life. It is better for L1 learners rather than L2 learners, because if L2 learners don't need to live in English speaking countries, they probably don't need to know the name of every objects, although there is never too much for learners.

3. The colors and games can stimulate students motivation to learn vocabulary in a different way, however, they may get bored for just looking the pictures and listening to the robotic voice. I suggest that some videos introducing the topic or moving cartoon or stories made up of words from certain topic may arouse more interest from students and help them to memorize as well.

4. The word groups are only categorized as topics, expect the first group "basic". I think it would be better to categorize topics or words with difficulty levels. In this way, it can help those learners who want challenge more sophisticated tasks.