Grampappy’s Files: The World of Pokemon
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TL;DR
- Here are The Three Keys to Vocabulary Learning Success.
- I played Pokemon a LOT as a kid. At first, it seemed like I wasn’t learning anything, but then I started learning so much vocabulary.
- The Pokemon games are basically a machine designed (by accident) for learning and practicing vocabulary.
- The Pokemon games employ the three key aspects of learning vocabulary: 1) Contextualized learning, 2) Spaced Repetition, and 3) Active Recall.
- All pokemon have “moves”, which act as the vocabulary we want to learn.
- Raising pokemon requires you to repeat this vocabulary intensely for short periods as you train your pokemon’s “moves.”
- Pokemon battles will challenge you to actively recall vocabulary words. You need the right “moves” to defeat your opponents.
- Other role-playing games (RPGs), like Pokemon, have the same vocabulary-learning benefits embedded into gameplay. They just teach different vocabulary.
- When you’re having fun and truly engaged, you are always learning something. Games are for learning!
When I was a kid, I fell through a curious well and discovered a magical world. I was stuck on the other side for years; all that time without teachers, friends, or family. I came out of there a little wonky, I admit, but at least I came back [not] dumb! After all, the world of imagination is full of all the knowledge in the universe. There’s no school on that side, but I was still able to learn vocabulary in the world of Pokemon.
This world of Pokemon was strange. Nobody spoke there, they just wrote down what they wanted to say on a white background. I wasn’ the best reader when I first arrived, so I didn’t really bother with what people were saying. All I knew, was that I was in Pallet Town and everyone kept calling me AAAAAA.
I walked around town for a bit and made my way towards the alluring and seductive tall grass (against everyone’s warnings, apparently). An old professor guy came rushing to me and grabbed me before I could take my first step into the wilderness. He rushed me over to his lab and plopped me next to his grandson, my bitter childhood rival, also named AAAAAA.
The exasperated professor composed himself and went off on this big speech about coming of age, friendship, and responsibility baloney which I kind of glossed over. FINALLY, he offered me my first pokemon! I went over to the desk, where three tantalizing orbs were waiting for me to examine them. Each one contained a cute and powerful companion that I could take on my adventure, but I could only choose one and they were not labeled. The one time I would have made an effort to read, and there were no labels!
There was no way to know which was which, and I had no idea if I could change my mind once I touched one of the orbs. I stood shaking in front of the middle one and reached for it. Suddenly, out came a… Squirtle! The water turtle pokemon. I was so curious about the pokemon inside the other two orbs, but I was happy with my choice.
So far in my adventure, I had learned that reading was overrated and pressing “A” can get you pretty far in life. And if you don’t believe me, ask my shiny new Squirtle.
Before I could leave with the completely wrong lesson, AAAAAA, my rival, challenged me to a pokemon duel. He had also gotten an awesome new pokemon and we were both ready to test them out! I stood behind my Squirtle and got ready to yell out my command. My Squirtle had two attacks, but rather than reading their names I just chose the first word. It was a huge success! My Squirtle tackled the rival pokemon and landed a critical hit.
On my next turn, I tried using the other command (without reading), hoping that it might be more powerful. My Squirtle just sort of wagged from side to side, doing no damage at all and disappointing everyone. This word I actually made an effort to read, and I stored it in my memory with a mental note: TAIL WHIP — never use again. This is where my vocabulary-learning adventure really began.
Learning new vocabulary, whether it’s your first, second, or even third language, is generally the same process for everyone. When Satoshi Tajiri created the world of Pokemon, he accidentally chose mechanisms that, together, turned into the ultimate vocabulary-learning video game. Even if no one’s noticed it after 25 years!
Tajiri grew up collecting bugs in the Japanese countryside, and that inspired his Pokemon game. Originally, he intended it to be a game focused on connection. He imagined happy kids exchanging their little pocket monsters through a cable, which then could be traded to another player, and another; a network of connected players helping each other collect them all.
His is a story of perseverance and determination and you can hear all about it in this lovely video. From a young student with Asperger’s who’s greatest accomplishment was the high score in donkey kong at the corner arcade, to a brilliant developer who designed a game that impacted the whole world!
