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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: Does WoW help you learn a foreign language?
by Lesley Smith 
Jul 6th 2009 at 8:00AM
When I joined my current guild I suddenly found out about this hidden multi-cultural and multi-lingual side to the game and as a result three of my best in-game friends are from Norway, Russia and the Netherlands. All have fantastic English skills but it's still common for them to go back to their native languages in group chat or over voice. They know I can't understand them but that doesn't stop me being able to guess what they're saying. Indeed the language barrier exists but it doesn't hamper the game one bit.
So I wonder, readers, do you regularly play with people from around the world? Have you learnt another language or improved your linguistic skills using the game? Do you play on a realm which doesn't speak your mother tongue? Do you enjoy playing with people from other cultures and countries? Has it inspired you to take up learning a second or third language?
Filed under: Guilds, Blizzard, Breakfast Topics, Quests, Raiding, Forums, Europe
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
Ydrisselle Jul 6th 2009 3:39PM
Ragnaros is not so bad - the Hungarian players aren't the majority on that realm, at least 50% of the players are Swedish ;) (I'm playing there since 2005, so it's an up-to-date information :D) Bloodscalp... is a legend I think. bhut in a bad way - it's perfect to prove why you shouldn't give access to WoW to some seriously idiot people.
Playing WoW is good for me to keep my English skills at an acceptable level.
Neyssa Jul 7th 2009 6:20AM
Yeah my new server is Ragnaros :) I like it much more. I logged in with my long-abandoned druid on BS a few weeks ago, and just standing around Stormwind, reading trade channel for a few minutes convinced me that I wouldnt come back here for any price :) I also changed from Ally to Horde, maybe thats also a difference, I have no clue about BS Horde - Ragnaros Ally.
berna Jul 6th 2009 9:30AM
Although I've learned English -I am Turkish btw- at school I was far away from speaking it. I've been playing WoW for the last 2.5 years and speaking with my buddies in-game has helped me a lot in speaking English fluently. I was reluctant at first on vent but as time's passed I've realised how easy it is to speak with people whose mother language is not English mostly. Having people from many countries wipes away the fear of looking really silly when trying to pronounce correctly ;)
Kyle Jul 6th 2009 10:52AM
Haha, one thing: I play an a US realm and I'm a native English speaker. People that speak English as their first language have a hard enough time pronouncing words in their own language. Mispronunciation is nothing you should be scared of. Everyone does it. Especially in WoW. So for an entire realm to sit around and try and pronounce words correctly not in their first language is not too far from commonplace on all-English realms.
As for myself, I've taken classes in Spanish, as most people tend to take as a second language, but I've also toyed with Japanese here and there. Someday maybe I'll get my hands on a foreign version of WoW and maybe I'll brush up on some casual speech on one or the other.
Candina@WH Jul 6th 2009 9:46AM
as an American, not so much.
But I did have to learn a whole New language.
LFG, UBRS, LFM, LF Tank, WTS, WTB, TY, KK, OMGWTFBBQ, Epix... etc.
shaddam Jul 6th 2009 10:42AM
Poor guy
Kyle Jul 6th 2009 10:53AM
be sure not to include WoWspeek as a 2nd language on any professional resumes.
santiagosaezv Jul 6th 2009 9:52AM
Regarding the Latin American servers: Most of us speak spanish. Some guys, specifically brazilians, speak portuguese. I'm not certain about the exact amount of people who speak english. A high number of the english speaking players are inmigrants living inside the states, but there is a relatively high amount of latin american players who do speak english. Then again, there is an equally high amount of players who just don't know a sinlge word in english.
crsh Jul 6th 2009 9:53AM
It helps me understand Engrish, if anything.
KeaheTriste Jul 6th 2009 1:15PM
I play wow on the us realms so as others have stated it hard to find players who nativly speak other languages, though one of my servers does have a large Kuwaiti player base (bleeding hollow) however in star wars galaxies I've played since the game came out on an unofficial German server and have learned enough German to group and communicate with other players because of it.
Camaris Jul 6th 2009 10:01AM
One strange thing I've discovered that you really cannot spot actual Brits in written English. In fact, it seems Brits are even better (or worse) at abbreviating their own language to text-like messages, whereas other Europeans will often spell out things fully in English, simply because they are not as familiar with the words.
vmonte200 Jul 6th 2009 10:14AM
I only like talking to those that can speak American cause this is America.
binin Jul 6th 2009 10:54AM
it's english speaking.
and no it isn't,
redneck
Extrox Jul 6th 2009 12:43PM
I see that said a lot, I'm like 90% sure it's from a movie...
I wanna say Talladega Nights?
vmonte200 Jul 6th 2009 1:37PM
haha, yeah Talladega Nights, slightly different though.
Hoggersbud Jul 6th 2009 10:14AM
I'm still looking for people who speak English properly. Seriously, reading some people's text is like trying to decipher a foreign language that isn't even consistent.
Calavera Jul 6th 2009 10:23AM
The server I play on, Nagrand EU, consists mainly of Scandinavians (mostly Swedes), Dutch people and folks from the UK.
I'm Finnish by blood and Swedish by uprising, so English was my 3rd language, and as I went to a English language education I consider myself being pretty good at the language, so I see WoW mainly as a thing where I get to use English and stay up to date.
We mostly speak English so that everyone can understand, but as people of the same nationality group together the conversation can switch to a mix of several languages.
Although, playing WoW hasn't really taught me any English, nor made me interested in learning a new language (French & German were the only other languages I studied at school, and they got their own servers), but it has helped me keep my language skills up to date.
Carcasshoof Jul 6th 2009 10:40AM
Well... lets say that the english that i've learn from school was poor enough for me to get in trouble when I first played WoW.
I'm still learning, but today i'm capable to listen people talking on vent and understand *almost* everything(still need to pratice on talking).
So yes, WoW helps me to learn a foreign language.
I don't know why some people get angry when i by mistake talk in portuguese(i'm from Brazil) on guild channel(yes... it happen sometimes when i want to awnser some question fast enough). Maybe those people just don't like any foreign playing "their" game. Instead i can teach some portuguese for those :P
Some guildies and friends really help me when i do some mistake and it let me learn better.
Ps.: I'm sure i typed something wrong on that comment, so please help me :P
Take care everybody!
Extrox Jul 6th 2009 12:58PM
I never understood why people get angry with people speaking foreign languages either. I notice on my server that people seem to go nuts anytime someone speaks something non-english, it disappoints me that they act that way.
I'm American myself and possibly in the rarity on this thought, but frankly I find it pretty dang cool to see other languages used.
As another poster mentioned, I almost wonder if it's because of the lack of consistent exposure to foreign languages that has caused people to act like that.
Panzer Jul 6th 2009 1:44PM
Basta vc pegar uma transferência para o realm Azuremyst EU que tem pelo menos dois guilds em lingua portuguesa lá.