While we were on holiday in France two weeks ago our children wanted to buy a computer game and so we agreed. Back home now we have installed the French version of Zoo Empire, a zoo management program. I was interested to see whether any language learning could occur from a program designed purely for leisure and not for language learning purposes.
It is of course early days but the early obstacle of unfamiliarity seems to have been overcome so that they can get on with some serious gameplay of looking after the animals and making sure that they thrive. I was heavily used to translate in the first hour but after that they seemed perfectly able to manage alone with only the occasional cry for help.
I am not kidding myself that this is going to make them fluent but I am intrigued as to how much passive learning could happen in this environment. I am also conscious of the high degree of communication which is now achieved through icons, layout and standard procedures which minimises the need for language but still it will be interesting to see if they remain interested in it enough to go back to it (they also have Zoo Tycoon in English) and if they are able to progress to some of the more advanced features later.
Keywords: computer games, French, passive language learning
