Learn Chinese through an MMO
by Kyle Orland 
{ Jan 18th 2007 at 10:55AM }
Michigan State University's Confucius Institute is jumping on the virtual education bandwagon with a planned MMO that seeks to teach Mandarin Chinese. Zon -- The New Chengo Chinese will have users advancing from small towns and villages to large cities and "cosmopolitans" as they learn more about China's language and culture.
The details on how this will work in a massively multiplayer context are a little unclear, but an Investor's Business Daily article mentions players will be able to interact with other players through business transactions and as tour guides. A design framework for the game claims it will have "1000 learning activities" comprising the equivalent of a "3000-hour Chinese language and culture learning contents." Anyone who thinks that sounds like a lot of time to be playing one game obviously doesn't know many World of Warcraft players.
If this trend continues, pretty soon all learning will be conducted through the superior form of the MMO. We can't wait for the math MMO where you have to run around hacking up equations to collect rare numbers like pi and the elusive but highly coveted sword of square root.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
FrankTheCrank @ Jan 18th 2007 12:32PM
How do you say "we're closing that manufacturing plant and sending all those jobs to China so that the stock holders can make more money" in Chinese?
How do you also say "Sorry, you can only have one child, law prohibits more than one child"
How do you say "freedom of speech is crap"
Kendrick @ Jan 18th 2007 11:27AM
Ming tian, wo men da jia jiang Guo Yu! Shi a!
Manda @ Jan 18th 2007 11:28AM
Go Green!!
shase @ Jan 18th 2007 11:40AM
Wo rather wan youxi than xue zhong wen. Yao shi tame teach guan dong hua de hua then I might wan. 40 xiao shi job he master degree yong wo tai duo time le.
Szu @ Jan 18th 2007 11:41AM
Thanks Kenrick, but I can speak Mandarin right now instead of tomorrow.
PacoDG @ Jan 18th 2007 11:49AM
Dugg: http://digg.com/gaming_news/Learn_Chinese_through_an_MMO_2
Turken @ Jan 18th 2007 12:03PM
Okay, so maybe I'm a total geek, but I really like that idea for a MMMO (massively mathematical multiplayer) game.
Didn't disney have some sort of "adventures in mathland" movie from the 80's or something? They could easily use that as a launching point at one of their game studios to add another MMo to the ones they're already developing.
Drew @ Jan 18th 2007 12:07PM
Go White!!
Mike @ Jan 18th 2007 12:10PM
Of course, the Confucius Institute is sponsored by the Chinese government, so be prepared for a fair bit of propaganda in your MMO
Kendrick @ Jan 18th 2007 12:20PM
The thing is Szu, you and I can do that without the help of Babelfish or any other online translator. Usually. :)
It loses quite a bit in the Romanization, but I was trying to capture the bombastic, overenthusiastic feel of the old Communist propaganda langauge primers that schoolkids used back in the 60's. While American students were learning "See Jane run," Chinese students were getting a lot of sentences with the first-person plural. It was always "We will" do this or do that. I wonder if China has already thought of using an MMO to spread their political message, given that most Chinese are wise to the usual methods.
calthaer @ Jan 18th 2007 2:58PM
How do you say "gold farmer" in Chinese?
shase @ Jan 18th 2007 12:55PM
10. How do you say "we're closing that manufacturing plant and sending all those jobs to China so that the stock holders can make more money" in Chinese?
"women yao ba nage gong chan ge guan bi li, na xie gunren hue bei sun dao zhong gou soyi gou dong hue gao xie."
How do you also say "Sorry, you can only have one child, law prohibits more than one child"
"due bu qi, ni zhinen yo yige haizi, falui bu renxu yige yishan"
How do you say "freedom of speech is crap"
"gongping fayuan quan shi laji."
gjd @ Jan 18th 2007 1:43PM
I've studied some Chinese but I'm confused by the last part of the graphic up in the post. Do people ever say "hua wen" for Chinese? I've heard lots of variants when speaking with people: "zhong wen, zhong guo hua, guo yu" and so on, but never actually "hua wen." Is that common?
bobthebarber @ Jan 18th 2007 2:04PM
But if everyone is speaking Chinese in the game, how will you identify the gold farmers?
Leech @ Jan 18th 2007 3:49PM
@gjd
Well, its common to use 'hua wen' in Singapore as thats what they use on their textbooks.
shase @ Jan 18th 2007 3:13PM
12. I've studied some Chinese but I'm confused by the last part of the graphic up in the post. Do people ever say "hua wen" for Chinese? I've heard lots of variants when speaking with people: "zhong wen, zhong guo hua, guo yu" and so on, but never actually "hua wen." Is that common?
zhong wen = chinese language(more towards understanding of chinese but not neccessarily speaking)
zhong guo hua = chinese language (speaking chinese)
guo yu = chinese language(speaking chinese but more towards Mandarin chinese)
hua wen = more or less about chinese people in foreign countries (not china) You sure its not Hua ren?
Anyway, if you want to know if someone know chinese you use "zhong wen" in sentence. If they can speak it use "zhong guo hua" If you want to know what dialect they speak you could try "guo yu" first since most people speak Mandarin chinese then "ao yu" which is cantonese.
shase @ Jan 18th 2007 3:35PM
14. How do you say "gold farmer" in Chinese?
"Jin nong"
kftgr @ Jan 18th 2007 5:18PM
da jia hao. qing wenhao ni de muqin. dong bu dong? bu dong de hua, jiu diao ni lao mu.
Andrew @ Jan 18th 2007 7:06PM
@18: Eloquent.
Doug @ Jan 19th 2007 8:21PM
@18: leih lou mou tihm! BTW, it sounds so much better in Cantonese
tom @ Jan 19th 2007 7:21AM
This would be a great way to learn a new language. The competetive, addictive element of video games is excellent motivation for learning.
I just got into Brain Training on the DS.. and now i'm far more into mental arithmatic than I ever have been before.
I just can't believe that nintendo hasn't capitalised on this and made a few "learn a language" programs for the DS.. (at least not outside of japan. )
Aya @ Jan 31st 2007 6:51PM
Hi guys,
As I learn Chinese in China, I have the opportunity to try out many offline and online Chinese learning materials. I'd like to share some of these materials. First is a highly customizable Chinese English dictionary . I also use this tutorial that teaches me Chinese writing. I hope these resources would help you learn Mandarin quickly and efficiently. Take care guys! :-)
Li Feng @ Feb 8th 2007 2:24PM
I am an advanced doctural student in Education. My research is on adult foreign language learners. I will be doing a research study with this game: Zon -- The New Chengo Chinese. The research looks at adult learners' experience using this game to learn Chinese. As most of you have noted, it will be a fun way to learn Chinese.
In exchange, as a native Mandarin speaker, I'll be happy to help you learn Chinese for free.
If you are interested to participate, please email me: lichi.feng@gmail.com
chris @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:53PM
Hello ,everyone .I am a Chinese girl, my name is Chris ,I want to find a friend who want to learn Chinese ,and when I teach him Chinese ,I can learn English the same time .If you are a honest boy or girl , contact me ,Please.
my e-mail :xinyi0727@yahoo.co.jp