Word cloud with words

The Value of Our Free Word Cloud Generator

Speak’s AI word cloud generator uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to reveal insights, help with writer’s block, be a root as an AI content generator and more. 

Word clouds are a great way to highlight the most important words, topics and phrases in a text passage based on frequency and relevance. Generate word clouds from your text data to create an easily understood visual breakdown for deeper analysis. Use our free word cloud generator below! 

Speak’s online tool demo is the best free word cloud generator that can serve as your word cloud maker, allowing you to get a word cloud online and be a great tool for brainstorming word clouds so that you can present meaningful visualizations.

More than a free word cloud creator or a basic word cloud, Speak can generate clickable word clouds. Speak makes word cloud creation instant so you can make your own word cloud, word cloud art, tag cloud, Twitter word cloud generator or other variations of keyword cloud generators to drive value and understanding for stakeholders. You can even create a free wordle generator! The possibilities are endless with a word cloud creator free of risk and technical difficulties. 

You can also check out how to transcribe a YouTube video to effortlessly bring valuable video content into Speak for transcription and analysis so that you can produce free word cloud generation.  

What Is A Word Cloud?

Word clouds, also known as tag clouds, are visual representations of text data. They are used to provide insight into the structure, content, and meaning of a text by displaying the most frequently used words in the text.

What Data Is Good For Word Clouds?

Drop your text, call transcripts, customer reviews, blog content, website copy and more and instantly see brands, locations, numbers, events, products and more visualized. With a Speak account, you can add custom keywords and phrases that will also appear in your visualizations! 

What Is The Purpose Of A Word Cloud?

This information can be useful for a variety of purposes, from market research to data analysis.

Words clouds are often used to explore relationships between words and phrases, allowing users to quickly gain an understanding of the text. For example, word clouds can be used to compare the language used in different files, identify the most frequently used words in a particular text, or uncover the meaning of a text by displaying the words in a visually appealing way.

The purpose of word clouds is to quickly convey information. By displaying the most frequently used words in a text, they can help to identify the main themes and topics of the text. This makes them a useful tool for market research, as they can help to identify the main topics that customers are interested in, as well as the language they use to talk about those topics.

Word clouds can also be used to compare multiple texts, audio files, video files and other types of unstructured language data media. Comparing the words used in each text can help to identify the similarities and differences between them. This can be useful for data analysis, as it can help to identify patterns and trends in the data.

Word clouds can also be used to help to get an understanding of the general sentiment of the text. For example, media full of negative words might imply a negative sentiment, while media with more positive words might imply a positive sentiment.

Word clouds can also be a useful tool for search engine optimization. Displaying the most important words and recurring words used in media can give you ideas and help you optimize your content for search engines. 

Who Uses Word Clouds?

Word clouds are a popular tool for businesses of all sizes to visualize large amounts of data in a visually pleasing way. Word clouds are used by businesses to gain insights from customer feedback, surveys, and other sources of data. They are used to provide an overall picture of how customers feel about a product, service, or company.

Word clouds are used by small and medium-sized businesses, marketing agencies, market research firms, organizations with 51 to 1,000 employees, marketers, qualitative researchers, customer experience managers, market researchers, product researchers, SEO specialists, business analysts, data scientists, academic researchers, business owners and more. 

Small & Medium Sized Businesses

Small and medium-sized businesses can use word clouds to gain insight into customer feedback and to get an overall picture of how customers feel about their product or service.

Word clouds can help small businesses gain a better understanding of the customer’s needs and wants, as well as what they are looking for in terms of product or service offerings. This understanding can be used to create better marketing campaigns and to help the business better understand its customer base.

Marketing Agencies

Marketing agencies can use word clouds to help them create more targeted campaigns. By understanding the customer’s needs and wants, marketing agencies can create campaigns that are more likely to resonate with the customer. Word clouds can also help marketing agencies identify the most popular words and phrases associated with a business or product, which can help them create more effective campaigns.

