Learning a new language just by playing World of Warcraft.

[Edison]

even tho my grammar aint perfect I speak fluent english without any accent, and I've learned NOTHING from school. I started playing Tibia when I was 8 and moved on to the beta of wow when I was 10 and been playing ever since, I learned ALL of my english from games and TV/music

[Shâréz]

From what I've read the reasoning behind this is because by time you are an adult, you are used to the sounds and pronunciation of your native language and your ears will naturally filter out things that sound different. Basically you mentally tone out words in other languages because your brain isn't used to hearing them. Whereas a young child is still developing their listening and speaking skills. It's funny when you think about it, I guess kids are actually better listeners.

But yeah, immersion is the biggest thing and I also read that if you're say taking lessons or whatever, it can take a good 10-20 min of just listening and focusing on what you're hearing for your mind to really recognize the words in another language. I've been trying to learn another language on my own for a few months now and actually found a youtube site where someone has a bunch of old disney movies and cartoons in that language so I've watched a couple of those. It's kinda weird at first but then it's pretty cool when you start to recognize a word here and there.

I believe it's also got to do with a young brain being able to create new neural pathways more easily than an adult brain. I'm no expert on brain activity though, so if someone knows more/better than do please correct me.

[Deleted]

I learned spanish from WoW and DotA lol. Ok I mean I don't think I could survive in Spain with the amount I know abut still :P.

[Deleted]

I learned basically everything through games in general, not Warcraft in particular though. I got Zelda on the N64 when I was 10 and couldn't understand the story so I was forced to get a basic understanding of English if I wanted to be able to play the game at all.

^ This and ofcourse let's not forget that learning a language goes faster if you get thrown in an evironment with people around you that only speak that language

[Cybran]

What, you didn`t understand the Swede that studied English for 3 and a half years?

Mayn, Everyone knows English fluently in Scandinavia, since every TV-Show is in English and we learn English from when were in 4th/5th grade.

I have had Scandinavians in my guild and most of them never use "is" and "are" correctly, fun times.

[Necrolepsy]

I was raised in the wild by a pack of wolves and found a computer at the age of 17 after being treated for Wolfman Personality Disorder. I could only communicate in barks up until then and by playing WoW I learned to bark like a human.

[Deleted]

It depends on whether the people you play with are talking standard english or slang where it may not be grammatically correct (or even correct spellings).

Also you will learn a very limited amount from playing WoW, either game related words or enough for a casual chat. Without learning from other sources I can't see you becoming fluent or having it at a level where you can cope properly (be able to have a small conversation on general topics more than anything)

[Deleted]

Gaming and computers in general help A LOT.