Palindromes are words or phrases that read the same from left to right and from right to left. They are an ancient and impressive form of word play and occur in most languages. Palindromes are fun brain teasers for language students. My students like them because they are both comprehensible and compelling and we use them in class competitions.

“Palindrome Day” in a world language class could be 1/11, 1/21, 1/31, 2/2, 2/12, 2/22, 3/3, 3/13, 3/23, 4/4, 4/14, 4/24, 5/5, 5/15, 5/25, or any other date that reads the same backwards and forwards.

Palindrome Day need not be the entire class period, just long enough to learn about palindromes and do an activity or two. You could also use palindromes as a competitive word game, just for fun, as a brain break, or as a PAT activity.

Some well-known examples of English palindromes that most students will know are:

       Kayak      Race car       Madam, I’m Adam.

Ask your students for some more examples in English to prime them for thinking about palindromes in another language in case some haven’t played with them in their minds before.

Here are some Spanish Palindromes. These are more extensive than the Latin list below and the activities are self-differentiating.

These are Latin Palindromes. They are mostly high-frequency words, followed by some famous Latin palindromic phrases, and then extensive lists of words and phrases.

Try out these and share the way you use palindromes to delight and enlighten your students.