Market Research Firms

Market research firms can use word clouds to gain insights into customer feedback and to get a better understanding of customer sentiment. By understanding the customer’s needs and wants, market research firms can create better surveys and polls to gain more accurate feedback. Word clouds can also help market research firms identify the most common words and phrases associated with a business or product, which can help them create more effective surveys and polls.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Word Clouds

It is also worthwhile to explore the advantages and disadvantages of using word clouds to visualize data. We’ll look at why they are useful for business owners and professionals, and how they can be detrimental if not used correctly. After reading this article, you should have a better understanding of what word clouds can do and how to best use them for your business needs.

Advantages of Word Clouds

Easily Interpretable

Word clouds make complex data more easily interpretable by transforming it into an eye-catching visual that can be understood by even those who aren’t familiar with interpreting data reports. This makes it easier for customers and business owners alike to identify trends within their data sets quickly and accurately.

Quickly Identify Keywords

By filtering out unnecessary words and displaying only the most common terms in a visually appealing manner, word clouds allow users to quickly identify keywords that are relevant to their search query or project objectives.

Creates Aesthetic Visuals

Word clouds are an aesthetically pleasing way to present data in a way that looks visually appealing without sacrificing accuracy or readability. This makes them great for presentations or online content that requires visual appeal for maximum impact on viewers.

Affordable & Easy To Set Up

Setting up a word cloud is relatively easy and affordable compared to other types of data visualization tools. Many online tools allow users to quickly set up word clouds with minimal effort required, making them ideal for those who don’t want to invest too much time or money into creating visuals from their data sets.

Disadvantages of Word Clouds

May Not Be Accurate Representation Of Data

While word clouds do provide an aesthetically pleasing representation of selected terms within a given data set, they cannot accurately represent the full scope of the information contained within it due to their simplified nature – meaning that any conclusions drawn from these visuals should be taken with a grain of salt until confirmed by further analysis.

Reduced Readability

Since the sizes of words displayed in a word cloud are determined by frequency rather than grammar rules, it can be difficult for readers to parse out individual words without enough context surrounding them which can lead to difficulties in understanding what is being presented – particularly when trying to spot patterns within dense data sets with multiple terms involved.

Not Customizable Enough For Complex Projects

Although word clouds are great for quickly presenting basic information in an attractive visual format, they may not be detailed enough when working on more complex projects as there aren’t many options available when it comes to customization or formatting features offered with most available services or software programs – like changing colours/backgrounds/fonts etc., which could limit its effectiveness depending on the type project being worked on or result desired from the visualization process.

What Is The Best Word Cloud Generator?

We’ve got a little bias here at Speak AI that our software is the best word cloud generator, but to help guide you on our journey we’ve also created a list of the best word cloud generator software so your data visualization journey is as successful as possible! 

Use Our Free Speak Word Cloud Generator Tool!

Word clouds can offer businesses several advantages when used correctly including providing an easy-to-interpret visual representation of text-based data sets as well as identifying common keywords quickly and creating aesthetically pleasing visuals for presentations or online content purposes.

However, there are several drawbacks that need to be considered before using this tool such as reduced accuracy due to oversimplification and limited customization options which could limit its effectiveness depending on the project’s requirements or desired outcome from the visualization process.

As with any tool or technique used in business applications, understanding all potential advantages and disadvantages is key – so consider carefully before deciding if this tool is right for you and your business needs!

Menu

Make a word cloud

Regenerate

Word cloud settings

Font

• sans-serif
• serif
• monospace
• Daniel
• Essays1743
• Gentium
• Gruenewald-VA
• Isabella
• Jura
• Sniglet
• Yiggivoo

Colour

Number of colours

5

For an unlimited number, set to 0.

Layout

Place largest word at the centre

Orientation

• Portrait
• Landscape

Aspect ratio

• Square (1:1)
• 4:3
• A4 (1.4142:1)
• 3:2
• 16:10
• 5:3
• 16:9
• 2:1

1.6 : 1

Custom aspect ratio

:

Width cannot be more than 10× height, & vice versa.

Word clouds always scale to fit.

