Game: “The Sims 4”
– B1-C1 (intermediate to advanced) –
Practice Your Listening Comprehension
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Practice Your Reading Comprehension
One of the most popular video game franchises around the world is The Sims. Since the ‘90s, it has continued to be a source of not only countless hours of fun for players but also of great English language learning for players.
WHAT TO LEARN
With the variety of gameplay offered by the base game and over 79 purchasable expansion packs, game packs, stuff packs, and kits, including endless free custom content and community mods, The Sims 4 is a fun way to learn and improve many English language skills:
American English
American culture
the present simple
the present continuous
the present perfect
the past simple
reading comprehension
humour
vocabulary
age groups
feelings and emotions
relationships (acquaintanceship, enmity, friendship, dating, engagement, marriage, parenting, family, coworkership, etc.)
work (industries, careers, jargon, tasks, requirements, skills, etc.)
education (elementary school, high school, skills, etc)
furniture
parts of a building
city amenities (neighbourhoods, districts, shopping, cafes, restaurants, gyms, parks, libraries, etc.)
personality traits
appearance (human body, hairstyles, makeup, tattoos, piercings, medical equipment, etc.)
clothing and accessories
colours
interior design
architecture
music (genres, instruments, skill building, careers, education, etc.)
food
and much more…!
RECOMMENDATIONS
79 iterations of The Sims 4 is a lot, so it can be overwhelming trying to discern what to buy and how it can help your English. As such, I have a few recommendations (these are also some of my favourites):
WHY I LIKE IT
Knowing how to talk about where you live can sometimes be a challenge in another language. Fortunately, this expansion pack allows English learners to explore a variety of interactive vocabulary and expressions related to housing, renting, owning, building maintenance, relationships (renter-landlord), reviews, payment, consequences, and more. Additionally, this expansion includes vocabulary related to Southeast Asian cultures, such as those found in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
WHY I LIKE THEM
These two expansion packs pair excellently together for both storytelling and educational purposes. While they add a whole new level of interactive entertainment, they also add new categories of interactive vocabulary building. By playing these games, you can learn how to talk about your university experience (in American English), extracurriculars, studying, programs and degrees, graduation, scholarships and bursaries, housing, relationships (classmates, schoolmates, peers, professors, coworkers, bosses), getting a job, work routine and work tasks (in medicine, the police force, retail business), work scenarios, consequences, wage and salary, promotions and demotions, etc.
WHY I LIKE THEM
Another great pair of games are these two, which offer the opportunity of learning how to discuss parenting, disciplining, family dynamics, change, visitors, sleepovers, infancy, childhood, family activities, milestones, and more…!
WHY I LIKE THEM
One last pair of games. These two are fantastic sources of vocabulary related to animals (found in the UK and America), animal caregiving, gardening, farming, ranching, winemaking, and competition. What’s more is that these games feature vocab related to Midwestern American culture, Native American cultures, and British culture.
Have you ever played The Sims? What about The Sims 4? Would you ever use it for language learning? Let me know in the comments below.
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ATTRIBUTION
The Sims 4 Base Game photo courtesy of Electronic Arts, Fair use, via Wikipedia.