*** [NOT] Bored Conspiracy Theory ***
[Not] many theorists believe that the Flash Card companies sought to quash Tajiri from releasing his game, fearing it would be too effective and educational and that it would ruin their business. [No] research proves they hired fake teachers to discourage his passions and planted operatives as key Nintendo executives to poo-poo his ideas. But his genius was undeniable, and he went on to publish his incredible game. Sadly, the devious flash card industry ran a smear campaign to hide the educational power of games and instead claimed they caused violent behavior and stupidity. That is why, to this day, the educational power of Pokemon remains hidden.
*** End of [NOT] Bored Conspiracy Theory ***
According to my sources, who shall [not] remain confidential (see bibliography), there are three key aspects to learning vocabulary: contextual learning, spaced repetition, and active recall. Tajiri himself is probably unaware of these three concepts, yet his game appeals to each of them in a unique way.
Rather than getting a very rigid and dry definition from a worksheet or dictionary, the world of pokemon showed me the meaning of words through a complex and interwoven context which was relevant and meaningful to me.
In the world of Pokemon, each creature can use different “moves.” Some are offensive, some are defensive, and some have special effects. However, for the sake of our explanation, let’s call them “vocabulary words” instead. Each pokemon can use a set of 4 different vocabulary words which have different effects and powers. Each of these vocabulary words aligns under a different type (e.g. EMBER is a FIRE type word and BUBBLE is a WATER type word). As a pokemon trainer, you must master these vocabulary words and their categories if you hope to be victorious in battle!
The story, the types of moves and their effects on different types of pokemon; all of this creates a rich context that is meaningful to students and motivates them to study and dominate the words. When I first arrived to the world of Pokemon, I learned that TAIL WHIP is not an attack word, it does no damage. Later, I learned that BUBBLE is a WATER type word. It does a little damage, but it’s not very effective against GRASS type pokemon. This led me to form contextualized words and phrases like, “bubbles are made of water” and “that’s why plants can absorb bubbles”. It may not seem like much, but just in the first Pokemon game, there are 165 words, and all of them are beautifully connected and have different interactions with 15 type categories — that’s a bunch of ways to make connections between vocabulary words in a meaningful context.
In the land of Pokemon, words don’t have definitions; rather, they have descriptions of their types, power levels, effects, and pixel graphic animations that stimulate the imagination and let you shape your own definitions. All these different ways to interact, interpret, and analyze words create more neural connections, securing vocabulary into long-term memory. No wonder YouTubers like Elyssa DaVega list contextualized learning as one of the keys to learning vocabulary in a new language. Another unwitting endorsement for Pokemon as the ultimate vocabulary-learning machine.
Pokemon belongs to the Role-Playing Game (RPG) genre, and a common feature of these games is that you have to “grind” for levels. I’ve left a helpful definition from Urban Dictionary below, but we might as well call “grinding” spaced repetition.
Just like raising pokemon, committing new vocabulary into your long-term memory is a process that requires spaced repetition. When I was in the world of Pokemon, I would spend days camping out next to Vermillion City, battling Drowzees over and over. I would raise one Pokemon at a time until I got sick of using the same attack over and over against the same pokemon. By the time my pokemon had gotten stronger, the words were branded into my brain. It was tedious work, but I had to train the next one and the next one, because if I wanted to defeat Lieutenant Surge, my entire team had to be in shape. I was well-motivated.
When learning a new set of vocabulary words, you’re supposed to review them every hour, then every day, then every two-days, and so on. Each Pokemon let’s you review a set of four words through intense repetition. If that pokemon gets tired, you’ll have to bring out another and study a new set of words for a brief but intense period. The goal of becoming a pokemon master is a much more exciting and worthy reason to learn vocabulary than simply to pass a test or because you were told to. In the world of pokemon, intense spaced repetition and vocabulary training is totally worth it, because who doesn’t want to be the very best than no one ever was?