Size

Difference in sizes of words

Words

Create a new Word list

Generating from a new source will not change your current word cloud settings.
However, changes made to individual words will be lost because a new word list will be created.

Total number of words

100

0 were found in the original source.

Minimum frequency

0

Only display words found at least this often.
The highest frequency is 0.

0 match the filtering criteria.

Display

Set by filtering criteria. Set manually by you.

Save

What’s a word cloud generator used for?

Use Awario Word Cloud for:

Searching for trends. Since the word cloud highlights the most popular keywords, you can use
it for
finding trending topics. The downside of the word cloud for this use case is that you’ll
need to prepare and optimize your data beforehand. That’s why Awario also offers a dedicated
instrument for getting trends from social media and the web — you can start
your free trial to see
it in action.

Finding patterns in your data. Good examples of this use case are analyzing the
surveys replies — be it the feedback from your clients or employees, the word
cloud will highlight the most common feedback and will help you detect the main pain points.

Identifying terms for SEO optimization. You can do it by analyzing the
best-ranking articles for the terms that are used. Some word clouds will also help you see how often the
most common terms are used.

With Awario’s word cloud maker, you will get a word cloud that can be used for any of the
cases outlined above. You can create a word cloud by using the free word cloud tool on this
page or you can start your free trial to get access to data on social media and the
web.

How to set up a word cloud?

1. First, get your text ready. Make sure you’re only pasting the part that you want to analyze,
   excluding all irrelevant data. For example, if you’re using the text from the HTML page,
   make sure you’re using plain text only, excluding all the HTML tags that you don’t want to be analyzed.
2. Then, type in or paste your text into the text field at the top of this page
3. Click on the ‘Generate word cloud’ button. You’ll see the word cloud with the
   most popular keywords in a bigger size and with a higher font-weight.
4. You can modify your topic cloud by adjusting the fonts and the colors of the background, and
   the words.

How does a word cloud work?

The word cloud offers a list of unique words or phrases found in several sententces.
Awario’s word cloud software highlights the isolated words as well as 2- and 3-word phrases.
The word cloud displays only words and phrases used more than once. If all the words in your text
are unique, the topic cloud won’t be generated.

Can I make a custom-shaped word cloud?

It’s not possible to create custom-shaped word clouds at the moment, but we plan on changing
this in the upcoming versions of this tool.

Can I edit the word cloud?

Yes, you can modify the appearance of the interactive word cloud generator — the font and its
color, as well as the background color.

Is the word cloud available through your API?

Awario offers the Insights method in its API that gives access to the
word cloud. However, it differs from what you get with the free word cloud maker on this page.
Instead of using your text or documents, the platform analyzes social media and the web to generate
a word cloud automatically.

You can start your free trial to test the Awario topic cloud.

Word Clouds

Word Clouds are a visual representation of the frequency of words within a given body of text. Often they are used to visualize the frequency of words within large text documents, qualitative research data, public speeches, website tags, End User License Agreements (EULAs) and unstructured data sources.

Wordclouds.com

Wordclouds.com is a free online word cloud generator and tag cloud creator. Wordclouds.com works on your PC, Tablet or smartphone. Paste text, upload a document or open an URL to automatically generate a word- or tag cloud. Customize your cloud with shapes, themes, colors and fonts. You can also edit the word list, cloud size and gap size. Wordclouds.com can also generate clickable word clouds with links (image map). When you are satisfied with the result, save the image and share it online.

TagCrowd

TagCrowd is a web application for visualizing word frequencies in any text by creating word clouds, and was created by Daniel Steinbock while a PhD student at Stanford University. You can enter text in three ways: paste text, upload a text file or enter the URL of a web page to visualize.

Tagxedo

Tagxedo turns words into a visually stunning word cloud, words individually sized appropriately to highlight the frequencies of occurrence within the body of text. Start with any text and even use images to create a custom shape.

WordArt

WordArt.com is an online word cloud art creator that enables you to create amazing and unique word cloud art with ease. You can customize every bit of word cloud art including: words, shapes, fonts, colors, layouts and more!

