Why pictures, pairs and a block of flats?

Picture matching is one of the oldest ways to learn first words. You see a cat, you hear kucing, and the two stick together. This game builds every round from that. First you meet five words with their pictures. Then you match each picture to its word. Then you only hear the word and pick the picture.

Each right answer lights a window in an HDB-style block at the bottom of the screen. A miss doesn’t cost a life. The word just comes back later on the practice pile.

What it practises

First Words practises 80 first words in Malay, Mandarin and Tamil, in eight themes: greetings and polite words, numbers 1 to 10, family, food and drink, colours, animals, body parts and things at school. It is a word game for recognising and saying simple words. It won’t teach grammar or conversation, and it isn’t a course.

Mandarin words are in simplified characters with Hanyu Pinyin, as taught in Singapore schools. Malay words use standard Malay spelling. Tamil words are in Tamil script, with a simple spelling in English letters to help you say them. That spelling is our own guide. It is not an official system.

Singapore’s four official languages

Singapore’s Constitution names four official languages: Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and English. It also makes Malay the national language, written in the Roman script. That is why the national anthem, Majulah Singapura, is sung in Malay. Zubir Said wrote it in 1958, and the words are always sung in the original Malay.

In schools, most children learn English plus a second language, often called the mother tongue. Studying a second language became compulsory in secondary schools in 1966. Mandarin, Malay and Tamil are the three main ones on offer.

Written Chinese in Singapore changed over the same years. The Ministry of Education started publishing lists of simplified characters in 1969, and by 1976 Singapore used the same simplified forms as mainland China. In the 1970s, schools also moved from older sound symbols to Hanyu Pinyin, the system of Latin letters and tone marks you see under each Chinese word here.

How to play

• Pick Malay, Mandarin or Tamil. Mix gives you all three in one round.
• Each theme has three rounds. Rounds 1 and 2 each bring five new words. Round 3 uses all ten, with the cards face down, so you find the pairs from memory.
• In the Pairs step, tap a picture and then its word. Tapping a word also says it.
• In Hear and tap, listen and pick the picture. If you pick the wrong one, it shows you what that picture is called, and the word is said again slowly.
• Stars per round: ★★★ for one slip or fewer (two in Round 3), ★★ for up to three (five in Round 3), ★ for finishing.
• A word joins your collection for that language when you get it right first time in two rounds. Collect them all to fill the Word collection.
• Earn 3 stickers in this game for your QuickBOP sticker book.

Tips

Say it out loud. The game can’t hear you, but saying each word along with the voice helps it stick.

No voice? Read it. The spoken words come from the voices on your phone or computer. Many have Mandarin, fewer have Malay or Tamil. When a voice is missing, the game shows the word with Hanyu Pinyin or English letters instead. A native speaker at home is the best voice of all.

Use the practice pile. Words you miss are saved on this device and wait on the pile. Clear it between rounds and they move towards your collection.

Some words have more than one right answer. Families say grandpa differently in Mandarin depending on which side of the family he is on. Some Malay families say mak or emak for mother. Tamil speakers might say saadham for rice. The game picks one common word. If yours is different, it isn’t wrong.

Your turn

The block is dark and waiting. Pick a language, turn your sound on, and see how many windows you can light with your first five words.