Atalar Sözləri
Build the proverb, word by word
- Skills
- Word order, Translation, B1+ vocabulary
- Level
- A2 to B2
- Players
- Any number
- Time
- 15–20 min
- You need
- A projector and phones
Every student in Azerbaijan knows “Dost dar gündə tanınar.” Far fewer could say it in English. Atalar Sözləri starts right there: the proverb appears on every phone in Azerbaijani, and its English translation is chopped into word chips. Students tap the chips in the right order, and the first correct sentence wins the round.
The reveal is where the learning happens. The projector shows the full translation, the closest English proverb (“A friend in need is a friend indeed”) and the B1+ words worth writing down: recognize, in need, indeed. With the default settings, ten proverbs at 90 seconds each, a game takes 15 to 20 minutes.
How a round works
Countdown
A 3-2-1 countdown runs on the projector and on the phones, so the chips appear for everyone at the same moment.
Read the proverb
Each phone shows the Azerbaijani proverb (unless you hid it for hard mode) and a pile of shuffled English words.
Tap the words in order
A wrong answer shows how many words from the start are right, then pauses that phone for a few seconds. Guessing at random doesn’t pay.
Reveal
The first correct sentence wins. Then everyone sees the translation, the English equivalent and the key words on the big screen.
An example round
On the phone
Yüz ölç, bir biç.
After the round, on the projector
Measure a hundred times, cut once.
English equivalent: Measure twice, cut once.
Word to remember: measure
The game starts with 43 proverbs. Read them all with their English translations in Azerbaijani proverbs in English.
Scoring
- The first correct sentence wins the round and 100 points.
- Speed bonus: up to 50 more points, one point less for every second that passes.
- Nobody gets it before the time runs out? The answer is shown and nobody scores.
- Points add up across rounds. The final screen has a podium and a list of every proverb you played.
Settings you can change
- Rounds
- 1 to 100 proverbs, 10 by default.
- Time per round
- Up to 10 minutes, or no limit. 90 seconds by default.
- Show the Azerbaijani proverb
- On by default. Turn it off and students only get the scrambled English words, which is a lot harder.
- Decoy words
- Up to 5 extra words from other proverbs mixed in with the chips.
- Pause after a wrong answer
- 0 to 30 seconds, 3 by default.
- Proverb length
- Any, short (up to 6 words), medium (7–10) or long (11 or more).
- Order
- Random, or the order of the proverb bank.
During the game you can reveal the answer, skip a proverb, add 30 seconds, or hold a button to peek at the answer without showing it to the class. On a keyboard, N is next round and R is reveal.
Tips for the classroom
- Start with short proverbs and no decoys. Add decoys once the class is used to the chips.
- After the reveal, ask the winner to read the sentence aloud and someone else to explain the English equivalent in their own words.
- Hard mode (proverb hidden) turns it into a pure word-order puzzle. Strong groups love it, and it stops anyone translating from memory.
- Keep the vocabulary from each round on the board and come back to two or three of the words at the end of the lesson.
Questions teachers ask
Can I add my own proverbs?
Yes. Administrators can add, edit and switch off proverbs in the proverb bank, including the English equivalent and the vocabulary shown after each round.
Is it only for students who speak Azerbaijani?
The prompts are Azerbaijani proverbs, so it works best for students who read Azerbaijani. With the proverb hidden, anyone can play it as an English word-order puzzle.
What level is it for?
Most translations use B1 vocabulary in simple sentence patterns. Use the short-proverb setting for A2 groups.
Try Atalar Sözləri with your class
Teachers start the game from their dashboard. Students only need the code on the board.