Note: Wikipedia has pages that some people might think are bad, vulgar or mean. Read the Wikipedia content disclaimer for more information.

Articles in the Simple English Wikipedia use fewer words and grammar that is easier to understand than the ordinary English Wikipedia.

The Simple English Wikipedia is also for people with different needs, such as children , students and adults with learning difficulties , and people who are trying to learn English.

Other people may use the Simple English Wikipedia because simple language helps them to understand unfamiliar topics or complex ideas.

When the Simple English Wikipedia began, the ordinary English Wikipedia already had , articles, and seven other Wikipedias in other languages had over 15, articles.

Since the other Wikipedias already have so many articles, most Simple English articles take articles from other Wikipedias and make them simple; they are usually not new articles.

This makes Simple English articles a good way to understand difficult articles from the ordinary English Wikipedia. If someone cannot understand an idea in complex English, they can read the Simple English article.

For this reason, people writing Simple English articles should put in " interwiki links " to and from the other Wikipedias.

Also, it is good to always look at all versions in all languages, to get new ideas. These things are a little different from the things the ordinary English Wikipedia does not do.

For example, in the Simple English version it is more important to explain slang , idioms , and jargon. The Simple English Wikipedia also has some articles that are also in the Wiktionary.

Wikipedia is a wiki , a kind of web site written by many people together. This means anyone can change any page by clicking on the "change this page" link.

You can do this on any page that is not protected. You can see if the page is protected because it will say "View source" instead of "Change".

Anyone can write in the Simple English Wikipedia. Simple English writers are very mixed, more so than at English Wikipedia, or at other Wikipedias.

It is important to respect the different types of people who are writing articles in the Simple English Wikipedia, and to be friendly with people who have trouble speaking English.

Remember that Wikipedia is a service which many communities use. If you want to write articles for the Simple English Wikipedia, read Wikipedia:How to write Simple English articles.

See Wikipedia for a simple English introduction to the project in all languages, and Wikipedia:Useful for a list of pages that can help you more.

You can ask questions at Wikipedia:Simple talk. Any pages that you write and any changes that you make are yours. A license called the GNU Free Documentation License guarantees that people will always be able to use and make copies of all of Wikipedia including your pages and changes.

Read the page about copyrights for more information. We suggest that articles should use only the 1, most common and basic words in English.

They should also use only simple grammar and shorter sentences. Writers can also use a special system, for example, Basic English.

Of course, people can write original articles; these could be put in both this and the English Wikipedia with a normal level of English.

Choose a dictionary. Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English. Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English.

Word Lists. Choose your language. My word lists. Tell us about this example sentence:. The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word.

The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit. Your feedback will be reviewed. There are experts who watch for errors , and pages on which disagreements about subjects can be discussed :.

Wikipedia is a good place to start to get a broad overview of the subject. Want to learn more? What is the pronunciation of Wikipedia? Browse Wii.

Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes. Image credits. Word of the Day swamp.