ToCloud

ToCloud is an online free word cloud generator that uses word frequency as the weight. Based on the text from a webpage or pasted text, the generated word cloud of a page gives a quick understanding of how the page is optimized for certain words.

WordItOut

WordItOut is the word cloud generator that gives you control with many custom settings. Free to use and no sign up required!

Word Cloud Generator

Word Cloud Generator is developed by Jason Davies using JavaScript and provides a few customization options for scale, word orientation, font and the number of words from your original text to be included in the word cloud.

Vizzlo Word Cloud Generator

Vizzlo is an online data visualization tool, and creating word clouds is one of its capabilities. Vizzlo does have offer word cloud creation for free users, but it includes the Vizzlo watermark. You have to be on one of the paid accounts to remove the watermark.

Word Cloud Maker

Word Cloud Maker is an advanced online FREE word cloud generator that enables you to upload a background photo or select a design from the gallery upon which your word cloud art will be superimposed. You can simply download the word clouds to your local computer in multiple formats such as vector svg, png, jpg, jpeg, pdf and more. You can use it in your content for free.

Word Cloud Generator (Google Docs)

Word Cloud Generator is a free Google Docs add-on for creating word clouds based on your Google Documents. Richard Byrne has a good video tutorial that demonstrates how to quickly create a word cloud in Google Documents.

Infogram Word Clouds

Infogram is an online chart maker used to design infographics, presentations, reports and more. It’s free to create an account, and word clouds are one of their charting options. You have to upgrade to a paid plan to remove the Infogram logo and get access to download options for your designs.

WordSift

WordSift was created to help teachers manage the demands of vocabulary and academic language in their text materials. Options are very similar to Jason Davies’ Word Cloud Maker (above) but is easier to use.

MonkeyLearn AI WordCloud Generator

The MonkeyLearn WordCloud Generator is a free tool that uses Artificial Intelligence to generate word clouds from your source text, and automatically detects multiple word combinations.

Wordle (discontinued)

Wordle was a Java-based tool for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide, created by Jonathan Feinberg. Wordle has been discontinued and is no longer under development. You can download and use the final version of the desktop apps for Windows v0.2 and Mac v0.2. These desktop apps require that JAVA is also installed on your computer.

Word clouds are known by a variety of names including wordles, text clouds, and tag clouds. These fantastic graphics can reveal trends and allow you to present ideas, text, and concepts in a way that is eye-catching and compelling for students. Trying to find the right tool? You’ve come to the right place! We’ve put together a list of the best free word cloud generators for teachers.

Why Use Word Clouds in the Classroom?

Word clouds are fun to look at and will get students’ attention. You can take words and turn them into cool images using different shapes, fonts, and color schemes. While you can use a tool to create them for your classroom, students may enjoy making their own with just a piece of paper and some markers. 

Here are some suggestions for using word clouds with students:

• Use word clouds as an icebreaker activity (What is was the most fun thing you did over summer break?).
• Activate prior knowledge of a topic.
• Describe book characters, historical figures, famous scientists, etc.
• Brainstorm writing topic ideas.
• Summarize topics to develop an understanding.
• Find the theme for a class discussion.
• Explore the meanings of challenging vocabulary words.
• Use word clouds as an exit ticket to assess understanding and identify gaps in learning.

Depending on which tool you choose, there may be a bit of a learning curve when you start using word clouds in your classroom. But the effort will be worth it in the end!

1. WordArt.com

If you’ve been using word clouds for a while, you may remember that this tool was known as Tagul up until 2017. Rebranded as WordArt.com, this popular and highly customizable free word cloud generator for teachers is widely used in the classroom and even among professional designers. 

Try it: WordArt.com

2. WordClouds.com

This user-friendly free online wordle creator can be used on computers, tablets, and smartphones. There are many options for generating and tailoring your word cloud. Need inspiration? Check out their gallery of wordle examples! 

Try it: WordClouds.com

3. Word Cloud Maker

You may not have as many settings with Word Cloud Maker as you do with other generators, but the features it does offer are powerful. They have great layouts and shapes you can use to create something that’s truly engaging and unique.

