I created something that is basically just a glorified quiz. I think it’s pretty bad and don’t really want to work on it anymore.
I now want to create a real game with a controllable character, that relies on learning by immersion, rather than a ‘select the right answer’ type quiz game.
Maybe it would be top down, like the old GTA games, and the player is just dropped onto a street in France/Germany/wherever and somehow learns the language, and as he does the language gets progressively harder.
I’d like to see a language learning game in Flash because I haven’t really seen anything other than quiz games.
Before I start I would need some fundamental design ideas to go off, because I really don’t know what direction to go in, so it would be helpful if some other members could just throw some ideas around?
Thanks!
If you’re interested in this, here are some links/things I have recently looked at:
New Ajax based language learning website: [URL=“http://www.gamesforlanguage.com/”]http://www.gamesforlanguage.com/
Two Kanji games:
Slime forest: http://lrnj.com/
Knuckles in China Land: http://www.tbns.net/knuckles/
[URL=“http://knol.google.com/k/10-key-principles-for-designing-video-games-for-foreign-language-learning#”]http://knol.google.com/k/10-key-principles-for-designing-video-games-for-foreign-language-learning
[URL=“Reddit - Dive into anything”]Reddit - Dive into anything
[URL=“Reddit - Dive into anything”]Reddit - Dive into anything
Something from an old paper I thought was interesting. 9 different types of one-on-one dialogues:
INTERACTION TYPES FOR DIALOG SCHEMAS: The simplest interaction types consist of one linguistic or spatial move by the student or tutor and then one by the other of them.
We have identified nine pedagogically useful types for language learning, listed below, each involving language use in one or both of its two moves. The names, initially a convenient shorthand for the tutor’s role, evoke motivationally useful tutor personality traits (Murray, 1987; 1992);
- Tourguide
Tutor acts and comments; Student acknowledges - Commander
Tutor makes a command; Student executes it - Narrator
Tutor says something; Student enacts it - Celebrity
Tutor acts; Student tells about it - Quizmaster
Tutor asks a question; Student answers it - Movecaster
Student acts; Tutor describes it - Oracle
Student asks a question; Tutor answers it - Servant
Student makes a command; Tutor executes it - Interpreter
Student says something; Tutor enacts it
Some comments critical of the quiz/flashcard type of language learning game:
I sort of harp on this all the time, but the significant issue I see is that you’re training translation, rather than the language. That’s fine for memorizing a few useful phrases to get by in a foreign country, but if you’re trying to teach the language for speaking, eventually you’ll need to teach the language on it’s own terms (the flashcards need to be in French: “quelle heure est-il?” (Prompt: 12:00) Answer: “Il est midi”)
While I doubt that phrase memorization is a good way to learn a language- it is indeed a start. But I do think that sheer vocab and grammar are without a doubt needed in order to better learn the language as once you learn rules you might be able to not only say “Do you have the time?” but “Do you have any…” or something along those lines. But from a programming perspective, I can totally see why it’d be easier just to match phrases. If anything, this would make as a good “exam” part of the game to see if someone is ready for the next lesson or something like that.
…For some of the interactions at higher levels of knowledge, dynamic conversations would be beneficial. So instead of leading the player down a conversational path and prompting the desired answers, the conversation flows naturally. for example
the player encounters a game character and is prompted to initiate conversation.
PL:Good morning
NPC: Good morning!
PL: nice weather today isnt it? / do you know what time it is/ could you tell me how to get to the train station…
NPC: responds in a natural way, continuing the conversation if appropriate.
I think these interactions would help more advanced players master the language, as they wouldn’t be parroting a list of phrases they recently learned, but relying on a larger bank of learned vocabulary.
