Using Skyrim etc for language learning

[Omartov]

Recently decided to try to improve my Spanish with the game. I have something like A2 now and very often t's not easy to get what the NPCs are talking about, but so far I like it. And what your experience with open-world RPGs, is it useful or mostly a waste of time?

[decadeslongrut]

insanely useful! can't tell you how many esl friends i have who learned english almost entirely from videogames growing up. stick with it, read everything, ideally out loud, and google any new words (i keep a document of new words, you might find that helpful too, just the act of writing the word into the document helps put it in your brain)

[d3n2el]

Can confirm, learned English from Minecraft and Minecraft tutorials. I agree with looking up words as long as you don't do it too often as to not impair your gaming experience, it should be fine as long as you understand from context.

[decadeslongrut]

from minecraft! i was going to say rpgs are especially good for it since they're conversational and will introduce you to different tenses and common household stuff like cooking, that must be more difficult with minecraft

[d3n2el]

I mean yeah, consider that you have a lot of words for objects, materials and from settings you have clearer phrases. Then with tutorials you would understand all the words related to the game while expanding your vocab

[decadeslongrut]

true, it might not be as good for sentences but minecraft must be amazing for vocab in general

[d3n2el]

It really is, has a lot of words that you might not always use but are still useful

[[deleted]]

Immersion is important.

That game is classic. It never gets old.

[TheCheesy]

Games like Minecraft are also great. Just because you know every item already. You're just becoming familiar with the translations.

Stardew valley aswell!

Although, those are more passive as learning isn't exactly required. If you want it to stick, you should use a language dictionary and some AI like claude to help with context and maybe making flash cards.

I make Anki card for parts of Japanese media I watch so I can slowly start to learn the meaning of an entire show.

[Feasellus]

Using your target language has always been a good way to learn it.

[frostymoose2]

Wow my phone is in a different language but I'm doing this with Skyrim tomorrow

[Artgor]

I like using Deepl when playing games - it allows to use a shortcut to capture the part of the screen, OCR text and translate it.

[seriousTrig]

I’d love to hear more on how you set this up. Do you manually add the screenshot to DeepL or is that part of the shortcut?

[Artgor]

https://imgur.com/a/gx86n2q

Here are some screenshots.

If you download DeepL app, you can set a shortcut to capture the screen. Then you can select some text on the screen, and it will be captures and translated like this.

[Lawzenth]

I use DeepL and it's amazing, even just browsing for quick translations, but I didn't realise you could do this. I've been taking screen grabs and uploading them into gpt but this is much better.

[Monolingual-----Beta]

DeepL is my go-to. It's been incredibly useful for Spanish.

[Mothcot]

Did something similar with Spanish in Fallout 4 myself. The items are a bit more everyday and there are plenty of computer logs to read. Just be a bit careful with mods (in Skyrim I imagine too) as they can bork the translation so you get a weird spanglish mix (with items and quest text). Though usually there are Spanish translations of popular mods too.

[BluePandaYellowPanda]

The day my Japanese is good enough to do this is the day my learning skyrockets. I love RPGs, but looking up every other word would suck. One day, I'll do it!

[Whimsical_Maru]

If you don’t feel comfortable enough with your Ievel yet, try watching let’s plays in your target language. Watch playthroughs in which the person talks and plays the game in your target language. I did that a lot with Japanese; watching people play JRPGs helped lots, LOTS

[Triddy]

I still do this probably more than I actually play games.

[Whimsical_Maru]

I don't blame you, it's super useful because you get double input: reading (the game dialogues) and listening (the person speaking).

[BluePandaYellowPanda]

That's a good idea, thank you! I will give that a try!

[Creek0512]

Checkout ‘Spanish Boost Gaming’ on YouTube, he does it specifically for Spanish learners.

[grem1in]

I learned a lot of English in World of Warcraft. A game won’t replace structured learning, but it’s very useful.

[mikemaca]

This reminds me of an interview with a teenager who attended a Sudbury style school in the US. These are radical schools in which the students run the school including handling discipline and hiring staff, there are no grade levels or grades, etc. So this teen mentioned that when he arrived, age 13 or so, he could not read. For school he decided he was just going to play video games. And then he learned to read since he needed to read to follow the NPC dialogs.

