a game is something you play, usually with someone else.. people play games all the time.. just like people tell a lot of stories.. TPRS plays a game of asking stories in classrooms.. storyasking plays a game of asking stories anywhere you like..

[edit] classroom

in some schools, against all odds, there's a revolutionary language method helping kids really learn to communicate in "foreign" language.. the method is called TPRS and it rocks.. compared to other classes where you memorize facts, TPRS is a creative, fun, playful game.. and everyone learns more..

[edit] playground

everyone knows that out on the playground, different games are played.. different language is used.. in class, teachers police kids.. on the playground, kids start policing each other.. kids know they are a new generation.. they're members of a student body.. there is a game between students and teachers.. so maybe a more real connection between students..

[edit] street

between school and home is the street.. CORRELE!!!

[edit] home

home sweet home.. another story, other games.. all kindsa real context for language learning.. for using language..

[edit] cards

there's a popular game of cards called, in polite society, "i doubt it".. most people just call it "bullshit".. basically, if it's your turn, unless you're really lucky, sometimes you gotta lie.. you know, say something that ain't true.. if another player doesn't believe you, they say it.. then one of two things happens:

• if you told the truth, whoever falsely accused you is punished
• if you lied and got caught, you are punished..

totally hilarious game even little kids know and play.. and very easy to turn into a core language teacher.. just call the game "mentiroso"..

• mentiroso LIAR

almost the same things said oh so many ways: liar, bullshit, i doubt it, no way!, get outta here, i don't believe you, wrong!, lies, etc.. lotsa different words, same intent.. multiple, multiple, multiple repeats to confirm meanings.. it's just a game, but played with lots of feeling.. real emotional context to connect language with learning

[edit] online

if you want to learn language and you want to connect with native speakers, then use you could maybe use the internet to play games of storyasking..

[edit] http://wiki.laptop.org/go/StoryAsking

can TPRS practices adapt to a computer game? some of the TPRS practices, like circling and centering, could be more or less mimicked by a computer program.. visual images could be very colorful and imaginative.. sounds, speed of pronunciation could be customized for individual players.. text could be bilingual twext or texty text etc.. whatever it take to deliver the most meaningful input..

people, especially kids, like to play.. a key attribute to the TPRS language method is that it is fun.. kids seeme to have lots of fun playing computer games.. maybe a good TPRS or "storyasking" computer game could help lower the affective filter..

more and more people have computers.. the One Laptop Per Child inititiave soon starts delivering millions of laptops to kids all over the world.. these kids and others are will be communicating like never before possible.. how will they learn each other's language? maybe by playing a fun game of storyasking?

but aren't computer games evil and bad? aren't they too violent? don't they isolate kids? not necessarily.. wii and xbox, for example, easily let two players compete with each other.. and you don't have to be in the same room to play computer games.. multi-user games like second life are being played right now by tens of thousands of people all over the world.. and the OLPC works with mesh networks, so kids will be able to ask each other stories..

also, computer games don't have to be passive "edutainment".. there are computer games which are not only being developed for kids, but actually being developed by kids: see scratch.. hmmm

[edit] plan

so if we made a storyasking game for language learners, where would we start? maybe by gathering information and involving people using a cutting-edge internet technology like a wiki.. maybe influential people would be interested in a game for language learners.. maybe even people like:

• Blaine Ray, inventor of TPRS
• Stephen Krashen, theory of language acquisition
• Idit Harel Caperton, founder and CEO of MaMaMedia
• Mitch Resnick, inventor, developer of Scratch

worth a try?

[edit] action

• Ben Slavic, author of PQA in a Wink is onboard :)

• maybe interesting