Second Language Acquisition Does Not Have to Come From a Textbook

A surprising source of exceptional comprehensible input

Welcome, aspiring polyglot! Comprehensible input is one of the most important pieces of successful second language acquisition, but often people struggle to sit down and read another chapter of the book they have been fighting. While there are more than enough forms of stimulus that are not enjoyable, there are a few that are worth considering if you want to have fun while learning a new language.

Video games can be a net negative, certainly, but when you can now change just about any game into your target language, you have the ability to get some serious exposure in a truly simulated immersion environment. If you have been struggling with exposure, adding an hour of gaming into your routine may just turn that around. You will encounter a myriad of new vocabulary words and, depending on the game, you may even make friends with some native speakers who would be more than happy to help you practice.

Video games are a waste of time

It may not surprise you to hear that many people consider video games a waste of time and they are likely one of the last things people think of when it comes time to develop language skills. However, of every German I have met in my life, and I lived there for a year, the ones who spoke the best English also played the most video games. Playing games with native speakers will force you to speak your target language and there are now a myriad of ways to find and enjoy foreign game servers.

During this time, the likelihood of speaking in slang increases, but so does the opportunity to practice without being afraid of failure. No one cares how well, or poorly, you speak their language when they are having fun in the middle of a game. Whenever possible, practicing spoken language without the fear of repercussions is crucial. Use these moments to build you confidence so you are able to take on any challenge when the stakes are higher.

Beyond playing in a designated server, with a PC you can play about any game in almost any foreign language you desire. It might take time and you may have to uninstall and re-download the game, but it will be worth your time. Once you have changed the language in the game, it is time to take on a whole new challenge.

The best approach is to play a game you have already played more than once. When you know what you should expect from the story and how you approach different challenges you can focus more on the language you are learning than the story being conveyed.

At the end of the day, if you are going to spend time playing video games you should at the very least use them to level up your second language acquisition. It may take some time to see results, but in the same way you learn your first language through exposure you will learn each new language through exposure. Adding games to your routine is a great way to study without actually feeling like you are sitting down to research foreign languages.

Different approaches to start speaking your target language

Here are some of the ways you can get the most out of your time playing video games in your new language:

1. Read your character's responses (and potential responses) aloud

If you have never tried roleplaying in a game before, now is the time to start. You do not have to worry about being embarrassed either, assuming you are playing a single player game. For this example we will use one of the most popular games in the last decade, Fallout 4.

These frames are from one of the first conversations you will encounter in this game. As you can see, there is already quite a bit going on here and you will be confronted with several new challenges as you take on a game in a new language.

For the best results, read each of the responses aloud, make sure you understand what they mean, and make your choice. At first it will be slow, but over time you will become more comfortable with this form of comprehensible input and your second language acquisition will accelerate.

Fortunately, in this game most of the characters are voice acted and each respective foreign language has people who record in that language. Whether or not they are native speakers, they have enough knowledge and sound authentic enough to publish.

This means that every time someone speaks you have the opportunity to improve your own spoken language skills. Try to mimic the characters as much as possible and if need be you can always have them repeat certain phrases.

Take as much time as you need repeating after people. Learning to make the proper sounds is vital if you want to sound like a native speaker and you likely do if you are taking your second language acquisition seriously. This works best when you are fond of the voice you are attempting to emulate. If you know what you want to sound like you can work towards the goal of mimicking that voice, tone, and tempo every chance you get.

Repetition is particularly valuable when it comes to words you struggle to pronounce. When you are essentially talking to the game you are playing, no one is going to laugh at you for getting something wrong. You can pause, rewind, and repeat as often as you need to until you master the pronunciation.

This portion of second language acquisition can be horribly embarrassing if you are talking exclusively to native speakers. Avoid this issue by practicing hard when no one is around so you will have no issues when the time to use your new language comes.

Playing with others

When you are playing with other people, I suggest having tap to talk on so that your mic is not always on during the games. The primary reason for this is, during multiplayer games a ton of slang will come out. You should take the opportunity to repeat these new words as well, even ask what they mean. More times than not you will find the people you are playing with are more than happy to teach you about their first language.

In most game servers, the dominant language is English. However, that does not mean that English is the first language of the majority of the players. Many people who are playing are likely English language learners who are trying to do the same thing as you. By opening the door to communication by asking about certain words, you may just find a partner for your second language acquisition.

Video games are good for language input, but they severely limit language output. Speaking to people is the perfect way to offset this with the added advantage that you never have to hear from these people again if you do not want to making it a perfect practice opportunity. Learning to use productive language by understanding what people who speak your new language as a mother tongue say is for more beneficial than logging into Duolingo to collect your daily XP and hold onto the hundreds day long streak.

Conclusion

Much of what you will encounter when using video games for second language acquisition is a subconscious process. In order for you to get value out of this exercise you need to do what you can to work on conscious learning. Video games are just a tool, but they can be extremely useful. Learning new vocabulary words and grammar structures from gaming is certainly not something you will encounter in mainstream classrooms. That said, they act as a perfect immersion learning environment in a pinch.

If you are going to spend time playing video games, take the chance to play them in other languages and experiment with different languages you want to learn. Some games will be better for Spanish than others and some will be perfect for learning German.

No matter what you will come across a plethora of new vocabulary words which should give you confidence in speaking your new language. Continue building that confidence and it will carry over into real world situations where you are confronted with your target language.

As we discuss often around here, creating is vital in second language acquisition. Speaking and practicing with written language will help you in accelerating and enhancing your language learning process, so start having conversations as early on as possible. It will be difficult, but you can do difficult things and be great. So go do some difficult things and become great.

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