Video Game for Learning English

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Tdol

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I recently spent several months in internet cafes in Cambodia and there are problems with connection speed, but I did see people playing games there. However, there would be problems. It is also fair to say that the majority of customers were not locals. :)
 

A.Russell

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Imagine how much bigger -than it is already- the market will be when they get up to speed ;-)
 

A.Russell

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Very positive results here.

I have artists working on some concept work and finished models. Stay tuned and I'll have something to show soon.
 

ricardosong

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I voted 3.

I totally agree with what Tdol once said as how to enrich one's English vocabulary. It is blood, sweat and tears that work things out. This is also ture for the whole English learning.
 

A.Russell

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Thanks for your input, it's good to hear the negative side, too.

After four years of "blood, sweat and tears" at university learning Japanese, I knew a lot, but could barely speak a sentence. After coming to Japan and practicing with friends, at work, and in bars I quickly became fluent. Really quickly. I could see improvement week by week. So for me personally, "blood sweat and tears" didn't do nearly as well as immersing myself in the language in a real and useful environment, and was a heck of a lot more enjoyable, too.

Things that are difficult to learn never seem nearly as hard to me when I enjoy them and am motivated to practice. I hope this game will provide that sort of motivation and enjoyment for others and make the task of learning a whole new language a little less arduous.

I do not recommend learning entirely by playing video games. They are another tool just like books and videos, and one that a growing number of people are beginning to feel is under exploited.
 

ricardosong

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A.Russell, thanks for your comment.

Your experience is another proof that success comes only out of hard work and formal training. When you are proud of your Japanese, you cannot forget your university education, which is the base for your progress. You should also thank the time and efforts talking with native speakers, which is another form I call "blood, sweat and tears". Maybe you consider talking to people kind of fun, but there exist learner who don't even open their month.

I have similar story with yours. I learned 4 years Portuguese in unversity, but I still found it was not enough on many aspects. Later I had oportunity to work with portuguese natives and I made suprisingly rapid progress, even feeling that I learned more than I did in the past 4 years. However, I say to myself, if there was not A,B,C and the basic knowledge I got before, the miracle is just a dream.

Your efforts to develop other ways of learning are positive. Perhaps I'm too tradicional, but I think the main stream is formal education. People have to learn things seriouly, to attain scientific knowlege is not sweet, it is rather bitter. Otherwise, all people will be scientists and great knowlegeble person.
 

A.Russell

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One of my fellow developers has just released a video game for drilling multiplication. Now, normally multiplacation drills are dead boring, but try this and see what you think:


Timez Attack

http://www.bigbrainz.com/

Also, he currently has a promotional offer:
http://www.coniserver.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=524017&Main=521280#Post524017


For those of you who try it, what do you think about the fighting depicted? I've asked about this before, but perhaps after playing this you will have a clearer opinion. Is the bloodless violence in this game acceptable for an educational title? I have a poll on another part of the forum asking about violence, and somme people were a little squeemish about the idea of how bloodless violence would be recieved by teachers and parents.

The acceptable level of violence poll can be found here :https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11833
 
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A.Russell

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Very encouraging results so far.

I have a client who wants my pachinko simulation ported to Linux, and that is taking up most of my development time these days (which is restricted by my day job time). I do have a couple of artists working on concept, though, and I'll post some of these in the next few days. I'd like to hear your opinions.
 

Tdol

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I watched the demos and was very impressed. I'm not a computer gamer but I have seen a fair few games over the years. I thought it was slick and I wouldn't worry at all about that sort of level of violence- it is a very cool program. I look forward to your next posting. ;-)
 

A.Russell

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I've been flat out with the pachinko project lately:



http://www.clubvarie.com/pictures/ATISplash600nologo.jpg


Pachinko a Go Go!

However I have a couple of concepts the 2d artist made of the player characters that I can show you. The 3d artist will probably kick in and begin modeling them by the end of the month. Hope you like them:

http://www.clubvarie.com/pictures/BatGuy1_sm.jpg
http://www.clubvarie.com/pictures/BatGuy2_sm.jpg
http://www.clubvarie.com/pictures/Catgirl3_sm.jpg


More to come. Please be patient, and thanks to all the people who have voted in the survey. Keep them coming!

EDIT>>> the images were showing when I created the post, but not after submitting -webmaster?
 
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charlieten

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I have never played video games for language learning, but i can imagine that it's good.
 

Tdol

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A.Russell said:
EDIT>>> the images were showing when I created the post, but not after submitting -webmaster?

I can see them fine. Is Catgirl's ring part of her costume or piercing? :shock:
 

A.Russell

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Maybe it's my settings, but I have to click on links before I can see the pictures.

The ring is part of the costume ;-) . We're going with something more like the other illustration of her anyway.

Hi Charlieten! There are currently games for language learning, but they are mostly dead pan boring or games you could play just as well with a pen and paper. I haven't found anything really addictive that would make students want to practice practice their English in order to advance in the game.
 

Tdol

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I had to click as well- I thought they were straight links. I have never tried to display an image except through a link. Sorry. :)
 

sfumato

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Jul 24, 2005

Hello Mr. Russell,

Ill be completing my ESL certificate this friday, Ive been mulling the video game idea for teaching english for about 2 years now. Im a hardcore gamer, been playing since 89 online.