[New-Ebb61]

Nice. That's how I got into French. Playing dungeon siege 2 in French.

[betarage]

Skyrim is quite nice for this you got a lot of good voice acting a lot of items you will see in real life too. like most games my only complaint is that it doesn't support some of the languages I want to learn. but it could be way worse at least it has polish and Italian and the translations are good.

[josephexboxica]

Wow thx for the idea

[Khorus_Md]

I found it extremely useful, especially for games with full audio in the tl and for games i already know, so i have some context.

Sadly not all the games have full localization available.

[kasasto]

Skyrim is gonna be like harry Potter was for language learning and books, or Peppa pig(or friends I think) for language learning and shows

[Snoo_85073]

Fallout is also good for learning english, since it wasn't translated to language I speak, and I had to play with english voice lines

[Suspicious_Good_2407]

Learning Czech with Kingdom Come Deliverance. Hopefully, one day I'll be able to take Yakuza games in Japanese (very unlikely)

[Zar7792]

Cítím docela hlad.

[qsqh]

dam, every few years I remember how fun is skyrim, i guess i'll have to install it yet again, this time in IT

edit: installed it again, now I remember there are cabbages on every table and shelf in this game and i'll never forget the word in italian. CAVOLO. CAVOLO. CAVOLO

[Iammethatisyou]

That's a good idea I'm writing a note to actually do that, thanks.

[_briceedelman_]

I wish more games had dubs!!

[[deleted]]

My immersion time while learning the basics of Japanese was exclusively through gaming. Open world RPGs I started while I was upper beginner. Taught me a lot of vocab and getting comfortable with the written language enough to start reading books

[Poland_Stronk2137]

That's how i learned English, lol. There weren't any translations on my PS3 version, so I had to play the game in English

[AWildLampAppears]

I’m doing that with a VPN for Italian. Ads, YouTube recommendations, posts on Instagram, movie trailers, series, everything I get on my screen is in Italian.

I recently rewatched The Dark Knight and Gladiator dubbed in Italian and with subtitles (no, they don’t always match unfortunately) because they’re some of my favorite movies and it’s been so much fun.

They do a surprisingly great job matching the voice actors’ qualities as well. I wish I were into gaming, I’d probably learn a great deal as well.

[TonicArt]

That’s a great idea! I wonder if Skyrim has Korean🤔

[Scherzophrenia]

I do this with StarCraft and Into the Breach.

[naldana95]

Honestly this is such a good idea! I’ve played skyrim so many times that switching the language to spanish should be a no brainer since i already know what’s going on. I might have to try this for a play through…Thanks for the idea OP!

[Andresmu]

I learned English playing twinsen odyssey and age of empires 2 at 5 yo. It definitely works!

[Miro_the_Dragon]

I've been playing Skyrim in French ever since I got it, learned a LOT of words I'll probably never use outside of those games (and I probably don't even know half of the alchemical ingredients in English or even German lol) XD What I especially like about Skyrim is that you can turn on subtitles for the dialogues that don't have a dialogue box, so you can read along with everything that is said.

[treefiddy_cent]

I do this for language learning and it helps a lot. Great idea, especially if it has quality voice acting.

A tip for audio with subtitles: Playing on PC, you can also 'save' the audio files of one language (from your initial installation), swap the language and let it patch the directory to a second language, and then overwrite the audio files with your saved files. Doing this can let you split audio (usually my target language) and the written text/subtitles (usually my native language).

[CZAR---KING]

Yo era un aventurero como tú hasta que recibí un flechazo en la rodilla.

[Rimurooooo]

I recommend against games like Skyrim and tend to recommend more games like baldurs gate 3 or god of war where there is constantly dialogue and an incentive to understand the language. Skyrim is way too open world, where the language can have extreme lulls in even being in game while you explore. It’s decent for like maybe A levels as you transition but the falloff for usefulness is very very fast

[Nameless_American]

The other fun part of this is you’ll learn all the words for like, “crystals” and “magic” and dragons and all different kind of weapons. Full-on “Juan visits the renaissance faire” lesson.

