Language Immersion: How to Learn English Using Virtual Reality

There are VR applications that allow you to immerse yourself in a variety of communication situations and improve your foreign language skills. Forbes talks about the most useful virtual reality programs.

Learning a foreign language quickly is the dream of many. Achieving it, however, is unrealistic: to speak fluently, read and write correctly in a new language, time and diligence are required. In the battle for these skills, all means are good: mobile applications, podcasts, board games, textbooks, exercise books and, ideally, immersion in linguistic Wednesday. The latter, unfortunately, is not available to everyone. But there is no need to despair. To become a participant in a communicative situation as close as possible to reality, you can use Action virtual reality.

VR technologies make it possible to learn a language without going beyond borders - neither the country nor your own comfort. Many students who speak a foreign language at elementary or intermediate levels are most often not ready for direct interaction in a language environment.

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Virtual reality proves to be a safe environment between the classroom and the tangible outside world.

However, just as there is no one-size-fits-all method of learning a foreign language, there is no ideal VR application. Each of them only helps to master a topic or skill. Therefore, helmet owners or those who are thinking about buying them should study different programs and choose the most suitable ones for themselves.

All virtual reality applications are divided into two large groups: specialized software and virtual platforms.

Specialized software (software)

With the help of this group of applications, you can master certain skills, that is, learn new words, grammar, or train your speaking. The applications clearly describe the learning objectives and offer a set of exercises and tests.

Specialized software can be divided into two categories: stand-alone applications and applications as part of educational programs. The difference is that the first type can be downloaded independently and learned by playing. You won't be able to do this with the second one. Before you put on the helmet and begin training your skills and performing exercises in a VR environment, you will have to read and learn the rules.

Stand alone applications

Applications from the first category (download and play) appear on the market and sometimes leave it quickly and unexpectedly. Among the long-lived old people it is worth noting Mondly VR, the first version of which appeared back in 2014. With its help, the user can immerse himself in several communicative situations (public transport, restaurant, store, etc.) and conduct a dialogue using suggested phrases. The creators of Mondly are constantly improving the graphics, pedagogical and technical components of the application. The program is available on major VR marketplaces. The cost is approximately $10, but may vary depending on the number of languages ​​selected.

Among the applications that appeared later (in 2020 and 2021), we can highlight NounTown и Language Lab. They are good because they are suitable for students of different ages (the minimum age should be checked in the recommendations of helmet manufacturers). With the help of these programs, students move into a virtual room and complete simple tasks while learning words in the chosen language. The downside is that these applications can quickly get boring, since the algorithm of actions is somewhat monotonous. Both programs are available on the online service website Steam. For full access to NounTown you need to pay about $20, but Language Lab is downloaded for free.

Applications as part of educational programs

Applications from this category may contain ready-made lesson plans and sets of training tasks. To use the programs, you will need the help of teachers.

Therefore, you should not think that by purchasing access to such an application, you can keep your child busy with independent study. VR clubs and other gaming spaces that want to complement entertainment content with educational content should understand that many educational virtual environments involve working with a teacher or assistant.

One of the programs that helps to develop language skills is an English language learning simulator VARVARA. He offers a set of quests. It is known that it is quite difficult to organize language practice in groups of more than ten people. Not everyone likes tasks in the style of “Vasya, imagine that you are a waiter, and you, Masha, order a hamburger from him!” It’s much more exciting to immerse yourself in another reality and actually order a hamburger, albeit in a virtual one, but so similar to a real cafe. The undoubted advantages of the application are automation and gamification of the educational process. A one-year license costs $625. It gives access to dozens of communication scripts, as well as technical support.

application ClassVR - a simpler program that can be used as an interactive addition to textbooks, but does not provide opportunities for conversational practice. The downside is that the teacher will have to make a significant effort to adapt the ready-made lesson plans included in the kit to the existing school curriculum. A set of headsets (small helmets) in a special portable box and access to educational materials will cost at least $4000. The cost of an annual subscription is about $520.

Another example from this category is an educational program for an adult audience. Virtual Speech. It appeared in 2016 and has improved significantly in recent years. Scripts have been added to it, interactivity and feedback have been improved, and the developers have announced integration with ChatGPT. For example, the English for Business course includes online classes with video lectures, assignments and articles for reading, as well as a practical part: the acquired knowledge is proposed to be applied in virtual reality. A standard subscription to a three-month course costs $400.

Virtual platforms

The second large group of applications represents a variety of environments that can be used, among other things, for language learning, and in a variety of formats. For example, on an educational platform EngageVR Lectures, seminars, master classes and other events can be held. And platforms VRChat, Horizon worlds, spatial, Rec room, vTime – classified as social VR. These are virtual spaces in which people attend exhibitions, concerts, do yoga, communicate with each other and can use every opportunity to practice the language they are learning. For example, in vTime You can both meet friends and meet new people. This platform does not focus on active entertainment, but on leisurely conversations of a small number of participants in interesting or picturesque virtual locations: around a fire, in a meeting room in a skyscraper, and even in outer space.

Despite the unlimited opportunities for language practice, interactions in the virtual world lack a pedagogical component. No one will correct the mistakes of the speakers.

Exception - platform Immersed, in which classes are held with a teacher. The student joins a group of students in one of four interactive locations - at home, at the airport, at the doctor's office or in a restaurant. Interaction with other students both during the lesson and outside it (in the general chat, during meetings in VR space) is positioned as the most important advantage of the application.

Some language teachers use virtual social spaces to host conversation clubs. This class format is suitable for introverts. Students can feel calmer and safer behind an avatar.

Despite the many advantages, social applications carry risks. Among the most obvious: weak protection of personal data and anonymity of participants, which opens up opportunities for unpunished bullying and harassment. If adults are aware of this and can protect themselves, then minor students are advised to go into virtual reality under the supervision of their parents or completely refrain from such methods of language practice.