The Simple English Wikipedia was started as a response to needs of English learners (EAL students) and English teachers. The project began to see major contributions after 150,000+ articles in the original English Wikipedia and articles in each of seven other languages had been created. Its articles are intended to be less complex, and can be used for free readings in the classroom, computer activities, and so on. Non-English Wikipedias can also be translated from the articles here.

The Simple English Wikipedia uses fewer words and simpler grammar than the original English Wikipedia. It is focused on readers who tend to be quite different from the typical Wikipedia reader with different needs, for example, people for whom English is not a first language, students, children, translators, and people with learning disabilities or those who read below a proficient level. Simple Wikipedia is also a great tool for students (as in elementary, middle, and high school) who do not need the extra information that regular Wikipedia provides.

In general, Simple English articles are simplifications of the most important points in existing articles, rather than being new. This is likely to make Simple English articles a good way to introduce those written in complex English; if someone has trouble understanding a concept in complex English they can "fall back" to the Simple version.

However, vandals often vandalize in the Simple English Wikipedia instead of the regular English Wikipedia, for the purpose of having a lesser chance of being caught, as it is visited less frequently.

Simple English is a simplified form of the English language. Its intention is to make content more understandable to those less familiar with the language.

It is suggested that articles be simplified using only the 1000 most common and basic words in English and fewer complex grammatical structures—such as shorter sentences—or to conform to a certain skill level in one of the standard indices. Of course, original submissions are also welcome; in that case, they could be submitted both to this and to the main Wikipedia (where it is written in the normal level of English). Most articles will draw from a 2000-word defining vocabulary useful for expressing concepts in English. This is still simpler English than most "English as an additional language" or "English as a Second Language" (ESL) students can read after a few months of learning.

• Main Page – The front page of the Simple English Wikipedia project.
• Simple English Wikipedia – An expanded description of the project's goals and the simple form of English used there.
• An English Wikipedian's guide – The differences between the English Wikipedia and the Simple English Wikipedia.

• Firefox search plugin for the Simple English Wikipedia
• Simple English Wikipedia — article about Simple English Wikipedia in the main namespace.
• Vikidia – A related MediaWiki Project that is designed for children ages 8–13.