Brain Food

Want to improve your vocabulary and help end world hunger at the same time? This is the brilliant idea behind FreeRice.com. The non-profit website's addictive vocabulary game provides players with a word and choice of definitions. Choose the correct definition, and 20 grains of rice is donated to the UN World Food Programme. The rice donations are funded through advertisements, and so far enough rice has been earned to feed over 325,000 people.

Like some great ideas, Free Rice had an unlikely origin. Computer programmer John Breen was trying unsuccessfully to prepare his son for the SAT, and so he devised a computer game to improve his son's vocabulary. Breen runs the advocacy site poverty.com, so he tied the two objectives together and came up with Free Rice.

The best feature of the game is that it adjusts to your vocabulary level, giving you harder words after correct answers or by dropping a difficulty level after incorrect ones. There are 50 levels of difficulty, which accordingly makes the game challenging for students of all ages and those learning English as well as the most knowledgeable wordsmiths.

I find that Free Rice is great to play during down time at work with a guilt-free conscience. And some teachers are using it in class with their students. I've made it up to Level 47 so far. Anyone up for some friendly competition? Bring it!

NPR Feature Story on FreeRice.com