Try it: Word Cloud Maker

4. WordItOut

As with other word cloud generators on this list, WordItOut allows you to create wordles from words, phrases, spreadsheets, and even whole documents. This tool also gives you the ability to embed your creations in your non-commercial blog or website. 

Try it: WordItOut

5. WordSift

You’ll have limited options for layouts with WordSift, which only offers five templates, but this is still a great free word cloud generator for teachers. The data visualization is fantastic and you can adjust the colors, font, orientations, and even the scale of words.  

Try it: WordSift

6. ABCya

The interface for this word cloud generator is so simple and fun! Once your text has been input, you can easily add effects to your wordle. Want to shake things up? Hit the “randomize” button to instantly change shapes, fonts, and font colors. 

Try it: ABCya

7. MonkeyLearn Word Cloud Generator

This AI-powered tool is ideal for the classroom. Using advanced relevance algorithms, it will automatically recognize compound words and collations while removing stop words. The interface is modern, free of ads, and easy to navigate.

Try it: MonkeyLearn

8. TagCrowd

If you’re looking for minimalist word maps, TagCrowd is a great word cloud generator. The tool is very basic, but you still have the ability to adjust settings for languages, word limits, and upper/lower-case letters. 

Try it: TagCrowd

9. Jason Davies Word Cloud

This free word cloud generator for teachers allows you to create symmetrical wordles. The interface is incredibly easy to use and generates powerful algorithms so you can make the cool, customized word cloud in seconds. 

Try it: Jason Davies Word Cloud

10. EdWordle

It’s easy to create word clouds with EdWordle. Simply add text to create your own or edit existing wordles. You can customize your creations by randomly scrambling words, changing the color and font of individual words, and building “neighborhoods” by having related words appear close to one another. 

Try it: EdWordle

What are your favorite free word cloud generators for teachers? Share in the comments below.

Plus, check out this list of 350+ Amazing Online Learning Resources. 

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You’ll see a common tool in classrooms, meeting rooms and beyond these days: the humble, beautiful, collaborative word cloud.

Why? Because it’s an attention winner. It perks up any audience by providing the chance to submit their own opinions and contribute to a discussion based on your questions.

Any of these 12 best live word cloud generator tools can earn you total engagement (including WordItOut, and Free Wordle Tools…), wherever you need it. Let’s dive into these free collaborative websites!

More Tips with AhaSlides Templates

Grab the attention in the room. Get more word cloud examples. These word cloud templates on AhaSlides are guaranteed engagement!

Let’s clear something up before we begin. What’s the difference between a word cloud and a collaborative word cloud?

In general, a collaborative word cloud not only displays the frequency of words, but is also great for making a presentation or lesson super interesting and transparent.

Check out these collaborative word cloud examples… And learn how to use. live word cloud generator with AhaSlides

Ice Breakers

Get the conversation flowing with an ice breaker. A question like ‘where are you from?’ is always engaging for a crowd and is a great way to loosen people up before the presentation begins.

Opinions

Display the views in the room by asking a question and seeing which answers loom largest. Something like ‘who’s going to win the World Cup?’ could really get people talking!

Testing

Reveal some telling insights with a quick test. Ask a question, like ‘what’s the most obscure French word ending in “ette”?’ and see which answers are the most (and least) popular.

You’ve probably figured this out yourself, but these examples are simply impossible on a one-way static word cloud. On a collaborative word cloud, however, they can delight any audience and pool focus where it should be – on you and your message.

💡 You can download a free template for each of these use cases here!

Given the engagement that a collaborative word cloud can drive, it’s no wonder the amount of word cloud tools has exploded in recent years. Interaction is becoming key in all walks of life, and collaborative word clouds are a massive leg-up.

Here are 7 of the best…

1. AhaSlides

✔ Free

AhaSlides is free software that gives users the tools to make interactive presentations using an arsenal of slide types. Multiple choice, rating scale, brainstorm, Q&A and quiz slides to name just a few.

One of its most popular slide types is the word cloud, and it’s not difficult to see why. It’s possibly the most simple slide type amongst the many on offer; it requires, at minimum, a single question for the audience to answer.

