Starcraft Teaching English to Koreans

Here’s the biggest understatement of the day: Starcraft is pretty popular in South Korea. And by “popular,” I mean there are televised competitions, gaming leagues, and people who literally live in compounds where they train all day just to play Starcraft. So what’s the next step for the Koreans’ relationship with Starcraft? How about using it to teach people English? A publisher in Korea has actually published a book titled, “Starcraft English,” which runs through every shred of language in the game to help students understand the English language a bit more. The book explains every phrase spoken by the in-game units, breaks down their names into different parts to explain other words, and even teaches the meaning behind the game’s copyright info.

I guess it makes sense in a way. Since Starcraft was only released in English in Korea, this might be how many people are exposed to the language. Some might argue that random choice phrases from a science fiction game may not provide enough for people to get by in an English-speaking society, but I disagree:

“Hey, man, you want to go grab something to eat?”

“Let’s move!”

“Alright. Oh, man, it’s cold in this car.”

“Wanna turn up the heat?”

“Good idea. What sort of music do you want to listen to?”

“Rock and roll!”

“Sounds good. Okay, do you know what you want to eat?”

“My path is set.”

Sadly, I could continue this sort of conversation for quite some time, but I’ll spare you all.

Via Siliconera