Lastly, but certainly not least, comes Pokemon’s mechanism for active recall. Put simply, this means that to learn vocabulary, you have to try and use it. You need to go through the exercise of retrieving words from your memory during the appropriate situation.
All pokemon battles are different save for the goal: to defeat the other pokemon trainer’s team. It’s an action-packed battle of the elements. If your opponent throws out a FIRE pokemon you must respond with WATER type words. If he changes to ROCK, counter with GRASS. You always need to know what situation you’ll face next, and what vocabulary will bring you victory.
During battle, you must be aware of every word. When your opponent shouts out their next pokemon’s name, you need to go into your memory and retrieve that pokemon’s type, the vocabulary words they can use, and which words are effective against it. Strategy and problem-solving demands put your active recall abilities to the test. Whether or not you are able to recall the right attack will mark the difference between a super-effective hit and a crushing defeat. It’s in these exhilarating situations where our brain’s full potential can be displayed.
Tajiri always intended for his game to be fun in a place full of imagination, but I think he’d be very moved to know that it achieved so much more. When we’re having fun, we create meaningful memories and connections, we learn. A game could teach you anything, even something bad, but Tajiri-san was very cautious about what you’d be learning in his game. He invited connection and friendship in while keeping violence and cruelty out, but something wonderful slipped in through the cracks: vocabulary.
I don’t know if he’s aware that his game can do this. So, if you ever read or hear about this, I owe my passion for words to you and the adventures I had in the world you created, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Thank you for giving us something precious.
While there is no machine that can download vocabulary into your brain, Pokemon gets pretty close. Like the road to becoming a Pokemon master, the road to vocabulary learning is long and arduous. There are no shortcuts or cheat codes. But if you love catching Pokemon, you’ll start to love catching new words as well.
I spent months of my life in the world of Pokemon, catching all sorts of vocabulary. I’ve only begun scratching the surface of the game franchise and its potential for education and vocabulary instruction, but I’m afraid I’ve already said too much.
Many other RPGs (role-playing games) create the same opportunities for spaced repetition and active recall. It’s a common feature of this genre of games. I’ve been all over the universe visiting all kinds of worlds you can’t imagine, and each has its unique vocabulary. Some of them, like the recently remastered Super Mario RPG, use very limited and everyday words (Tier I): “hammer”, “jump”, and “fireball” for example. Other games, like those found in the Final Fantasy franchise (SquareEnix), use very sophisticated and abstract words like “summon”, “oblivion”, and “pierce” (Tier II and III words).
Just because you’re having fun doesn’t mean you’re not learning. In fact, quite the opposite is true. When you’re having fun, your brain is primed to store all the knowledge and experiences it engages with into long-term memory. So, anytime you hear the sound of fun, you should wonder what is being learned, because undoubtedly something is.
The time I spent inside the game is only a fraction of the time I spent playing the game. What I mean is, I read strategy guides, Nintendo Power Magazine articles, online forums, pokedexes, and more in my quest to uncover all the secrets in the world of Pokemon. There are so many ways to leverage an interest in pokemon and other games towards learning vocabulary and other skills. The first step is only to realize that you’re learning.
So, parents, teachers, and students, be not afraid. Your addiction to Pokemon is practically an addiction to vocabulary, and that’s [not] a problem!
Bibliography
- https://www.johnholtgws.com/the-foundations-of-unschooling
- https://www.understood.org/en/articles/how-to-teach-vocabulary-words
- https://www.understood.org/articles/7-ways-to-improve-vocabulary
- https://preply.com/en/blog/learning-words-quickly-a-scientific-approach/
- https://imhomeschooling.com/homeschool-and-unschool-qa/
- https://www.readnaturally.com/research/5-components-of-reading/vocabulary
- https://www.speechtherapystore.com/tier-2-vocabulary-words/
- https://lavacutcontent.com/satoshi-tajiri-new-game-design/
- https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2040095,00.html
- https://arcadespot.com/game/pokemon-blue/
Stay tuned for deeper insights with more of Grampappy’s Files as he uncovers the power of how Games are for Learning. Don’t forget to follow us to uncover all the mysteries that await and the surprises to come.
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