I don't know if its true or not.

Here is the link for the site. http://www.freerice.com/

Yes, this is actually real.  It's been confirmed my multiple news sources and Scopes.  They pay for the rice through advertising.  More people playing = more ad revenue = more food purchased for the hungry.

Thanks for the info Cat. Glad to know its authentic.  ^_^

Not only do you help feed the poor, you also increase your vocabulary! ^_^

There was a lengthy bit about "FreeRice" on NPR's "Morning Edition" today.  Here's a link to the printed article and audio clip.  It sounds like a particularly neat thing to do if you have kids.  Yay for talking good!  :D

EC

right now my highest level is 38, and ive raised 6740 grains of rice.  i think i'll just leave the website on and keep going till i reach 10 000.

My highest level was 45.  At about that point, I start running into too many words I'm not familiar with and can't deduce their meaning.  By level 42 or so, I'm having to deduce the meaning as opposed to actually knowing it quite a bit.  My average level is probably somewhere around 43 or so, though I didn't keep track.

(Word deduction:  I do this by a variety of means, mostly looking for root words and context.  I don't cheat and look it up, however.).

Sadly, I don't see the ads that are supposed to be paying for this, whether they are being blocked or whatever.  So I assume that my 'contribution' doesn't really count.

I want ow_tiobe_sw to play this and tell us what score he gets!  I'm betting he makes it to level 47.

Quote from: BlueBard on December 17, 2007, 10:55:04 AM
I want ow_tiobe_sb to play this and tell us what score he gets!  I'm betting he makes it to level 47.

Level 50, actually, but 'twas no stroll through Chapelizod.  I noticed that the words became increasingly Germanic/Anglo-Saxon in origin and decreasingly Romance in origin as the vocabulary level increased.  On two or three occasions I found myself trying to regain lost ground.  I would say my average level was around 48.

ow_tiobe_sb
Phantom Bunburyist and The Prat in the Hat

I uhm, made it to........uh...... level 25. :mellow:

Quote from: murs47 on December 17, 2007, 12:34:19 PM
I uhm, made it to........uh...... level 25. :mellow:

You need to read more!

I'm like BB - with my medical back ground I have a fairly decent functional understanding of Latin, which allows me to deduce many words from their roots.  I held at around 47 pretty well, with one bump up to 49, mostly through luck of the draw.

My big complaint is the name of the site - freerice is an awful lot like freedomreborn, and freerice has bumped FR as the first URL to pop up when I start to type in this site.  Firefox is better at weighting sites than Explorer, so I'm hoping it will drop down the list soon.

I made it to about 30 where I had my first mistake and then pushed up to forty before getting tired of it. Despite my absolutely horrible spelling and english being my second language I'm good at this stuff, I guess since they forced greek and latin on me back in high school.

Made it to level 46 before tiring of the game, although I probably averaged around 44-45 for most of it.

Quote from: Uncle Yuan on December 17, 2007, 01:19:23 PM
I'm like BB - with my medical back ground I have a fairly decent functional understanding of Latin, which allows me to deduce many words from their roots.

Well, don't give me too much credit.  I have zero understanding of Latin.  All I have is a natural bent for the English language that's mostly underutilized and a great love of reading that exposes me to a great many words.  If I've seen a word used before, even if I don't fully remember or even understand the meaning, the context tends to stick with me.  I'm canny enough to be able to pick apart words the right way and compare word parts with other word parts I've seen before.  I doubt I'd get above level 45 anytime soon, though, as what I do at that level is mainly guesswork.

Not that I couldn't do it with the proper education and motivation.  But I'd probably have to love the art of linguistics more than I do and be a good bit less lazy.
:)