The idea of learning another language is exciting. Actually, the idea of fluently speaking another language is exciting, but the learning, not so much. Perhaps that’s why I’ve always struggled to get to grips with it. I failed at them throughout school, and even as an adult, I still struggle to learn languages I have﷽ a vested interest in, such as Japanese and Italian.
I’ve tried books, flashcards, and online learning tools like Duolingo, as well as a bunch of other apps. The only thing I haven’t tried is shelling out for some actual lessons, mainly because I am far too embarrassed about butchering the pronunciation. Last week, however, I attended WASD iꦆn L🍨ondon, and may have found the perfect solution — games. There were two language learning games at WASD, but both took very different approaches to teaching.
First, I tried Noun Town. Initially a VR game, Noun Town will launch for desktop soon, making it even more approa🧜chable for budding linguists. It currently offers seven languages — Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, and Italian — and invites players to explore the world around them, interacting with objects and rearranging things while reading, listening, and speaking practice words. As you learn words for specific items, the colour returns to the otherwise monochrome environment, giving you a visual aid in how far you’re progressing.
“There's this theory about motivation,” Noun Town creator Jack Ratcliffe tells me. “There are two types, intrinsic and extrinsic. Extrinsic is you have to do this to get good grades and a good job. Here is a streak, which means you keep your number up over these possible weeks. Whereas intrinsic is, I want to do this because it's fun. I want to do this because I feel good doing this. That's what most computer games are, right? I want to play this game because I'm enjoying it.”
Ratcliffe tells me language learning is much more effective when y🦂ou have a sense of agency and the ability to interact with things. Noun Town aims to teach players in a natural, organic way and to build confidence in using that l✱anguage in specific situations that feel natural.
For me, Noun Town stands out as a better learning tool than anything I’ve used before for two main reasons. The interaction with the virtual world is a great way to create a connection to what you’re learning and pair a word with a visual cue you’ll remember. More importantl�𓆏�y, Noun Town encourages you to practice speaking the language, which is my weakness. Even if I know a word in another language, I’m too afraid of pronouncing it incorrectly to use it, but you know what they say — practice makes perfect.
Noun Town currently takes players from beginners to an A2 learning level, though Noun Town creator Jack Ratcliffe hopes tꦫo keep updating the game to offer more advanced lear🏅ning. You can check out a demo for it and .
The second language-based game I saw at WASD was So to Speak, which foc🌠uses solely on learning Japanese, which, fortunately for♉ me, is one of the languages I’ve been trying to learn for years. It’s also aimed at beginners but uses a different approach. Featuring adorable pixel artwork, players navigate the world and must solve puzzles on each screen relating to signs, conversations, and the environment.
For example, you might not know what a sign says, but if you drag the Kanji onto the item you think it is, you can successfully pair the two. Similarly, you can drag text from conversations to pair with the world, signs, or what you’ve already learned. It uses a lot of repetition, but that’s important for learning. C🥂ontext plays a large part in this game, so you must pay attention to what’s around you, what people are looking at, and where signs are pointing. In the bottom corner, you can see how many puzzles you have solved in the area and how many you have left.
One of the things I’ve struggled with when it comes to learning Japanese is that you’re learning a whole new spoken language and several entirely different alphabets. You’re learning how to say it, and how to write and read it in Rom𒅌aji, and then how to write and read it in Kanji, too. There’s a lot to learn. Having So to Speak focus on all three 𝓰in unison is interesting, and I wonder if I would learn better with this approach.
There’s something appealing about learning a📖 language in a more hands-on way like this that encourages problem-solving alongside memorisation. You can check out the .
I’ll be waiting for the desktop version of Noun Town, so once both games have launched, I’ll check them out to see whether I’m a lost cause when it comes to learning languages. With any luck, learning through games like this will be interesting enough that🔯 I’ll start to remember things properly, I can build confidence in practicing words aloud, and maybe next year, I’ll be able to hold a casual conversation in another language.
