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EnterZon.com Zon MSU Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) for Learning Mandarin Chinese Interactively

Zon MMORPG Online Interactive Video Game for Learning Mandarin Chinese

Summary

Zon is a cool, new (still in BETA), and (potentially) fun interactive approach to learning Mandarin Chinese online. It is an MMORPG, which basically means you play an "online video game" where you are a character in a virtual world, going about your way exploring and, in this case, learning Mandarin Chinese (rather than, say, killing the latest and greatest bad guys).

This is a sweet idea, indeed. I am looking forward to plowing in and give it a try myself. I will be updating this article with more feedback once I have had sufficient exposure to the game and how one actually learns. For now, I'll just mention some of the more obvious "overall" intriguing aspects of this method of language learning.

The virtual interaction with other people in the Zon metaverse is a way to meet people and make new friends who are interested in learning Mandarin Chinese.

Having a totally virtual environment allows players to experience and navigate through potential real-life situations and become comfortable with them before ever actually being under pressure. Such topics include arriving at the airport and working your way from there to a shopping district in Beijing. Pretty cool. It's the next best thing to doing it for real! Which is why this is so cool - most everyone can't just hop off to Beijing to "have a go at some shopping".

Children will be likely to excel in this video virtual environment. Or, at the very least, be interested in playing for a while.

MMORPG for Learning Mandarin Chinese Online

Be careful, though. This might just make language learning fun for all the naysayers...

Zon is made possible thanks to MSU and its Consfucious Institute.

From Website

Zon is a multiplayer, online learning environment designed to teach Chinese language and culture through gameplay. As a web-based site, Zon provides real-time, on-demand connection to interactive learning activities and authentic cultural information. Zon players are motivated not only by their intrinsic desire to learn more about Chinese language and culture, but also the ability to interact with engaging story-driven plot lines, interesting characters, and fellow players.

Zon is built on the premise that learning is interactive. The game provides the opportunity for players to learn from non-player characters (NPCs), responsive game agents, and other players. Throughout each scene, players can engage with various elements of the environment, but they can also speak with other players in that scene or elsewhere in Zon. This allows for players to learn from both the designed game elements and other players. In this way, Zon is designed to provide social and environmental scaffolds to support player learning.

Passport to Zon to Learn Mandarin Chinese Online Free Interactively in a Virtual Game World

Enter Zon.

Mandarin Chinese Language

Submitted by chapman on Wed, 2008-03-05 17:48.