1
Can you improve verbal?
Yes, on the trained tasks.Scores on the games themselves rise quickly with practice. Gains on close variants are common; gains on unrelated, everyday tasks are much smaller and less consistent.
What is verbal training?
Verbal training is practice with words and the relationships between them,through anagrams and analogies. It exercises vocabulary, retrieval speed and relational thinking in language.
- Games
- 3
- Session
- 5–15 minutes
- Frequency
- 3–5× a week
- Levels
- Easy → hard, adaptive
- Cost
- Free, no account
SESSION BUILDER
How long have you got?
Intensity
Easy and medium games, ordered warm-up to finisher.Every verbal game
3 games · 8 min if you play them allANATOMY OF THE SKILL
Words and meaning
Verbal ability combines what you know (vocabulary) with how flexibly you can use it (retrieval, relationships). Vocabulary keeps growing well into older age, so this is the one skill most adults are still improving on.
A week that works
Tap a day to switch it on or off · 45 min a week3–5×sessions a weekShort and frequent beats long and rare.
10–15minutes a sessionStop while you're still sharp.
4 in 5level-up ruleMove up once you score four in five.
6 wkbefore judgingGive it six weeks before deciding.
OUTSIDE THE GAME
Where you use verbal every day
Three everyday moments that lean on this skill, and the game that practises the same move.
THE MOMENTYou need a word between “annoyed” and “furious”, and “exasperated” arrives.
PRACTISE IT WITHVerbal FluencyTHE MOMENTAsked to explain your job, you find an analogy that lands straight away.
PRACTISE IT WITHVerbal AnalogiesTHE MOMENTA dense contract clause turns into one plain sentence in your head.
PRACTISE IT WITHVerbal AnalogiesVerbal training, explained
2
How long does it take to see results?
Usually two to three weeks on the games, six weeks to judge.Most people improve fastest in the first few sessions as they learn the task, then more slowly. Give it about six weeks of regular practice before deciding whether it's helping you.
3
How often should you train verbal?
Three to five short sessions a week.Ten to fifteen focused minutes beats an occasional hour. Spread sessions out, stop while you're still sharp, and move up a level once you score four in five.
4
Does verbal training raise IQ?
Probably not by much.Large reviews find little evidence that brain-training games raise general intelligence. Expect better performance on what you practise, and use the IQ test to measure your starting point honestly.
5
How do you measure your verbal?
Track your levels here and take a test for a benchmark.Your training stats show the level you reach in each game over time. For a standardised reading, the full IQ test scores verbal comprehension against other takers.
Sources
Research behind this page. Our methodology- Hartshorne, J. K., & Germine, L. T. (2015). When does cognitive functioning peak? Psychological Science, 26(4), 433–443.
- Sternberg, R. J. (1977). Component processes in analogical reasoning. Psychological Review, 84(4), 353–378.