Shiv on Learning

One of the reasons computer games are such great learning environments is that the cost of getting things wrong is low - usually zero. If your playing a first person shooter and your guy gets killed, he instantly re-spawns and you try again, and again, and again. This is the norm, you keep getting it wrong until you get it right. Sooner or later you develop enough skill and move on to a more difficult challenge where this process starts again.

“An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field”

- Niels Bohr

This is certainly true in the world of computer games. Even in multilayer game or a MMORPG players do not expect their team mates to complete each task first time.

If you are in a language class and you get things wrong in front of your class it can be embarrassing. More than this you don’t have the freedom to keep getting things wrong until you’ve got them right. When children are growing up and learning their first language they do have the freedom to make lots of mistakes and keep trying over and over again. This luxury is lost to adult learners.

The English City People were created to allow such practice. You are in a city populated with native speakers where you carry out a range of tasks in the target language. If you make a mistake it is fine, the natives and your peers will help you. Most importantly you can go back over and over again until you achieve mastery.