Heyo.
So, here I am, stuck in Thailand, likely going to have to learn Thai in order to extend my visa, with a German roommate, waiting, so that I can go back to Taiwan. Oh, also, my parents are Indian, but I was born in the US. So... I know how language works. ;)
As far as learning, the intention has to be there. Even with all of the best resources: a grammar book, Assimil, dubbed and subbed Adventure Time, listening to music, subbed foreign movies, listening to people, etc., it’s all comparitively meaningless compare to someone who’s constantly thinking and speaking in the language over and over.
Gamifying education is evil. There really isn’t a way to force people to learn certain things, especially if they’re just not interested, *really interested*. Baiting children with sausage is not good. (with the exception of rote learning. that’s possible and actually useful in language learning.)
My best friend in Taiwan works at StudyCat making Chinese/English “educational” tablet games... And I doubt it’s useful. I’ve never encountered an “educational” *game* ever to actually be educational.
But *language learning activities*, now that’s possible! I’m interested in culture. I like words. I like interactive media. And I like making them. It could be fun to design and experiment with making REAL language-learning interactive activities... I mean, forcing the person to talk using recent lessons.
Without a community of people speaking though, it truly is unnatural.