Testimonials:

I have personally scoured the internet and I have found nothing to compare with WordsPlease. Its unique combination of printed magazine and website activities, background information found in the Common Resource Area and the protected Forum make WordsPlease the MUST HAVE facility for intelligent children aged 10 to 14 years.

If you want to know how useful WordsPlease will be to you and your children, what better way than to ask those already using it?:

R. Miele, Rome

My daughter desires to be a doctor and so it is very important that she is good with English language. She has used WordsPlease and it has helped her do well at school examinations. We shall join again for my son who is a little too young at present.

G Haagensen, Trondheimn, Norway

WordsPlease has been very good for my son of 14 who wants to master English. We agree that everyone who wants to make good progress in their job should be fluent in English and WordsPlease is not only very educational, but good fun too. And excellent value. We have all enjoyed the magazines and the items on the website.

Clare Rogers, Leader of Learning, Beauchamp Middle School , Bedford :

"WordsPlease is an inspirational website/magazine combo produced to challenge and enthuse more able pupils in their use of English. I spotted the resource some time ago and knew it was the right thing to help me share my love of and joy in the English language with my most able pupils.

The students use the magazines and website together in a number of ways - they are challenged by the crosswords and cryptic codes, learn about etymology and the background to some of our literature heritage and are inspired to create, share and critique their own work."

Rebecca Hall, Hill Farm Primary School , Coventry :

"Although I monitor the children and ask them how they are finding the activities, the children know this is about them leading their learning. They particularly enjoy the forum and sharing their work with other children.

We found the Common Resources area useful, especially the 'Now Read On' section, whereby children can listen to parts of novels and decide whether to buy them and continue or not. I extended this by explaining that if they like a book and write a review about it, I will purchase a copy for the school library."

Mrs T, Kilmarnock :

"You have a unique product and a very professional and courteous manner throughout your website. This is sadly lacking in a lot of products and companies and I look forward to my son gaining further insight into the English language using your service.

The magazine has been an inspiration and a great source of information for my son, who now has a keen interest in learning more about Shakespeare. Please keep up the great work involved in the service and I hope your other members have as much enthusiasm and enjoyment for it as we have had."

Mr T, Peterborough :

"Thanks WordsPlease. I'm really pleased with the way my daughter (11) uses WP. I'm usually a bit nervous about what she is looking at on the internet, but I know I can trust your site. She is really enthusiastic about it and it has become quite a topic of conversation in our house....It has worked out even better than I first imagined it would.

The magazines are also really good. We often use them in the car while we are waiting for my son to come from football. We often go back over the old magazines and keep seeing new things in them. Even my son joins in. I wish I had had this when I was her age!"

Mrs S, West Sussex :

"The family have participated in some of the excellent activities like discovering different proverbs and making up similes and metaphors. My daughter continues to enjoy expanding her knowledge of English using her free time gainfully."

Please allow me to finish with some quotes from a mother and daughter who reviewed the first modules for us in detail:

Mother... Sally was given a digital camera for Christmas and has been snapping ever since. She had not thought of writing from a photograph as you describe, but was jotting her own ideas down when looking at the 'Gateway' photograph.... She has been torturing her grannies with the codes and limericks which are right up her street.... When doing the online crosswords, it took her just a few minutes to get the hang of how to use them on screen and then I couldn't stop her and she carried on to the second one straight away.... The crossword in the magazine was quite hard and we had the thesaurus out to help. I guess that't the idea!.... Sally likes her info quite speedy so that is why she wants fast intros etc. There is plenty on there to keep her amused for hours - and all educational stuff. I will try a few activities with my 7 year old boy for contrast!...In the writing section, the 'character' development was good, providing interesting subjects and clear ideas. Something for everyone, we thought.....The magazines were great for taking on holiday. We had some fun and learnt some new things. I am saving the proverbs for a rainy day, so that may be quite soon as we are going to Yorkshire for the weekend!....The pitch was good - useful without seeming too much like a class lesson. Well done!

Sally... I am finding the WordsPlease material great fun and there are many subjects that are extremely enjoyable to experiment with and listen to. I like the different introductions with the different styles of music for each section.... One of the best things about WordsPlease is that the whole family can join in (grandparents, parents and children). A few days ago we all went through the proverbs together which was great fun....WordsPlease would be an excellent opportunity for someone whose favourite subject was not English and they could learn while having fun.... I think the forum is a spectacular idea!!! I have been writing my own stories since the age of four, but all I did with them was show them to my teacher and then give them to my mum to read. Since then I have written stories for the school magazine which comes out once a year and read them to my brother at bedtimes, but I would love to send them out into the real world and see how they did and what complete strangers think of them!!!... My favourite part of the WordsPlease material so far is the First Names which I found incredibly interesting to listen to and research! I really liked the bit about the history of first names because it was fascinating to see how different names have come about and changed over the years!!! I have one more thing to say which is that you seem to have a lot of knowledge about famous times, places and some lovely names to go with these, that I have found very inspiring and helpful to start me off on some good ideas for stories and things to research.... I think WordsPlease is a very good website and I am looking forward to reviewing the later magazines as they are so much fun and exciting. Also it helps me to keep my English skills going over the holidays, which I can sometimes find quite difficult!!!

Thanks to Sally and her mum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!