Gaming is currently the most grossing industry in the world, and especially during this troubling time of the Covid-19 pandemic because people were forced to quarantine at home looking for something to entertain them. 

So far this year, a whopping $29 billion worth of video games were sold in the US, a 23% increase from last year. 

In a reality where children and teenagers barely go to school, and even before that, they find education in video games.  Most video games require socializing, especially MMORPGs like Maplestory or WOW, making them a great place to learn how to socialize and how to speak different languages.

Learning English Through Gaming, Yair Has Experienced

It is mainly relevant to people whose English isn’t their native language.  The game NPC’s and the people around make it vital to understand English and help young people learn the language.

Not knowing the positive side of gaming, many parents are concerned about their child gaming habits, thinking they might become addicted, unmotivated to do anything else and have a negative effect on their socializing skills.

Gaming Disorder

Last year the World Health Organization went as far as adding ‘gaming disorder’ as an illness.

We have interviewed Yair Dabush, who is a very successful Youtuber in Israel, about how gaming affected his English and he stated: My English wouldn’t be as good as it is right now if it weren’t for gaming. I started playing MapleStory (a popular MMORPG type game) at 11 years old, which is a social game by nature. You can’t play the game alone. There are a lot of party quests you need to do with other people, bosses and also you’ll need to talk to people to purchase the type of equipment you’ll need down the road.

English in Israeli Schools

– I did not listen to English classes at school, my English is only from gaming, reading, and watching YouTubers and streamers. I started playing the game at 11 years old, barely knowing any English, and learning to speak rather fluently. 
Although gaming can help, it can also become unhealthy and there is truth to what the World Health Organization states. According to the organization, it doesn’t matter how many hours someone spends a day playing video games. 

The description of the illness says that the criteria for being classified as having a gaming disorder are for someone with an inability to stop playing even though it interferes with the other areas of his life, for example sleeping, school, work, and relationship for at least one year. 

This is why it is always important to do everything in moderation, whether it’s gaming or anything else in life. Gaming can also be rather dangerous, so parents, make sure to limit your kids’ playing time and get them to do other activities such as reading or sports.