Scrabble Tips For Beginners by a Beginner :D

Bismillah, Assalamualaikum

I have always loved board games in particular, perhaps it's because I grew up in England where board games are major cool and my parents always incite us siblings to play board games by buying lotsa board games and this would result in us being more close-knit

But I love Scrabble more and this could be because I love letters better than numbers, words better than formulas and language better than maths, huhu

Though I have been to 2 Scrabble Tournaments but because I lack training and practice therefore I am still an amateur/beginner and I actually didn't mind at all of the label until I realized that I got fascinated with the game so much to want to be, at least one or two notches up from being an amateur/beginner AND the fact that I had lost to a kid (hey, age is not a factor okay, the youngest master is in FORM 3 now, and he is soooo cool when he plays!) in the Malacca Open Scrabble Tournament, haha

So I thought I give some insights and tips on people out there who's interested in Scrabble because you should be, it is something intellectual and there were so few muslims there, I was the only Malay girl with hijab and no offence but this kind of thing reflects how muslims [since I am a muslim and for that reason, I urge muslims to take up an intellectual pastime] rarely take up intelligent challenges and competitions whilst spreading the joy of Islam! I remember Ira Sahri participating in a treasure hunt organized by a local newspaper and she learnt so much while commenting that her group was made up of Malay girls wearing hijab.

Anyway, back to what I intend to propagate to all Scrabble wannabes out there:

1. Your English won't be improve when playing Scrabble.
WHY?! Because some words are incredulously bizarre and not even enlisted in the English dictionary! In spite of that, the words are cool and you get to widen plus impress your peers with the vast Scrabble vocab there is just that you better not use those vocabs in your formal essays, huhu

2. You have to memorize the 2 and 3 letter words!
This is so that you won't kill the game by not knowing what words to put and additionally, knowing the 2 and 3 letter words are imperative so that it can give way to add words in front or at the back of the 2 and 3 letter words.

3. By all means, when you try to memorize the Scrabble dictionary, try to memorize the meaning of the words as well.
Most people I meet just memorize the words but when I enthusiastically wanna learn on the meaning and ask but alas, they can't give me the answer as they dunno, huhu

4. Sometimes targeting for the highest score may not be the answer.
Its a game of strategy just like chess because not only do you want a high score but you also want to make a momentous move so that you won't make way for your opponent to score high plus you don't want to make 2 letter words just for the score, but desperate calls for desperate measures I guess

5. Shuffle your letters and shuffle it hard!
You should make it a habit (I am trying too myself). This is because by doing so will increase your chances of seeing that BINGO [7 letter word] you wanted your whole life, hehe, well, at least, you get to see more extraordinary scrabble words to put on the board.

Basically, your knowledge of the English vocabulary may be immense but you're not gonna win if you don't equip yourself with the Scrabble vocab because its, how do I put it, more vital? just as crucial, well, you decide but you better train with familiarity on the Scrabble vocabulary and only then will you play with stride!

and that's what I wanna do, progress, even if I chickened out in upcoming tournaments but I would want to pass my Scrabble knowledge to my students and children and I might just train them to become master! Actually, that's what I will do!

So here are some examples of wacky Scrabble words:
abakas
babka
cocas
dadas
eterne
feoff
gigas
hahas
ictic
jowls
kamik
lulu
malmy
nance
oops
popsy
qiviuts
roar
shes
tate
usque
vivas
waws
xerus
yolky
zooty

phew~