Animation Games
The development of the Internet has provided many new ways of teaching Esperanto and attracted more people to learn Esperanto. Now, a new tool has emerged to promote Esperanto: anime video games. Two years ago, SukeraSparo launched a Japanese game that combines entertainment and educational functions. The game scenario is that a girl is lost and comes to a place where only Esperanto is spoken. The girl and other players must learn Esperanto to survive. Recently, MangaGamer company launched an English version of this game called The Expression: Amrilato.
Esperanto media "Leaf of Liberty" interviewed Michael Hogan, the translator of the English translation of the game, editor Tania Jensen and programmer Craig Donson.
Game screenshots
Q1
Why is this game called The Expression: Amrilato? Is there any special meaning?
Michael Hogan: The game tells the story of a Japanese girl Rin who came to a place where Esperanto is the main language (the language is called Juliamo in the game), and another girl Ruka met her on the road and took care of her. .
Game screenshots
Tania Jensen: Ruka helps Rin adapt to the new environment, learn a new language and ultimately help her find her way home. During the game, the two get close to each other and develop a friendship. The game is a teaching material of sorts - players can learn Juliamo alongside Rin, which adds an element of depth to the game.
Craig Donson: This is a picture story, an interactive game that players can choose. On the way home from school, the protagonist suddenly travels to a world similar to her living environment. The difference is: the sky here is always pink, and the people speak a language she does not understand. Fortunately, she met a girl who knew Japanese and was helpful.
Q2
Why choose Esperanto as the language of the game?
Michael Hogan: I speculate that the reason why game developers chose Esperanto is to facilitate communication between speakers of different native languages. Now the game has been translated into multiple languages, which also means the success of Esperanto.
Tania Jensen: Part of the appeal of this game is being able to learn Esperanto alongside the main character. The language itself is dedicated to global communication, so Esperanto seemed like the perfect choice for this game.
game screenshots
Craig Donson: Esperanto is derived from Indo-European language , and has very few similarities with Japanese. Because the grammar and vocabulary are very different from Japanese, Japanese players have to face more difficulties than players whose native language is an Indo-European language (such as English). For Japanese players, the most similar reference may be English, but as when Rin enters the world of Juliamo, players will find that just a bit of English is not enough to fully understand the language.
I think this unique challenge for Japanese players is the main reason for creating this game. Although Esperanto is the most used program language, it rarely appears in mainstream media, which brings a sense of novelty to Japanese players. Rin's desire to learn Juliamo, Ruka's desire to learn Japanese and the two's growing romance create a unique premise for the story.
Q3
How much Esperanto can you learn through this game?
Tania Jensen: I think everyone can master some basic knowledge: grammar, sentence structure, basic vocabulary. In-game courses and quizzes can help players monitor their learning progress and increase their knowledge.
Game screenshots
Michael Hogan: Because Esperanto is a planned language, it has a very regular structure. Players can quickly learn the language after understanding the basic rules.
Craig Donson: This game was made with the help of the Japanese Esperanto Association. Although Juliamo is a fictional language with fictional elements, it is very similar to Esperanto, so this game is a good way to promote Esperanto to players.It must be emphasized that due to the needs of the story, Juliamo made some changes to Esperanto, mainly involving the fictional alphabet, part of the grammar and vocabulary. But the changes are minor, so Juliamo and Esperanto are roughly the same.
Rin has taken Juliamo's basic courses many times in the game, which are very similar to Esperanto. There will be monitors on the screen and some interactive quizzes to test players' knowledge. The test content includes numbers, sentence structure, common expressions, etc. Players can also repeat learning at any time through the "Learning Mode" in the main menu. A small dictionary is also available, covering vocabulary and examples, many of which are not present in the game.
Game screenshot
Rin discovered during the learning process that many letters in Juliamo are similar to Latin letters. Perhaps the Juliamo alphabet can be replaced with Esperanto's, which would make it easier for gamers to learn. Players can skip the quizzes and just focus on the story if they wish, or they can take quizzes or study lessons at any time. After the game is over, all dialogue will be presented in Juliamo, encouraging everyone to play the game again.
Want to play?
The game is for sale on the MangaGamer website
The game was launched on June 13 and is available for purchase on MangaGamer and GOG. The publisher recommends giving this game as a free gift to all associations teaching Esperanto. Just send an email to [email protected].
The link to this game on the MangaGamer website is https://www.mangagamer.com/detail.php?goods_type=1product_code=1120
(a dialog box may pop up asking for the date of birth, select it to enter), or click At the end of the article, reads the original text . Purchase from the Steam game platform (with Chinese introduction).
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