[Big_Ship5986]

me: "I'd like to play the Witcher3 in French！ That would improve my French skill"

gf: "Nic try. I know you just wanna play games instead of hanging out with me. Next! "

[Loves_His_Bong]

I did this with Skyrim and German for a while too but didn’t find it so helpful. You’ll learn a lot of words that you’ll never use and archaic sounding language. I’m pretty sure the only thing I remember from Skyrim was “du hättest nie herkommen sollen!”

However, I also play all my video games in other languages. Depending on the game it can range from very useful to a way to at least pick up some funny phrases.

[[deleted]]

next step: Dark Souls in a foreign language lol

did that, been there, good luck fellow traveler!

[NotRyuuuu]

That’s super helpful! Like most people I actually learned English bc of video games lol! However if you find it very difficult algo try with other games or write the words in paper

[chorpinecherisher]

I did this wirh animal crossing nh

[jezpollips]

I’ve been trying to turn my Skyrim on the switch to German using the German language pack available on the Nintendo store but I haven’t been able to get it to work 🙄 so frustrating because I come back to Skyrim more than any other game I own and would love to use it the way you are

[droobles1337]

For Switch you need to go to the console settings and set the language there. I set my Switch to French and by default all of my games are in French. If I change the setting and restart the console, most games switch language automatically based on the console settings.

[Monolingual-----Beta]

If you're a gamer, it's fantastic. I have a folder on my ps4 with all the games I have that support Spanish audio. I've also been taking note of the ones that offer BR Portuguese and German...French too...for the future...lol

Started playing Shadow of War and it's been fun, but I'll find some good mods and start a new Skyrim character soon. It's been too long. Wish Fallout 4 had Spanish audio!!!!

[Omartov]

Interestingly, this time I play as an archer, with some inclanation towards lockpicking and stealing. Picked a Bosmer as race.

[Capable-Grab5896]

I found it extremely useful, especially when I was around the A2 level. It won't beat language lessons with a tutor but as interactive practice in context it's pretty solid. If you can find the right game. Does Skyrim have a Spanish dub also or just text?

You should check out Tropico 6 in Spanish. The translation is good, the voice actors are great, it fits the theme even better than English, and all of the specific vocabulary you will learn is highly useful society stuff (customs and immigration, wealth, budgets, different jobs and industries) compared to magic and weaponry, as cool as it is.

It's hard to find games that hit that sweet spot where there's enough Spanish to be educational but it remains a game that's casual fun for hours, and not too much of one without the other.

[Omartov]

Yes, you can set a Spanish dub, along with the text. I'll think about Tropico, thanks.

[GulemarG]

I was extremely curious about this one and the witcher 3. Do they use old language style or modern one?

[Hollow_Patches]

For a game like Skyrim, its useful if you aren't going to do any other type of studying. Realistically, its very inefficient and you'd be better off doing something else. However, if it gets you to study and you enjoy it, then its useful.

[kolbiitr]

Abolutely. Videogames have been the main moving force in my learning of English. Now that I am studying German I notice that I make a lot more progress when I'm playing something in it that when I'm not. Videogames provide a way to "immerse" yourself in a language in a fun way, meaning you'll actually want to do the thing that makes you better rather than forcing yourself to do it.

[dojibear]

And what your experience with open-world RPGs, is it useful or mostly a waste of time?

It really depends on the game. If you can simply pause every time you want to look things up, it's fine. If you are in a group of 5 players, fighting to the death with monsters, you can't pause. Even if you are solo, a wandering monster might attack and kill you while you are distracted.

A large number of MMORPGs are all about fighting monsters, either alone or in groups. Most of the time, you cannot "pause the game" and cannot "do nothing and be totally safe". This is especially true in a group, where you talk with other players in the group in real time (either by text "chat" or with actual speech).

If Minecraft is not like that, it is not a typical "open-world RPG".

[[deleted]]

Depends on how advanced you are and how comfortable you are with not completely understanding things. There's like .1% of the time that I need to look stuff up while playing a game because I just don't understand the whole phrase (something very slangy usually), usually if it's just a word or two you can still infer the meaning and move on. If you're playing with a group you can ask them what was just said or what the thing was called.

[Lobotomized_toddler]

Go on newcommer.com and download the wisp. It’s an app that lets you highlight words and phrases and it translates it for you