They don’t have to be targeting vocabulary and grammar specifically-given the age group they’re appealing to (think ages 3-10), any game developers worth their salt will make sure the gameplay is friendly to young players who are still absorbing the basics of their native language. You’re bound to learn something from these options because games for early childhood education, and even a bit beyond, are always designed to teach language fundamentals on some level. For example, I’d readily dare any Spanish learner to play the Ninja Turtles “Las Tortugas en la pizzeria” (The Turtles in the pizzeria) game without smiling-and without picking up at least one new vocabulary word. Then, after clicking around a little bit, I become completely convinced. I remembered the immense pleasure of playing Spanish Nickelodeon games with my younger brother-in-law and cousins-in-law. But then I tapped into my inner ’90s kid and remembered all the amazing click-like-a-madman flash games I was addicted to on the Nickelodeon website and elsewhere. If you’re skeptical about playing children’s games, know that you’re in good company. How to Learn Any Language by Playing Video Games Level 1: Game-ify Study Time Start with games made for children. Let the kids have some fun! Kids adore games, obviously, so this is a great way to go if you’re raising bilingual kids or if you’re learning together with your whole family.Games are easily accessible. Even if you don’t have an Xbox at home, many games are easily accessible through Steam and app stores.Others will just give you a common interest to talk about with friends or Internet strangers on forums and websites. You can make real-world friends. Many games offer you the ability to connect with people online while you’re playing.Learn or die! If you don’t follow what’s happening, you’ll die.You’ll never put off study time. When study time is game time, will you really dread it or procrastinate it?.The more familiar with the game you are, the more familiar you’ll become with the language used. This will help to strongly solidify a good chunk of vocabulary. That’s because every game has some core themes, key characters, big events and repeated actions that will keep popping up as you go. Repetition. Even in games with complex stories or ones that give you tons of freedom to choose your fate, you’ll still hear the same words over and over as you play.This is how immersion works when you’re studying abroad: You learn by doing, you get immediate feedback and you need to keep guessing, trying and thinking creatively if you don’t quite understand something. Listening, reading and understanding the language of the virtual world (read: your target language, after you get around to switching your game’s language settings) will be rewarded with points, digital bucks or progress in your game’s storyline. You’ll be immersed in your virtual world, interacting with virtual people, traveling to virtual places and earning virtual money.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |