Gamification, in plain English, means turning learning into a game. Take the popular foreign language learning app Duolingo for example. Duolingo makes language learning fun, turning it into a sort of video game.
We feel more empathy towards people with whom we have something in common, and what more could you have in common with someone than a shared language? Could learning a foreign language increase our empathy towards speakers of that language? It’s certainly possible.
The idea of introducing culture to the foreign language classroom has gained in traction since I started teaching Spanish. Many language instructors agree that some culture should be incorporated into the instruction as long as it furthers the learning of the language.
Learning Spanish, or any foreign language, is great for many reasons. It develops the language center of your brain, which helps you speak, read, and write better in your own language. It teaches grammar.