Video games listening
1.Become a better listenerThe days oftext-based video games4are behind us. Games nowadays are often voiced by talented actors with a variety of accents, so playing games exposes you to a lot of natural English. The best way to practice listening is to listen to something you find interesting, so find a game that you like and your listening skills will improve ata remarkable rate. Youve heard all the arguments against video games before: Arent you a bit old to be playing games? Dont you think youre wasting your time? Cant you do something useful instead? Perhaps youve even asked these questions yourself. Whats important to remember, though, is that not all games are created equal. Yes, there are games that are only for entertainment - playing Candy Crush is not going to teach you much English except for Loading, Sweet! and Level 534. But these are not the games Im discussing. There are hundreds of excellent story-based games1 out there that include a lot of useful language. In this article, I'll tell you five reasons why video games are a useful tool for learning English.Whether youre already a gamer or youve never touched a controller2 in your life, I hope this article will persuade you that video games can really benefit language learners. 2. Practice your reading skillsIts no wonder reading quickly and accurately in another language is challenging - around 10% of people struggle to learn reading skills in their first language. A team of researchers from the University of Padua were inspired by this fact to see whether video games could help children who have difficulty reading. The findings3 were fascinating: nine sessions of playing video games for 80 minutes a day improved the childrens reading ability more than a year of traditional learning methods [a]. Of course, video games have to contain enough text to make them worth playing. But if you choose the right kind of game, imagine how quickly your reading skills could improve. 3.Improve one skill and you improve them allYou never develop one language skill in isolation6. Becoming a better reader makes you a better writer because you develop an instinct for what looks right; becoming a better listener makes you a better speaker because you hear natural pronunciation. Both reading and listening to English can expand your vocabulary and grammar. If you need to turn on the subtitles, dont feel embarrassed many native speakers do the same so they dont miss any essential information, and reading while listening will help you absorb7 more language. 4. Get better at multi-taskingCommunication involves multi-tasking8: youre listening to the other person and thinking about how to express what you want to say. People do this naturally in their first language. Understandably, its more difficult in a second language because you need to work harder to think of the words you need. A research team at California State University studied whether action video games can improve multi-tasking. They found that 5 hours of gaming a week for 10 weeks increased peoples ability to concentrate on more things at the same time [b]. This comes as no surprise, because video games involve a lot of concentration thats why you can play them for hours and feel like youve been playing for 20 minutes. So, play video games and youll get better at concentrating on more than one thing. This means youll get better at communicating spontaneously. 5. Take a breakMost people associate language learning with endless lists of vocabulary, sitting at a desk for hours, and tests that make your blood pressure go through the roof9. But learning doesnt need to be done that way. Youll want to learn more often and for longer if learning is enjoyable. Youll never put off10 playing a video game because its fun, but youll hear and read so much useful vocabulary in context. Spend an hour a day gaming and youll start to notice your English improving, all because of something you did in your free time! About The London School of EnglishThe London School of English has over 100 years of history teaching English and communication skills to adult learners. It is the joint #1 English language school in the UK according to the British Council inspections, the highest rated English language school in the world on Trustpilot, and the best value for money school according The English Language Gazette. Our practical, individualised approach enables our clients to learn effectively and make rapid progress. Courses include General English, Individual English training, Legal English, Business and Professional English, IELTS preparation and Academic English. We also offer bespoke business solutions for staff training and assessment. You can learn English with our expert trainers in our London centre at 15 Holland Park Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, or you can choose to study English online in groups or in individual classes.Contact us onlineor via phone +44 (0) 207 605 4142. |