Ive over 300 PC titles on my shelf, and Ive been boring my freinds and familly for 2 years now telling them how I think an RPG would be a fantastic way to teach English and social interaction to "anyone".

Yesturday I found this book,

What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy
by James Paul Gee

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1403965382/104-1445088-9125524

I devoured it, it blew me away because I felt like I was reading my own thoughts. My girlfreind laughed when I showed her that one of the games was Deus Ex because thats the one Im currently trying to create a Lesson Plan for.

The problem is I only have 20 mins with a group of about 10 Chinese students.

They are all Graduate level at UVA.

Im not sure if Im banging my head against a wall trying to make this work but I think it will blow the professors away when they see what an RPG is all about and how INTERESTED the students are, and then theres retention.

I know 14 year old kids who dont speak any language who have gotten Japanese imports of games and translated the manuals, and games , then posted them on the Internets just because they were MOTIVATED to.

Anyone who doesnt think games are going to be the next major leap in learning have never been to a game forum. People will spend hours asking , teaching others and learning about a game if its one they have passion for.

If you go to GAMEFAQS.COM and look at the walkthroughs for games those were written by GAMERS. For Free.

Keep rocking , and if you have any tips for me Id aprreciate it.

Sorry for the poor post but Im on a cell phone and in a hurry. Catch you later.

Sfumato
 

sfumato

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Marylin said:
I don't think the suggestions are exactly pouring in for you. Mind you a lot of kids here do not have access to any video games and probably never will. Some might not even have a clue what you are talking about. As I said before, without trying to sound discouraging, I really don't feel the market is there for this stuff but let's hope I am wrong.


LOL, video games are coming on so strong and so fast you'll probably wake up next spring and be asking yourself where all the books have gone.

WORLD OF WARCRAFT® REACHES 1.5 MILLION
PAYING CUSTOMERS IN CHINA

Worldwide customer base for Blizzard Entertainment®’s
Popular MMORPG now more than 3.5 million players
France, Paris – 20 July, 2005 - Blizzard Entertainment®, Inc. today announced that World of Warcraft®, its subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), has surpassed 1.5 million paying customers in China – just a month following the game’s commercial launch on June 7, 2005. The critically acclaimed World of Warcraft has now achieved another significant milestone as the largest MMORPG in the world, with more than 3.5 million global customers.



OK, that’s 1.5 million Chinese in 1 month who were willing to pay 100 bucks or so for the game and then 25 bucks a month to play it.

Starcraft is the NATIONAL pastime in Korea, the professional players are sports heroes on a scale comparable to Movie Stars.

For example, one highly successful player, [Red]Nada, signed a 3 year, $500,000 contract in 2004. Another example is SlayerS_`BoxeR who can, if all goes well, make $780,000 in the next 3 years, making him the highest paid Starcraft player ever.

That’s right, Gamers are making 39 times what ESL teachers are. :cry:


I recommend you embrace it and learn all can about them. If you want some tips on a good game to try we can talk.

East Asia has embraced the internet , I think it would be helpful to anyone going there to have a thorough understanding of it.

BEIJING (Reuters) - The number of Web users in China, the world's second largest Internet market, grew by 9 million people in the first half of this year to hit 103 million, the China Daily said on Friday. The growth represented an increase of 18.4 percent over the same period last year in a market that still has vast potential for further growth, the report said, citing a survey released by the "quasi-governmental" China Internet Network Information Center on Thursday."


Bill Gates is donating computers to Africa, and I heard that someone was designing a really inexpensive computer just for poorer communities.
 

sfumato

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story.laos.online.1.ap.jpg


Im sorry Marylin, but when people are willing to ride a bike just to get the technology its "game over". No pun intended.

that pics from 2003

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/02/18/laos.onlinebybicycle.ap/

:-D








Marylin said:
Where don’t kids have access to video games these days?
Where? OK, here it is:


Algeria, Angola, Bolivia, Chad, Chile, Nepal, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic,Ecuador, El Salvador,Ethiopia, Honduras India, Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea (North), Laos, Namibia,, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Rwanda, Tibet, Nepal, Ceylon, Azerbaijan and many others. I think they call them third world countries.


So cynical for one so young ;).


"Old age is not a disease, Mr Russell, and it's not a place for sissies, either". I can't remember you asking only for young teachers to come forward...hmmm
 

A.Russell

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Thanks for your comments and links Sfumato. It's good to meet a fellow teacher with as much enthusiasm for the potential of games as learning tools. Can I put you down as a beta tester? Though it is still a way off first playable.

That’s right, Gamers are making 39 times what ESL teachers are.

Well, if they don't get any language skills out of it, at least they'll be well trained for a professional video game plating job :)

I've read some of Paul Gee's work, but not that book. I've got it on order from Amazon. Thanks for that.
 

Marylin

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sfumato said:
LOL, video games are coming on so strong and so fast you'll probably wake up next spring and be asking yourself where all the books have gone.
sfumato said:
including grammar books? .... don't think so.

That’s right, Gamers are making 39 times what ESL teachers are. :cry:

Well, I wish you and Mr. Russell to join the ranks of all those highly paid entrepreneurs! I am sure you will make it just fine judging by the amount of fervent criticism against my opinion.

I recommend you embrace it and learn all can about them. If you want some tips on a good game to try we can talk.

No, thanks, sfumato.

Any more lynching from anyone else?
 
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