I have been toying around with the idea of an MMORPG that taught you a foreign language or something similar. I thought that the repetitive nature of an MMORPG would be great for learning a language, since repetition is required in order to learn a language. My thought though is to have the language learning as more of a background process, meaning that learning the language is a by-product of playing the game, not the purpose. I would use some kind of immersion technique. The game would introduce words while questing, fighting, dialogue, etc. The text would start off simple and progressively get harder. Advancing in the game would not be possible without advancing your understanding of the language. The key, though, is that there would not be any formal "lessons". It would just be a gradual introduction of words and you would learn those words from context. A picture of an apple with the word underneath it in your item list. It would say the word apple when you clicked on it. A quest given would say collect 3 apples, etc. Of course I could probably offer the option of not learning a language and also the degree in which you understand the language does not dictate your level in the game. I guess in the end my questions are: 1. Can a game teach you something without it feeling like you are learning something? 2. Is an MMO a good format for teaching a foreign language? 3. Would there be a large enough demand for this? 4. Would learning a foreign language be a hindrance or a feature of a game? 5. Would you personally be interested in a game like that?

I can't really see this being the selling point for a game, but it certainly is a cool idea for a feature.

The mechanic could really be implemented in many games - as they are localized in several languages, the developers could tag certain items or elements of the game as dual-language and players could chose any language to learn as they played.

I agree that an MMO would be an ideal platform for teaching language, but it would perhaps be one of the hardest genres in which to convince somebody to finance the introduction of this feature.

Having said that, "The Typing Of The Dead" was actually released, so there must be some people in the industry susceptible to such ideas.

Quote:

1. Can a game teach you something without it feeling like you are learning something?

Yes. There are very few games I have played that didn't teach me something, even if that something was just the lore of a fictional universe.

Quote:

2. Is an MMO a good format for teaching a foreign language?

Well part of the role-play would be to talk in the new language, so yeah, I guess.

Quote:

3. Would there be a large enough demand for this?

Over here in Ireland, language subjects hold the same weight as other subjects in determining who gets the wanted college places. In any country where languages are academically treated seriously, there would be a demand, I reckon.

Quote:

4. Would learning a foreign language be a hindrance or a feature of a game?

Would be both.

Quote:

5. Would you personally be interested in a game like that?

Learning languages is very hard for me; I wish there was such a game to help learn French a few years ago; maybe then I would have done well in my French academic exams!

Quote:

1. Can a game teach you something without it feeling like you are learning something?

Absolutely.

Quote:

2. Is an MMO a good format for teaching a foreign language?

That's hard to say, there are so many other factors that could determine whether it succeeds or not, or whether its even economically viable or not. It may certainly help in learning the language by talking to others in said language. You could also make it single player but incorporate an online multiplayer capability, similar to battle.net perhaps.

Quote:

3. Would there be a large enough demand for this?

Maybe. I certainly found Typing Of The Dead engaging, but i don't know how well it sold. If done correctly language material could be done the same way and be potentially more engaging than traditional material.

Quote:

4. Would learning a foreign language be a hindrance or a feature of a game?

That entirely depends on the game and the implementation of the subject language.

Quote:

5. Would you personally be interested in a game like that?

Possibly. I rather enjoyed learning the (fake) language of the Lizardmen in Ultima Underworld, if i could've taken that out into the real world that would have been pretty cool.

1. Can a game teach you something without it feeling like you are learning something?
A: Of course.

2. Is an MMO a good format for teaching a foreign language?
A: Don't know. There might be better formats. They should all be considered, depending on the desired end.

3. Would there be a large enough demand for this?
A: "Large enough" for what end?

4. Would learning a foreign language be a hindrance or a feature of a game?
A: Depends on the desired end.

5. Would you personally be interested in a game like that?
A: I am not in your target audience. BTW, do you know who your target audience is?

Perhaps you can have spells in different languages..and if you do not understand them
you can not cast them.

How to do this? Maybe like reading a foreign recipe you need to find correct
ingredients and do the proper combinations of hand waving,dancing, jumping etc. :)

Also items could simply be named in the new language. E.g: an apple which restores health or nourishment or whatever could have the picture of an apple but would be named "Une Pomme", if the game's language to be learned was French (the name would also convey the gender of the noun, for French at least, anyway).

Also some items could start off in the native language (e.g: English), and then could be upgraded to their new language alternatives. E.g: "An Apple" could restore 100 heath but it could be enchanted or whatever into "Une Pomme" which restores 200 heath or so.

1. Can a game teach you something without it feeling like you are learning something?

I wouldn't say it can't be done, but I personally have never learned anything practical from a game.

2. Is an MMO a good format for teaching a foreign language?

I think you made a good case for why is would be.

3. Would there be a large enough demand for this?

No idea.

4. Would learning a foreign language be a hindrance or a feature of a game?

It depends on how well the lessons are executed. If you go to fast, it would definitely be a hindrance.

5. Would you personally be interested in a game like that?

Yes.

1. Can a game teach you something without it feeling like you are learning something?

Definitely.

2. Is an MMO a good format for teaching a foreign language?

I think it would be, you brought up a good point about the repetition. Also, MMO players probably tend to immerse themselves in the game world more than with other genres, so that could help.

3. Would there be a large enough demand for this?

Don't know about this one.

4. Would learning a foreign language be a hindrance or a feature of a game?

Both. It would definitely be annoying if you wanted to focus more on just playing the game but couldn't proceed because you didn't know the language well enough. On the other hand, you could argue that this MMO will actually be educational.

5. Would you personally be interested in a game like that?

Definitely. Especially if Japanese were a language option.

Wow, the replies have been a pleasant suprise. I was thinking that it would have been met with more resistance. This is very encouraging. I just wish the idea was more attainable. I may have to test drive the idea in a single player RPG or something.

Quote:

5. Would you personally be interested in a game like that? Definitely. Especially if Japanese were a language option.

Japanese would be a requirement :). I am very interested in learning the language myself.

Quote:

1. Can a game teach you something without it feeling like you are learning something? A: Of course. 2. Is an MMO a good format for teaching a foreign language? A: Don't know. There might be better formats. They should all be considered, depending on the desired end. 3. Would there be a large enough demand for this? A: "Large enough" for what end? 4. Would learning a foreign language be a hindrance or a feature of a game? A: Depends on the desired end. 5. Would you personally be interested in a game like that? A: I am not in your target audience. BTW, do you know who your target audience is?

3. RE: Would the success of the game warrant the effort in development. Success being a measurement of the amount of people who played and enjoyed the game for at least 1/2 of a year (I imagine that is how long it would take to have a decent grasp on the new language they are learning). I couldnt give you an exact number, but I would say 10k people would be considered a success.

4. RE: The desired end would be for it to be considered a success. Refer to 3 for a definition of success.

5. RE: That sounds like it would be a no, that you are not interested. Why are you not my target audience? You don't want to learn a language, you don't like MMO's, you don't play games?

As far as who is my actual target audience. I think that would depend on the final format of the game. The only thing I know about my target audience at this point is that they should want to learn a language and like to play games, specifically MMO's, but I somehow get the impression that is not what you are asking because that is self-evident. Are you asking if I know the particular age group or social class, etc. that my target audience belongs to? If so, then I do not. I posed this question as a preliminary research question on this and because I wanted to see the gamedev community's opinion.