The K.I.S.S. Principle and Game Playing

As we started out to develop our foreign language games and the related website, we knew we wanted to attract a wide range of learners:
- those for whom traditional language instructions did not work;
- those who were currently using other self-teaching foreign language programs;
- those for whom such courses were either too expensive or time consuming or boring;
- those who were attracted by the “game playing” proposition - to just name a few.

We were further guided by the Eisenberg's/Quato-vonTivadar's book Always Be Testing, which identifies four personality types of web users that can serve as archetypes: 1. Competitive/Assertive 2. Spontaneous/Amiable 3. Humanistic/Expressive 4. Methodical/Analytical

Without going into the authors' description of these types, we designed our site with these four types in mind. We also felt that our gamesforlanguage.com proposition has the potential to appeal to all four:
- the competitive/assertive user will welcome the points and the scoring with the increasing difficulty inherent in any language course;
- the spontaneous/amiable player will be looking for the “play” button and skip much else;
- the humanistic/expressive learner may be interested in linking the foreign language learning to a story;
- the methodical/analytical user will want to understand the logic of the approach, and get grammar and pronunciation explanations.

The K.I.S.S Principle

In the spirit of K.I.S.S., we decided to keep the playing screen as simple and uncluttered as possible. However, surveys on the site and feedback from friends made it clear that there is a difference between younger and older players. While the young players would start playing by clicking on the first playing screen, the older players were a little confused about how to start.

Arrows and a “Continue” label had to be added. Clearly, the K.I.S.S. admonishment to ourselves needs to take older players into account too. These players may indeed fall into the four user types quoted above. But, they also may need more instructions “how to play” than generations X Y Z, et al.

We are still evaluating what instructions are really needed. And, we are deliberating on how we should best communicate them. Via buttons on the start up screens? On the game screens? On the home or menu icons?

Voice Recognition?

Listening to native speakers and then emulating their pronunciation is one of the key challenges for any student of a foreign language. While some self-teaching language programs are experimenting with voice recognition programs, we decided against using this technology. Rather than being helpful, it can cause the learner to become frustrated with the program.

Instead, encourage players at gamesforlanguage.com to always repeat what they hear, and when they can, to "shadow" what the native speaker says (speak along with the speaker). By using this technique often, a learner's pronunciation can improve noticeably.

We started out with a few basic ideas: Rather than overwhelm the “learner” with explanations and instructions, we let the “player” immediately play through the various screens and games.

Keeping the playing and learning intuitive with games for listening, word identification, translation, and writing, the player will begin to memorize words and sentences and recognize grammatical structures. Indeed, we are very conscious of applying the K.I.S.S. principle to any grammar explanations as well. But that's for another blog post.

Fluent in a Foreign Language in 10 Days?

(Updated: You can also listen to this YouTube clip)
Fluent in a foreign language in 10 days?

It's a catchy idea, but can it really happen? Can you become a good tennis player in ten days? Or a great cook? You can't. Skill mastery takes time. So, if you want to learn a language, you have to find a way to make it part of your day.

GETTING STARTED

First you need to get started. You can faithfully go to a language school. Or, if you are into self-learning, you can work with a language learning course, let's say French from a book, from CDs and DVD's, or from a French online course.

Once you have a good foundation in your new language, you need to maintain momentum and build on your skills. Certainly, you should READ books, newspaper articles, or online articles in the foreign language.

And you should find ways to LISTEN your new language with audios, podcasts, videos and movies. For some, SPEAKING may come early, for others more slowly, but we all know: Nobody can learn a foreign language FOR YOU - in order to be able to listen, read, speak and write, you have to practice all those skills! 

Keeping a notebook to WRITE DOWN words, phrases, and sentences can be very helpful for recall.

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU CONTINUE

Fortunately, with the wealth of technology available, there are many resources. The Internet opens a new gateway to foreign language text, audio, and video content.
- French online newspaper articles are as easy to find as Italian news videos and Spanish online soap operas.
- You can join a foreign language learning website.
- You can sign up to exchange conversations with someone who is trying to learn English.
- There are television programs in Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese, etc., on the various international channels in the U.S. 

PRACTICE OFTEN AND REGULARLY

The bottom line is that if you want to become fluent, you have to engage with your new foreign language often and regularly. The key is “often and regularly.”
You have to find ways to hear, read, write, and speak your new language.

It's as simple or as complicated as that. But whatever you do to START your foreign language learning, you'll have to find ways to stay motivated and engaged with the language.

Gamesforlanguage's snappy and easy language games are one way to make language learning fun. And at any stage, adding fun and challenging games can help you maintain your motivation and momentum.

Why Games for Language Learning?

(Updated 7/29/2016) Why Games for language learning? Well, why not? If you want to learn a foreign language, you have to play around with it, again and again, until the new language gets under your skin.

Games are perfect for that. A “foreign language” isn’t something you cram for a week and then it’s yours. Learning a language is a journey of discovery. Putting the journey into a games format can definitely lighten the experience.

Our Own Experience

The challenge facing us at gamesforlanguage.com is to find ways to make languages learning into a fun game. 

I remember how we enticed our American born sons to learn German. We didn’t just give them the German translation of our daily vocabulary. Stories were key. We read stories to them. We unabashedly made up tales as we talked.

We built on the stories that they invented. All of this in German, with explanations when they were needed. Our sons ended up mastering the German language pretty well.
 
As the boys were growing up, video and later computer games were becoming enticing activities. How often did I wish that some of these games had a fun and worthwhile component for learning German!

Forward to 2011

So here we are in an age when “Games are creeping into everything” (according to Jesse Schell, game designer, who led research projects at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center).

Why not instill a playful dimension into learning a foreign language? Why not create an online German language course? And now, that’s what we’re doing.

Our language learning games at gamesforlanguage.com are built on the travel adventures of a main character. Traveling certainly is a great incentive to learn a foreign language.

The Benefit of Games

Games can provide short intense challenges with quick closure. Done right, they can put you into a kind of quick “flow learning” that bypasses slugging things out mentally. An online language learning site is a great resource.

You can go there to play games when you feel like it - maybe even on an iPhone while you are waiting or just sitting around. You want to get into the game setting easily and pick up the game where you left off earlier.
 
In games that I play, I like the visual environment of the game, and I enjoy the sense of challenge. I like getting a score and the feeling that I accomplished something worthwhile. 

All of this adds up. Working on gamesforlanguage.com brings to mind Jane McGonigal’s comment on her page "Gameful," a place where responsible game makers connect: “What all of these projects have in common: they’re dedicated to making some kind of a real positive impact on gamers’ lives and the world around them.”