Yet, if you want to spice up your word cloud with background images, preset themes and various colours, AhaSlides happily obliges. In terms of customisation, it’s one of the best-looking and most flexible collaborative word cloud tools out there.

👏 Outstanding feature: You can even embed audio into your word cloud. The audio plays from the presenter’s laptop and each audience member’s phone, though this requires a paid plan from $1.95 a month.

Settings Options

Appearance Options

Make the Best Word Cloud

Beautiful, attention-grabbing word clouds, for free! Make one in minutes with AhaSlides.

2. Beekast

✔ Free

If big bold words and colour are your thing, then Beekast is a great option for a collaborative word cloud. Its standard white background and huge fonts bring the words into focus, and all are neatly arranged and easy to see.

The drawback here is that Beekast is not the easiest to use. Once you’re thrust into the interface, you’ll have to navigate the overwhelming amount of options yourself, and it can take a while to set up the word cloud you want.

Another downside is that you can only have 3 live participants (or ‘sessions’) on the free plan. That’s a pretty strict limit.

👏 Outstanding feature: You can moderate the submitted words from your audience. Change the text slightly or simply refuse the whole submission.

Settings Options

Appearance Options

Beekast doesn’t come with appearance customisation options

3. ClassPoint

✔ Free

ClassPoint is one of the most unique and best word cloud generators in the list because of one thing. It’s not a standalone bit of software, but a plug-in that works directly with PowerPoint.

The upshot of this is that it’s a seamless transition from your presentation directly to your word cloud. You simply pose a question on a slide, open a word cloud on that slide, then invite everyone to join and submit words using their phones.

The downshot of this is that it’s a fairly simple tool without much customisation in terms of settings or appearance. But in terms of ease of use, it’s pretty unmatched in this list.

👏 Outstanding feature: You can even add background music to fill in the silence while people are submitting their answers!

Settings Options

Appearance Options

ClassPoint doesn’t come with appearance customisation options. You can change the appearance of the PowerPoint slides, but your word cloud will appear as a blank pop-up.

Need a Word Cloud Fast?

Check this video to see how to go from free signup to audience responses in under 5 minutes!

4. Slides With Friends

✔ Free

Slides With Friends is a startup with a penchant for gamifying remote meetings. It’s got a friendly interface and doesn’t take long to figure out what you’re doing.

Likewise, you can set up your word cloud in seconds by just writing the prompt question directly on the slide. Once you present that slide, you can click it again to reveal the responses from your audience.

The downside is that the word cloud itself lacks a bit of color and space. It’s all black lettering and super close together, meaning it’s not easy to tell submissions apart when there are lots of them.

👏 Outstanding feature: The question slide will show avatars of all participants. When the participant submits their word, their avatar goes from faded to bold, meaning you know exactly who’s submitted and who hasn’t!

Settings Options

Appearance Options

5. Vevox

✔ Free

Much like Beekast, Vevox operates more in the realm of ‘activities’ than ‘slides’. It’s not a presentation tool like AhaSlides, but more like a series of separate activities that need to be manually turned off and on. It also offers one of the best free word cloud generators in the market.

If you’re after a word cloud with a serious air to it, then Vevox might be the one for you. The blocky structure and muted colour scheme are a good fit for cold, hard business, and while you can change the theme to get something more colourful, the palette of the words remain similar, meaning they can be a little tough to tell apart from each other.

Settings Options

Appearance Options

6. LiveCloud.online

✔ Free

Sometimes, all you want in life is a no-frills collaborative word cloud. Nothing fancy, nothing customisable – just a big white space where your participants can submit their words from their phones.

LiveCloud.online ticks all of those boxes. It requires no signup to use – just head to the site, send the link to your participants and you’re off.

Naturally, being as no-frills as it is, the design isn’t really up to much. It’s sometimes hard to tell the words apart because all of them are the same colour, and most of them are the same size.

👏 Outstanding feature: You can save and open previously used word clouds, though that involves signing up for free.

