Did you spend and unhealthy amount of your adolescence slaying orcs in Azeroth? Us too, and even though it’s left us fat and doughy, we’re pretty good at speaking English.
According to a study published in ReCall, youths who spent time on video games received a boost to their English vocabulary. 76 young people, ages 10-11, logged a bunch of different activities, like playing video games, spending time on Facebook and other social media, texting, and other digital pursuits. Perhaps unsurprisingly, boys spent double the amount of time on games as girls (11.5 hours versus 5.1), who spent more time on things like Facebook.
When the subjects took tests to measure their English competence, those who spent more time on video games ended up doing better. This makes sense to us, since we didn’t learn words like claymore, skirmish, and chrysalis from school.
Researchers note that video games aren’t a substitution for actual language lessons, but, at the same time, spending time actually speaking makes for better comprehension.
So, the next time some little German kid snips you in COD and details all the ways he’s had your mother, remember: he’s just learning English more effectively than his Facebooking brethren.
