The basics

From 09/01/2023, entrants will have one language unlocked on the uTalk app after registering for the uTalk Language Games.

If a second language has been chosen, it will be unlocked on 01/04/2024.

The third and final language will be unlocked on 04/10/2024. (See below for more information about this specific release.)

The first two languages will be chosen when registering by the teacher or individual entrant taking part. The third will be chosen by uTalk.

All language learning content unlocked during the event will be available for students to use until 07/31/2024.

What’s a topic?

uTalk’s language learning content is divided up into small chunks we call topics. Some examples are: Colours, Numbers up to Twenty, Shopping Phrases, Directions. Each language contains roughly 60 topics.

To get you started, uTalk has pre-selected 15 universally appropriate topics, which are automatically unlocked for entrants when they first log in.

They are: Animals, Body, Calendar, Clothes, Colours, Fruit, Holiday, Leisure, Numbers up to Twenty, School, Shopping Phrases, Essential Phrases, Free Starter Words, Time, Family.

Toggling topics

Taking part in the uTalk Language Games will give entrants access to up to 30 topics in a single language at any one time.

This is around 1,000 words and phrases, or half of the learning content in a language.

But entrants can access all the learning content in a single language (more than 2,200 words and phrases or 60 topics) during the course of the competition.

The way it works is that teachers and individual entrants can choose to change which topics are available to learn at any one time (up to the maximum of 30) by toggling them on or off. This means checking or unchecking the relevant topics on your management page. You will simply need to log in via the website, click on ‘Toggle Topics’ on the top menu, and then select the topics you – or your class – wish to learn. To access the changed content, you or your pupils will need to log out and then back in again.  

Dashboards

All teachers and students entered in the uTalk Language Games will be given access to online dashboards.

Students’ dashboards will show points they’ve earned, achievements they’ve reached, and how they rank on an online leaderboard.

If they’ve entered as part of a group, they will be able to see how their ranking compares to others in that group.

If they’ve entered as individuals, they will see how their ranking compares to other individual entrants in their region or country.

Teachers’ dashboards will show which topics students in their group have covered, how much they have scored and what achievements they have reached. Teachers will also be able to see leaderboard rankings for all the students in their group.

Scoring system

Entrants earn points for correct answers in the Games and they can score a maximum of 330 points in each topic. Depending on how many points they score in a topic, they will receive bronze, silver, and gold achievement awards on their dashboards.

These are the score thresholds they need to reach to trigger an award:

• Bronze – 105 points
• Silver – 210 points
• Gold – 315 points

Students can complete topics as often as they like to try and improve their maximum score.

Certificates to mark these achievements can be downloaded and printed off.

Learning a third language

All participants will have the chance to learn a third mystery language, chosen by uTalk, which will be unlocked on 04/10/2024. We are planning to stage an interschool and interregional competition around this language, with more details to follow in March 2024.

Prizes

Prizes of language learning products will be awarded to the highest scorers in the April to July round of the competition. More details to follow.

During the uTalk Games, students can also earn bronze, silver, and gold achievement certificates for reaching different score thresholds (as above).

Extra resources for teachers

We’re working on posters for every language in our catalogue, as well as student worksheets, which are designed to be used alongside our topics. These will be made available from December 2023.

Payment

If prices for your country are not automatically displayed, please contact languagegames@utalk.com. Discounts for bulk entries may also be available on request.

I’ve registered, now what?

You will then be invited to download the uTalk app.

Once you’ve downloaded the app, you need to select ‘Student login’ and then scroll down the list to select ‘uTalk Language Games’.