Learning another language is a much more complex challenge than it seems. We quickly discover that automatic tools are very limited, and we need new sources beyond books, series, or movies. Lingotopia is a video game that proposes to make language learning the main objective to progress. Our character gets lost in a small town where they don't understand anything, and must interact with basic objects or the residents, improving a bit more with each attempt.
In the past we have shared many free resources for learning languages. If the idea of following a step-by-step tutorial doesn't appeal to you, there is always the possibility of exploring other sources thanks to tools at the level of Fleex or Caterpillar. However, the learning potential increases with interactivity. Personally, a large part of my English assimilation was possible thanks to the early versions of MS-DOS. Basically, when the operating system spat out messages like "bad command or filename" or "Abort, Retry, Fail?", one way or another we ended up knowing their meaning. Now, let's imagine for a moment if we extend that mechanic to a small virtual city in which we don't understand a single word...
How Lingotopia Works
That brings us to Lingotopia, a project by programmer Tristan Dahl. According to the official description, there are two ways to learn new words: clicking on the different objects in the city (trees, benches, trash cans, etc.), and trying to talk to the residents. When the player learns a word, it is automatically added to their vocabulary, and if it appears in a conversation, it will be highlighted in purple. As our personal dictionary grows, the city and its inhabitants won't be so strange.
Current State and Availability
Lingotopia has builds compatible with Windows, Linux, and Mac OS, and in all three cases we are talking about prototypes. Its graphics based on the Unity engine are not particularly terrible, but it still needs a lot of work when it comes to controls and the general interface. It goes without saying that anyone who wants to improve the Spanish "tutorial" can contact the author.
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