Keeping the motivation flowing is probably the biggest hurdle for anyone looking to learn a new skill. When it comes to acquiring a language, going from "babby babbler" to "fluency flaunter" takes about the same amount of determination most gamers usually reserve for grinding up to a high enough level to drop-kick the optional super-boss back into the Maw of Blah.
That being said, learning a language and beating video games are far from mutually exclusive goals. Putting in the study time and throwing new vocabulary and grammar around with real people will always be the best way to boost those speaking and listening stats, but there are plenty of ways in which video games can help buff a player's language XP gain rate while being able to blow off some steam.
10 Slice Of Life Simulators
- Stardew Valley
- The Sims
Management sims and cozy slice-of-life games offer the player a chance to gander at their environment and make note of all the new language labels in the environment. Games like pixel farm-a-thon Stardew Valley or legendary real-life-simulator The Sims are perfect, time-tested examples that are sure to shore up any language learner's word bank.
Players are presented with new words which tend to be useful, everyday things (stove, seed, pool, ladder) that will come in handy in the early days of vocabulary building. In addition, they tend to come at a nice easy pace with the option to pause when things inevitably get out of hand (the pan catches fire and burns the house down, the harvest fails, or one of the neighbors mysteriously drowns).
9 Click-Thru RPGs
- Pokemon
- Persona
When mastering a new tongue, going at the right pace is just as important as learning at the right level. RPGs that present players with lots of simple text are ideal for this purpose, especially since the dialogue only moves when the player wants it to. However, some of the ye olde language in the Final Fantasy series, for example, can be a little archaic and won't offer many phrases for everyday use
The Pokemon or Persona games are perfect for beginners, being a dialogue-heavy RPG set in the modern world. In Pokemon's case, the plot of the game is basic. Additionally, all the NPCs are generally only interested in talking about Pokemon, so it's difficult to really lose context.
8 Visual Novels
- Coffee Talk
- Ace Attorney
For intermediate learners, visual novel games like Coffee Talk offer a vibe-oriented way to practice reading in another language. They offer gameplay that is text-centered but without the stress of a fail state.
However, for advanced learners, titles that do put a fail state on understanding the text, like the Ace Attorney series and its spin-offs, can give themselves quite the challenge by playing in a second tongue (assuming they don't already know the twists).
7 Games Built Around Language Acquisition
- Linguist FPS
- Hiragana Battle
Who knew that explosions and pronunciation practice could go together so nicely? Linguist FPS is a game that teaches the player simple (and sometimes hilariously offensive) vocabulary in exchange for knocking down enemy forces with hot lead and blowing up everything else that stands in their way.
Other games have found ways to use video games to deliver action-packed and engaging lessons. Hiragana Battle takes the pillars of the classic turn-based 90s RPGs (parties, random battles, side-quests) and uses them to teach the player the fundamentals of the basic Japanese writing system.
6 The Power Of Insta-Switchers
- Disco Elysium
- Backbone
No, not "Switch games" (which strangely hardwired the language setting to system options), but games that let the player switch languages at the push of a button. Titles like Disco Elysium, Backbone, and Guild Wars 2 let players toggle between two languages at the push of a button.
While doing it through an options menu is all well and good, this ability to seamlessly switch is a powerful tool for language development. This is especially helpful for a text-heavy game like Disco Elysium, which contains over a million words of dialogue and some colorful (and intimidating) language at that. Similarly, Guild Wars 2 has a whole world of NPCs to chat with between dragon-slaying and beetle racing.
5 Hang With Guildies In MMOs
- Final Fantasy 14
- Guild Wars 2
While it used to be that video games were a very solo experience, there's never been an easier time to meet speakers of other languages (while extracting +1 dex chain mail from the guts of wild animals or other fantasy creatures). Threading ties with a community is a motivation super-booster when it comes to developing new lingual muscles.
Add discord voice chat into the mix, and would-be bilingual players have got themselves free speaking and listening practice. The trick is to find a receptive clan in a friendly MMO cool and welcoming enough to open its doors to non-native speakers. That being said, it's a wide world, and as long as their new guildie doesn't agro at the wrong time, everything will be fine.
4 Habit-Building Mobile Apps
- Duolingo
Whether Duolingo is actually a video game is debatable. However, Duolingo does contain XP, achievements, high scores, levels, and other video-game-y features, so it's not hard to see how it might fit the category of mobile game. The idea is to make it as fun as a game to encourage habit-building and regular second-language use.
While there are potential portable-console experiences capable of delivering a daily dose of lingo-doing, the ubiquitousness of a cell phone makes the habit hard to keep and difficult to break (so long as the player wants to make it to the top of the leaderboards).
3 Go For Full-Culture Immersion
- The Witcher
- Yakuza
One of the joys of learning a language is also experiencing the culture that comes with it. While a two-way ticket to Japan or Estonia might be a little out of reach for most gamers ($70 a pop isn't nothing!), there are plenty of ways to get immersed in another country: the Yakuza series is a prime example.
Budding language learners should try to find a game that was written in the target language because it sidesteps the problem of hearing badly translated dialogue. Unfortunately, not every translation job is done with an equal amount of care. Why not play The Witcher in the original Polish or one of the Metro games in Russian?
2 Play Word Games
- Scribblenauts
One way to help with vocabulary memorization is to use word games. A perfect example is Scribblenauts, in which nouns and adjectives are powers of manifestation in and of themselves. Players can imagine that each new word in their target language is like a dragon shout from Skyrim but without the hassle of having to slay a dragon every ten minutes.
The game is slow-paced and allows for some pretty creative problem-solving. If the player uses the wrong adjective, there's instant feedback to let them know that they made a mistake.
1 Try <Favorite Game> In Another Language!
For players worried they might miss important plot details, context, or key hints while playing a game in another language, hitting up a well-worn favorite is a legitimate language-learning tactic. Of course, a true fan of the game will already know the game inside out, so nothing will jump out as a surprise (except, in some cases, the way some lines are translated between two tongues!).
Some games may have their translations locked to a specific region, but nowadays, with digital downloads, they usually come loaded with the translations. In addition, steam helpfully lets players search games by language, so get wagging that tongue!