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(From the archives) Playing games in the target language

 Use Shiritori For Increasing Vocabulary

(Written on 14 July 2013) Lately, I've been playing a popular word game in the italki forums to practise my written Japanese while having a bit of fun at the same time. The rules of the game are to start each word with the last letter (sound in Japanese) from the previous poster. If the person uses a word that ends in -n or Hiragana ん/Katakana ン the game is over and you must start over with "a" or Hiraganaあ and Katakana ア to continue.

Sounds like a interesting way to gather random vocabulary which could become useful later on. It also give you a chance to practise your written skills in the target language as well.

Immersion through gameplay

Who doesn't like playing games? If you can make learning fun then I say go for it! Especially, if it solidifies your motivation in the target language. I'm currently focused on Japanese at the moment.

[In the original post I linked to a site called Vizzed which let you play emulate classic games (ex: Pokémon) and rom hacks made by fans. It looks like many if not most of the games have been removed or much more limited due to copyright reasons and that downloading roms of games and playing them on an emulator is technically illegal due to piracy. The site is still up but if you're looking to play these games online you will have to look them up yourself unfortunately. Since I'm sure if I link to them here that the gaming companies will just ensure these sites get taken down. So if you do find them, you do so at your own risk. I heard Nintendo, especially is really cracking down on emulator sites posting roms of their games even going after fan made rom hacks.]

Which games would you play in your target language?

[In the originally post I referenced the Language Learning subforum that was on Gaia Online but has long since been inactive and is now gone because Gaia Online has been shut down at this point.]
 
There's card, board and word games to help strengthen your abilities. Do you have any recommendations? If so, which ones are the most beneficial for improving your skills in the language? Which games are the most enjoyable to play?

Tell me about the games you play in the languages you're currently learning. Or would you consider doing this to boost your motivation as a supplement to your regular language learning activities. I'd love to hear from you!

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