Settings Options

Appearance Options

LiveCloud.online doesn’t come with appearance customisation options.

7. Kahoot

✘ Not Free

One of the top classroom tools for quizzes added a word cloud feature in 2019, letting students contribute to a live word cloud along with their fellow classmates.

Like everything Kahoot-ish, their word cloud takes on vibrant colours and easily readable text. Different coloured backgrounds for words keep them separate and clear, and each response is slowly revealed, building from the least to the most popular one.

However, like most other things Kahoot-ish, the word cloud is hidden behind a paywall. Also, there are very limited options for any kind of customisation.

👏 Outstanding feature: You can preview your word cloud to get an idea of how it will look when you try for real.

8. Tagxedo

This tool helps you create tag clouds from URLs, blogs, tweets, and so much more. It also allows the user to import their fonts and shapes to be used in the word cloud! Please note that you must download Microsoft Silverlight, which is only supported by Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari, to use Tagxedo’s Word Cloud generator.

9. Slido Word Cloud

Flash a discussion with your crowd by allowing them to create a live word cloud. With Slido Word Cloud, you can also create quizzes & games, live polls, live surveys and to host Q&A Sessions.

However, with Slido Word Cloud, you cannot interact directly by dropping icons, or leave comments to the presenters!

10. MonkeyLearn WordCloud Generator

A free word cloud tool, MonkeyLearn WordCloud Generator, stands apart in the way it reduces words to their root form (i.e., stemming) and identifies the popular words by analysing how rare, descriptive, and long they are, as compared to just looking at the frequency.

11. WordClouds.com

This is a user-friendly tool that offers a wide variety of customization as well as formatting options. It is also a great tool for using MS Excel.

12. WordItOut

It is a simple and effective wordcloud creator that recognizes emojis and various symbols. It also allows you to edit your wordcloud to filter out any words you don’t want to be included.

Variety and novelty in English lessons encourage learners to be more engaged. On the contrary, monotonous tasks, no matter how useful they are, cause boredom. How to bring variety without too many changes in the process of learning vocabulary? Use word clouds.

 Word clouds are a graphical representation of words and words combinations. They can be used for:

• vocabulary revision
• presenting lexis
• practicing new words
• student’s projects.

It is just a more visually appealing way to teach vocabulary. Instead of using lists, which students are probably fed up with, make clouds. You can utilize them for word searches, making monologues and dialogues, word games, writing tasks, etc.

Here are some examples of the tasks.

Task 1

Make a story about a detective investigating a case using all the words and tell your partner  (the teacher).

Task 2

Work in pairs. Ask and answer five questions using the words.

Task 3

Give a definition of one of the words. Can your partner guess the word? Swap roles.

There are some services for creating word clouds:

Word Art

Wordle

Word clouds

I personally prefer to use Word art because it’s possible to create clouds containing collocations. As we know teaching collocations is more effective for learners. Other services just break the word pairs into single words.

Let’s see how to create word clouds using Word art. It’s quick and easy, no registration is required. So click ‘Create’ and make your cloud.

Step 1

Fill in the words or word combinations. You can type as many words as you need, even 30 or even 50. It’s possible to Capitalize letters, use the UPPER or lower case. Click ‘Options’ and opt for repetition of the words as you see in one of the pictures above or choose no repetition.

Step 2

Choose the shape of your cloud: animals, nature, people or some holidays themes. If you want to see the changes, click the red button ‘Visualize’.

For example, this charming ladybird will definitely catch kids’ interest.

Step 3

Choose a font which you like. There are more than 50 fonts to select.

Step 4

Pick out a layout: horizontal, vertical, crossing words, dancing words, slopes and random. The layout will depend on the task and the learners. Teens prefer something less ordinal and more creative. For adults, I usually make more conservative things like a horizontal layout.

Step 5

Choose a style: colours of the words and the background. If you want to change a colour of the words, click ‘Words colours’ and ‘Custom’ and add more colours to the pallette.

Step 6

To apply all the changes, press ‘Print’ or ‘Download’ your cloud and enjoy it in your lessons.