L.A. Video Game Company Develops Cultural Survival Skills Game to Help Soldiers in Foreign Lands
Published: 20 December 2013
From the Latin Post...
Article Excerpt: Today, video games can virtually transport you to anywhere on the planet. You can be a solider on the frontlines, in the middle of the desert or in a foreign marketplace. Link to the full story here.While this may seem like many military-driven video games, it could be a life or death situation for a real-life soldier in terms of being able to communicate on the ground. That's why an L.A. based video game company is trying to bridge the gap for soldiers who need to learn language and cultural survival skills in foreign countries through an interactive video game.
InterpretAmerica's Take: As the holiday season is upon us and many are filling their shopping carts with video games and other technological toys and devices that are now so ubiquitous in our culture, one company has been exploring the potential of video game technology for language learning. The software programs described in this article offer real benefit to US soldiers, whose lives may depend on their ability to acquire a second language. Technology innovation that originates for military use often finds its way into mainstream culture. Think of now widespread and utterly normal use of GPS, microwave ovens, the personal computer, and duct tape: all inventions originally designed for use in wartime conditions. The application of video game technology in language learning, which immerses the user in virtual reality simulations that can mimic real-word language exchange impossible in the classroom, has this same promise. Here's to a near future where language learning enters the 21st-century and we have new and more effective tools for becoming multilingual.
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