Gaming: A Way of Learning English?

Gaming: A Way of Learning English?

I mostly learnt the basics of English by playing games, but it'd be presumptuous to think this works for everyone. For that reason, this article explores the pros and cons of learning a language through games. You'll have learnt about how multiplayer games can help you build a solid understanding of English or refine it by the end of this article.

A few personal experiences of mine show that it's possible to become adequate at English or even as fluent as a native speaker by playing games. For example, a close friend of my brother who's called Robin, is French and whose English was previously insufficient, managed to become good enough to hold long and meaningful conversations with various people. Although he'd only had a few years of English in school (with a bad teacher), he became that good after two months of writing as well as a bit more than three months of voice chatting with my brother whilst playing games. In my opinion, his English skills are around B1 or B2. He's been progressing in leaps and bounds. My mother-in-law is a great example for how gaming can even lead to a person becoming stunningly profound at English: She's currently at a level where I wouldn't be able to tell her apart from a native speaker, though in her case, she's also watched tons of movies and shows on top of playing games as well as voice chatting. Although she couldn't talk very well, she did have a basic understanding through school already when she started the activity. Nevertheless, it helped her refine her English skills and build up her confidence to become more outgoing, fluent, and better at the skill of pronunciation. She says just talking, hearing, and seeing others talk in English (in this case, in games or shows) will assist you in the acquisition of improved English skills. I.e., multiplayer games that require you to chat aid you in the process of becoming better at English. Voice chatting in particular helps build up confidence and fluent, correct speech by a lot.

Now, there are a few risks and chances involved in learning a language through this way, which I will now elaborate. Firstly, inexperienced English users may influence you in a bad way. E.g., many people not being able to tell the words to, too, and two apart. Additionally, through games alone, you will mostly learn informal English, which is helpful in daily life, but perhaps a bit inappropriate on professional occasions such as writing a report or during a meeting. Some other small cons to trying to learn English by playing games are that there are few people to correct you and that there might be discouragement from other people. The former may lead to some bad tendencies that make one look silly or unprofessional, whilst the latter may not make one feel welcome, which can result in the affected person developing insecurity and/or social anxiety. As for the pros, I'll start with the obvious: This whole thing doesn't cost anything unless one counts the electricity bill and one's time. Another neat feature is that one can combine fun with learning, which has been shown to improve the quality of the learning. It makes the procedure more natural, too. Needless to say, merely being able to learn the basics of a language under these conditions is quite motivating. However, if that isn't enough, there are people who encourage such efforts and vigorously participate in one's journey of bettering oneself as well.

In conclusion, I find that utilising games for that matter is a fascinating idea and is totally worth a shot. Still, it might not be everyone's cup of tea, so one should observe one's progress (if any occurs) to ensure it's working out. There are other methods to successfully master a language. Therefore, it's sensible not to think there is only one way to the goal, but many different paths to take.

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