Learn French on your Mobile Phone

From this page, you can download some simple games for your mobile phone to help you learn French. The programs are aimed particularly at those studying for a GCSE exam or equivalent. They are designed to reinforce learning of basic French vocabulary.

To run the games presented on this page, you need a Java-enabled mobile phone. (Specifically, you need a phone that supports the MIDP Profile version 1.0 or greater. In practice, the vast majority of Java-enabled mobile phones support this.)

Le Pendu (Hangman) Version 1.10 Now Available (25/05/05)

A version of the classic game played on pencil and paper. Your phone presents you with a series of French words. You must find the word by guessing letters making up the word. For each incorrect guess (i.e. a letter guessed which does not figure in the word), another stage of the gallows is drawn. The turn is lost if too many incorrect guesses are made and the complete gallows and hangman figure is drawn.

The words chosen are all ones likely to figure on a GCSE syllabus. The difficulty level of words chosen can be set before the game. The difficulty level is intended to represent the approximate stage of a course at which the words will be learnt. For example, simple adjectives and nouns make up the lower levels; at a medium level, basic verbs are introduced; at the higher levels, slightly less common nouns are included, along with adverbs and abstract adjectives.

To Play

A number of dashes are displayed at the bottom of the screen, representing the number of letters in the word being guessed. Type the letter that you wish to guess using your phone's numeric keypad. The letter is typed as you would type it when entering an SMS message, by repeatedly pressing a key where necessary to get to the required letter. Pressing the 'SELECT' key (the key you usually use to confirm a menu selection) will submit your guess. If the guess is correct, i.e. the letter occurs in the word, each occurrence of the word will be displayed in its correct place. Otherwise, the next stage of the gallows will be drawn. If you guess all the letters in the word, then a message will be displayed, along with the meaning of the word. If you do not manage to guess the word before all stages of the gallows have been drawn, then the whole word will be displayed, along with its meaning.

Download (Version 1.10)

Click here if downloading from your computer
Click here if downloading from your phone

Mots cachés (Wordsearch)

In this game, the computer will hide a number of words in a grid of letters. Your task is to find the hidden words. During the game, you can view the list of the French words to be found, or a list of their English meanings. The size of the grid and the number of hidden is configurable at the start of the game.

To Play

Move the cursor (a highlighted letter) using the arrow keys until the first letter of a word is highlighted. Then press SELECT. Moving the arrow keys will now allow you to 'drag' a line over the word. Pressing SELECT again will then leave a line permanently through the word (if the word is correct and on the list of words to find). A message will be displayed when you have found all the words.

Download (Version 1.0)

Click here if downloading from your computer
Click here if downloading from your phone