A person playing video games with a headset.

The Best Video Games for Language Learning

Level up and learn a new language with video games! The research is that interactive video games are proven to be efficient language learning tools. It is an evolving revolutionary way to learn a language through dialogue, context, interaction, and problem-solving. The best part is you can have fun while learning!

Change Your Language Settings

Learning a new language via video game can be as easy as changing the language setting in the game to the language you want to learn. You play through the story and learn as you go, remembering words and grammar structures on the way and engaging in with the game’s dialogue as you play through

Communicate with People from Around the World

You can communicate with people and make real-world friends in video games in real-time. Many multiplayer games offer you the ability to connect with people online while you’re playing. Other specific video games will just give you a common goal or interest to talk about with friends or even meet strangers worldwide. Make new friends as you play! You can utilize these games and forums to learn a new language and learn about other cultures. 

Phone Games

Phone app games like Duolingo and even word games like Scrabble and WordUp can be great fun ways to learn a new language by utilizing the short free time you get during your day. Phone games are a convenient and practical way to learn a language because of their repetitiveness. 

You will start to associate words with objects and understand more and more each day the language you want to learn or perfect. Even better, any mobile game can be educational. Just go into your smartphone settings, and you can change it to your target language. Repetition of words and concepts is how we learn a language in school, and mobile games can bring that concept right to your hand, wherever you may be. 

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Types of Games for New Language Learners

Finding the right language learning platform for you can seem daunting at first, but it is pretty straightforward. There are many different gaming platforms to choose from, such as; Your smartphone being probably the most readily available. Consoles such as PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, Windows, and others can be excellent language learning tools

Interactive Subtitled Story Games

Games like Life is Strange, and The Last of Us series are interactive story games focusing on the characters themselves and all about the game’s dialogue. You usually end up in control of the main character and move through a specific environment (like a zombie apocalypse), collect items, and interact with other storyline characters. 

The fun thing is, this is usually based on a choose your own adventure-type storyline, so your every decision directly affects the game and can even alter the end. Keeping these types of games on subtitles in the language settings allows you to learn a new language in a fun way. This works incredibly well if you play it through once first, in your native language.

A mobile game being played

Learning and Word Games

More obvious vocabulary learning apps available on your smartphone are great learning options. These language learning apps are ideal if you are a beginner, and they can help you get comfortable with all the vocabulary and grammar without all the stress of a classroom. You can also connect with your friends and others, which is a great way to stay competitive and keep you motivated daily. 

Word, Puzzle, and Strategy games too can be effective for learning a new language because you play with people from all around the world. Changing the settings to other languages allows you to play through the game in the language you are learning. Communicating with new friends from that part of the world and learning firsthand about their language and culture. Before long, you will know how to say “Good game” in over ten languages. 

Single Player Strategy Online Games

If you like meeting new people online, you might like this kind of online game. Strategy and quickness can get you on the top of the leaderboards. However, most single-player strategy games are addictive!. Puzzle strategy games like Snake and Candy Crush don’t have as much interaction with the dialogue, but they make up for it in nostalgic repetitive fun. You must think before we act in video games, which puts our brain trains at full steam ahead! 

There are other types of single-player strategy games that are a little heavier in dialogue and super heavy on the action. These can be excellent language learning tools as well, just by playing and becoming accustomed to learning as you play. Command, Conquer, and Learn Consonants! 

A person learning a language on a mobile device.

Multiplayer Online Fantasy Games

First thing first, put the subtitles on all the games you want to play. Say you want to play Elder Scrolls (Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim), this is just one of the really well-developed online fantasy games you can play to learn a language. You get to be this whole other character and meet others along the way on a huge map. Reading dialogue as you play out these fantastical situations can be an effective way to learn languages and develop better grammar. 

RPG’s

Role-playing games are immersive and a never-ending, constantly changing source of entertainment. You become the character and live another life as you play the game. Dungeons and Dragons opened up a world of board games and now video games that take you to another world. World of Warcraft is just one of these types of games that is adored by fans all across the globe. 

Unfortunately, chat rooms and servers can be rare with these multiplayer RPGs. However, you can still find ways to communicate with players and learn a new language. Sometimes you might even learn a language that is specific to the game itself. How do you say “Gamer” in Elvish? 

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