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04 Module 1: Reading Text Section A, An app review, page 13

App Reviews by Teens and for Teens: Habitica

There are lots of unusual and useful apps on the market. There are apps for learning good
habits, apps for organising tasks and apps for planning your week. But Habitica is special
because it helps you with many different activities – and it makes it fun to do them. On Habitica,
chores and other boring tasks become a game, and this motivates people to do them.

How does it work? You start by choosing an avatar. Then you create a list of tasks or habits.
Many lists of tasks include unpopular household chores, for example, cleaning the floor or taking
the clothes out of the washing machine and putting them in the dryer. Some people want to
improve their daily habits, so they write things like ‘wash my hands with soap before meals’ or
‘put the cap on the toothpaste’ on their lists. The app gives you points for completing actions
and you use these points to buy things for your avatar. You can compete with your friends on
Habitica, go on missions and have exciting battles with monsters, too.

Over four million people use this free app and it’s easy to understand why. Habitica is a lot of
fun and it really makes life better. I recommend it for everyone.

COMMENTS:

Katie: I often leave my keys and charger at home when I go out. Thankfully, there’s an app
like Habitica to help me with this!

John: There are many other uses for Habitica, too. When there is a big school project, my
friends and I write tasks on our lists and we get points for completing them!

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07 Module 1: Reading Text Section B, Forum Posts, page 17

NetTeens Forum
Liz: Right now, people around the world are learning languages and practising their
reading skills and they don’t even know it. What are they doing? They’re
watching TV with subtitles. How do subtitles help you?

William: I’m from the Netherlands, but I usually watch British and American films or TV
programmes. This gives me the chance to hear new English words and it helps
me improve my grammar and pronunciation, too. I understand everything
because I read the subtitles in Dutch. Thanks to subtitles, I understand the
English words without using a dictionary.

Isabel: In Spain, we don't often watch films or TV programmes in their original

languages. They usually dub films into Spanish, but now there is an option to
hear original versions and read subtitles on TV. This sounds like a fun way to
learn.

Matthew: I live in New York, in the USA, so I watch TV in English. But I use subtitles too.
Why do I do that? Well, I'm a slow reader. Reading isn't easy for me and
according to my teacher, reading subtitles can help me. I listen to the audio in
English, and I read the subtitles in English at the same time. This really helps
me read better (and faster).

Meera: In India, there are subtitles on all the main TV channels and this encourages us
to read more.

Sally: Here in the UK, subtitles are becoming popular. The great thing is you can
watch videos with subtitles at home or at school – everywhere really! You can
find subtitles on your favourite TV programmes and films on YouTube and
Netflix. In my classroom, we’ve got a projector and a whiteboard, so my
teachers often use videos with subtitles to inspire us to read more!

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