Game using Latin prefixes and verb stems.

Abstract

Toward the acquisition of many English words through appreciation of the historical formation of some English words from Latin prefixes and Latin verb stems, a game board or boards is printed in grid format with each square containing a unique Latin verb stem and Japanese meaning, played in concert with Latin prefix cards dealt to each player. A set of colored tiles is provided to each player by which they may claim a successfully player Latin verb stem square on the game board. The player with most tiles placed wins.

Claims

1. Any and all features of novelty described, suggested, referred to, exemplified, or shown herein, including game boards printed with Latin verb stems in a grid, cards printed with Latin prefixes, helper cards with lists of English words derived from a given Latin verb stem, for use in providing a learning game experience with such features: 1. A game board imprinted with a grid, each square of the grid being imprinted with a Latin verb stem and Japanese meaning, and, a set of tiles of the same color for each player, to claim a grid square once successfully played. 2. A prefix card imprinted with a Latin prefix and Japanese meaning, and, played in concert with a Latin stem to make an English word to claim a grid square with a colored tile. 3. Helper cards with lists of English words formed from the Latin verb stem and a range of prefixes, and, played in concert with a prefix card to claim a grid square.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] In the drawings, which illustrate embodiments of the invention:

[0007] FIG. 1 shows a game board with Latin verb stems printed in a grid.

[0008] FIG. 2 shows a game card printed with a Latin prefix.

[0009] FIG. 3 shows an English helper vocabulary card for a given Latin verb stem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] In some embodiments, aspects of the Invention described in this Application comprise a package with at least seven components: a game board or boards printed with Latin verb stems and their Japanese meaning, cards printed with Latin prefixes and their Japanese meaning, helper cards printed with a sample list of English vocabulary for each Latin verb stem, color tiles for each player, dice, player markers sometimes called men, and instructions for game play.

[0011] In FIG. 1, a game board is imprinted with a grid 4, each square 5 of the grid containing a Latin verb stem 1, its meaning in Japanese 2, and optionally other information 3 to enable to accommodate players less able in English.

[0012] In FIG. 2, a Latin prefix card 6 is printed with a Latin prefix 7 and its Japanese meaning 8, as well as optionally other information 9.

[0013] In FIG. 3, a helper card 10 is shown which gives a list of English vocabulary deriving from a Latin verb stem 11. These cards may be used for different play strategies for beginner learners. A Japanese meaning 12 is supplied for the stem.

[0014] Playing the game goes as follows: prefix cards and a player marker are distributed to each player. A dice is rolled to see who goes first, and then the player looks for a Latin verb stem that, given evolution of that stem in modern English, can be used with one of the prefix cards to make an English word. For example, in plus claudere yields the English word include. Successful word construction enables the player to place a color tile on that grid square including the Latin verb stem claudere. The player may take a prefix card from an opposing player's prefix cards, but that player is then allowed to take any prefix card from the active player's pile. A minimum number of prefix cards, say five, is maintained by taking a new prefix card from the undealt prefix card pile after each play. In this way, grid squares are populated by the various tiles differentiated by colors of the various players, the object being to accumulate the most tiles. Geometrical patterns, for example, a line of four claimed grids of the same color in a row, allows for an extra turn. Failure to think of a word using the prefixes at hand results in no tile being placed. The real object of the game is to gain familiarity with Latin verb stems and prefixes through repeated exposure in a game context.

[0015] For those players who have insufficient vocabulary to think of English words using their prefix cards, a dice may be thrown to move the player marker to a verb stem square and the helper card listing vocabulary may be consulted to see if there is an English word in that list using one of the prefix cards dealt. If not, no tile is laid.

[0016] The Invention is unique and novel owing to the collection of Latin verb stems and prefixes within the game toward English word study.