Free Rice–Play and Give

Rice

I just spent the last 20 minutes or so playing around. Well, not really.

At freerice.com, you answer multiple choice questions about vocabulary, grammar, geography, art history or math. For every correct answer, 10 grains of rice are given to the United Nations World Food Program, with the goal of ending world hunger. According to the United Nations, 25,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children.

The test automatically adjusts to your level. If you make a mistake, it gives you an easier question. Get three correct, and it gives you a harder question. Even better, if you get one wrong, it shows you the answer and repeats the question at a later time, which allows you to learn from your mistakes.

Talk about a win-win situation. You get your vocabulary expanded, someone who needs it gets food, you have a legitimate reason to goof off, and the sponsors feel good about spending their money in altruistic ways.

While it reminded me a bit of the SAT vocabulary section, it also dredged up words that for some reason I can never get correct, like “egregious,” which means “really bad.” Hmm. It was fun to guess at a couple words based on others that have similar roots. And there were some words that I had never seen before and may never see again.

Unless, that is, I play again…