Learning a Foreign Language with The Sims

JavaTHut writes "The Journal Language Learning and Technology has a new article describing how The Sims can be modified to teach a foreign language. With this and other efforts at U.S.C. and M.I.T., could simulated immersion within video games become an effective way of acquiring a foreign language? Also of interest in the article are suggestions for using spatialized translation layers in foreign language songs and a Firefox extension for learning foreign vocabulary words."

Comments

Children learn English this way now

[nekosej]

In small European countries which don't benefit from having games translated into the local language, the children play them in English, and as a result, pick up quite a bit of written language. I've seen this in the Czech Republic, and found it amazing that a ten year old could understand so much. That said, it does little for spoken language.