How video games can help you learn English

1.  Become a better listener

The days of text-based video games4 are 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 at a remarkable rate.

You’ve heard all the arguments against video games before:

Aren’t you a bit old to be playing games? 

Don’t you think you’re wasting your time? 

Can’t you do something useful instead?

Perhaps you’ve even asked these questions yourself. What’s 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 I’m 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 you’re already a gamer or you’ve 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 skills

It’s 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 children’s 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 all

You 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, don’t feel embarrassed – many native speakers do the same so they don’t miss any essential information, and reading while listening will help you absorb⁷ more language.

4. Get better at multi-tasking

Communication involves multi-tasking⁸: you’re 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, it’s 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 people’s ability to concentrate on more things at the same time ^[b]. This comes as no surprise, because video games involve a lot of concentration – that’s why you can play them for hours and feel like you’ve been playing for 20 minutes. So, play video games and you’ll get better at concentrating on more than one thing. This means you’ll get better at communicating spontaneously.

5. Take a break

Most 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 doesn’t need to be done that way. You’ll want to learn more often and for longer if learning is enjoyable. You’ll never put off¹⁰ playing a video game because it’s fun, but you’ll hear and read so much useful vocabulary in context. Spend an hour a day gaming and you’ll start to notice your English improving, all because of something you did in your free time!

* * *

So, you’ve read all of the above and you’ve reached the natural conclusion: you need video games in your life. But where to begin? Here are some incredible story-based games to get you started (click on the titles to read more about them on Wikipedia):

Detroit: Become Human (2018)

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016) 

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015) 

Life is Strange (2015) 

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) 

Heavy Rain (2010) 

Dragon Age: Origins (2009)

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004) 

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003)

References

a.  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982213000791
b.  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230861979_Improving_multi-tasking_ability_through_action_videogames

Glossary

• story-based games (adjective + noun) - games that have complex stories, that sometimes involve making decisions that affect the way the story develops.
• controller (noun) -  a machine you hold in your hands to play games on consoles, such as PlayStation or Xbox.
• findings (noun) the results of a study. Usually plural.
• text-based video games  (adjective + noun) - games which have no voice acting in them
• a remarkable rate (phrase) - very quickly
• in isolation (phrase) - alone, without any effect on other things
• absorb (verb) - take in, learn (in this context)
• multi-tasking (noun) - doing more than one thing at a time
• go through the roof (phrase) - used to describe a number when it gets extremely high
• put off (phrasal verb) postpone, decide to do another time

This article was written by Rosie, one of our trainers at The London School of English.

About The London School of English

The 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 online or via phone +44 (0) 207 605 4142.