Language Learning Drives Virtual China Experiments – Virtual China

Virtual China has posted a brief summation of three current internet based language learning initiatives, one of which is an online game dedicated to Chinese language learning. From the text:

IBM’s John Tolva alerted me to the Confucius Institute at Michigan State University, which has two efforts I’m particularly interested in. The first is an MMO (massively multiplayer online game) called Chengo Chinese . From the game’s design framework, available at the Confucius Institute MSU website: The new Chengo Chinese [will consist] of four virtual worlds: “villages”, “towns”, “cities” and “cosmopolitans”. The four virtual worlds will progress with increasing complexity, advancing from ancient times to modern times and from countryside to cities. Those different virtual worlds represent a variety of cultures and living styles, and teach different cultural contents and language in correspondence with learners’ language proficiency and cultural knowledge. [Full Text]

For a direct link to The Confucius Institute at Michigan State University’s description of the game design click here.