Discover 3 ways that Spanish learning games and video games can help you learn and master Spanish faster, retain more, and enhance your language skills.
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Can You Learn Spanish Using Games?
Yes, Spanish learning games and even video games can help you learn and master Spanish faster and improve overall comprehension. Research studies have concluded that video games enhance traditional learning methods and make mastering a new language like Spanish fun and exciting. Without the firm foundation in grammar and vocabulary provided by conventional learning programs, however, you will not be able to learn Spanish with games alone. But when you combine the solid educational foundation like you’ll get at SpanishPod101 with the benefits of Spanish learning games, you learn faster and retain more than with traditional learning alone.
Let’s now take a look at three of the biggest benefits of using video games to learn Spanish:
Video Games Help Improve Linguistic Skills and Cognitive Development
When combined with a solid foundation in vocabulary and grammar, video games help students improve reading, comprehension, and even speaking skills. The results are even more pronounced in struggling students. According to a recent national survey, more than 78% of teachers noted that learning games, even video games, were effective in helping struggling students compensate for learning gaps in their traditional studies.
So how do Spanish learning games, or even video games, help students improve their linguistic skills and cognitive development? The key is practice, practice, and more practice!
Learning games and video games naturally require the integration of several linguistic skills including reading, listening, speaking, and even writing in some games. And by removing the fear of making mistakes so common in students in traditional classroom settings, students are free to practice the language and further develop their linguistic and cognitive abilities in the process.
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Learning Games/Video Games Provide In-Context Learning
Students naturally learn faster and comprehend more when they are forced to use the information often and in real-world situations, even the fake ones created by Spanish learning games and video games. Essentially, this is immersion-based learning or contextual learning very similar to what one experiences when living abroad and being forced to interact with people in another language. So by providing both context and constant feedback, video games allow students to actually use the knowledge they gain in classrooms or conventional study to learn and master Spanish or any new language faster.
Spanish Learning Games Make Studying Fun and Alleviate Stress
Homework, quizzes, tests, and even in-class assignments can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety in students, particularly those who may be struggling to keep up. This stress and anxiety can actually derail a student’s progress and cause them to feel isolated from their more successful peers. But video games and even most learning games are the great equalizer because they help alleviate stress, increase social engagement, and yes, even help students have fun while learning Spanish or any new language.
In fact, research recently published in The Washington Post shows a wide range of health benefits from video games and learning games including the fact that they:
Scientists have indeed discovered that not only can you learn Spanish or any new language faster thanks to video games, they can also provide a wide range of potential health benefits as well. However, learning languages through video games alone is not really a feasible alternative to progressive, structured learning like you find in classrooms or programs like SpanishPod101.
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The Limitations of Learning Languages Through Video Games
While great supplemental learning tools, video games and even more formal learning games are simply no substitute for structured learning programs for two reasons:
Spanish learning games and even video games are great supplemental tools to help students learn and master a language faster. Scientific studies and recent research reveal that video games can help contextualize formal lessons from structured learning, enhance linguistic skills, alleviate stress, and even provide a wide range of potential health benefits. However, learning languages through video games (even learning games) has limitations and is no substitute for structured lessons that provide a firm foundation in vocabulary and grammar.
SpanishPod101 is the world’s most advanced online learning system with tons of HD video lessons created by real Spanish instructors. With more than 500 million lesson downloads and 10,000’s of success stories, SpanishPod101 can provide you with a world-class foundation in vocabulary and grammar.
Combined with Spanish learning games, our cutting edge online language system can propel you to mastering the language faster, more easily, and at far less expense than traditional classroom instruction.
