1.3. Learning English the fun way

When I was 5 or 6 years old I got my first computer. It was running on MS-DOS and it got a few games on it like 'Alley Cat' and 'Ski or Die'. Yet my favourite game was 'Leisure Suite Larry In The Land Of The Lounge Wizards'. And that is definitely not a kids game.

I could barely read or write, English was a complete foreign language to me, but this did not stop me from playing.

The game warns you from start that it is not meant to be played by a kid (alone). It also makes the player answer a few multiple-choice questions to make sure of that.

Well this was for me a tiny hurdle to jump before entering the game. It took me a few days to learn all the right answers to the questions (back then there were no walkthroughs or google). My favourites still are:

The most likely place to find virgins is

a. Virginia

b. Virgin Islands

c. St. Mary's Girl's School

d. Hollywood

Is this software pirated? 

a. Yes. 

b. I'm not talking. 

c. No. (How could you even ask!) 

d. No, just borrowed.

These are only two examples. Obviously I could barely understand the questions. I only memorized the words and correct letter.

Once you answer three or five (can't remember) questions correct, you can start playing. You start here:

The whole game is about this middle-aged man called Larry and he is out in town to have some fun. Sadly in his quest to get lucky, he gets into trouble and has to perform several quests. All his actions have to be dictated to him by the player. Thus you have to type, in English, what you want Larry to do e.g. open door, drink beer and so on. Ok at this point I could not play the game anymore. I didn't know sufficient English to type commands when I was 6. Buuuut a few years later, when I was about 9 or 10 I did.

The game actually helped me improve my English knowledge since I trained conjugation. I was always typing 'open the door' or 'call a cab'. If I remember correctly, I even played 'Larry' before an English test and passed it afterwards with flying colours.

Playing Larry was also the highlight of one of my birthday parties! All of my friends wanted to have a go and get Larry laid. I became one of the most popular girls in class, since having a computer at home and with such a fun game was very rare. Of course we never got to finish the game, because we were too innocent and our English still needed improvement. We figured out how to call and drive around town in a taxi. How to order beer, kiss the prostitute at the bar after we gave her a rose, how to urinate and wash hands afterwards, how to steal money from the drunkard etc. But there was so much more game content which I only discovered in my late teens, when my lovely boyfriend introduced me to 'walkthroughs'. He said its cheating, but frankly I would have never had the patience to figure out everything on my own. And the fun factor was still there.

Nowadays there are several remakes of Larry, some good some bad. My favourite is still the original. And on the second spot is 'Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!' which takes place in a health spa.

So if you're out to practice or improve your English through a fun and free activity, then I would definitely recommend playing video games. DOS-games are now free to download or play online.