English Listening Practice | Is Gaming Good Or Bad? Let's Debate
Are video games a harmless pastime or a mental health risk? 🎮🧠 Today's lesson examines both sides of the debate, teaching you new vocabulary and phrases as we explore what both sides have to say. Are you ready to find out if gaming can actually be good for you? Listen till the end for some surprising insights!
In this lesson, you will:
- 🗣️ Learn new vocabulary and phrases
- 👂 Improve speaking and listening skills
- 🤔 Explore the video gaming debate
- 🎮 Understand video gaming benefits and drawbacks
- 🧩 Practice with real-life examples
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Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock-n-roll.
⭐ Shigeru Miyamoto
✔️ Lesson transcript: https://adeptenglish.com/lessons/english-listening-practice-video-games-mental-health/
Whether you're a gamer or a sceptic, this lesson offers fresh insights and useful vocabulary to enhance your English skills.
Gaming has been a great way to get to know people. That's part of what I love about games, that they are social.
⭐ Felicia Day
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More About This Lesson
Are you an avid gamer or someone curious about the relationship between video gaming and mental health? This English lesson delves into the heated debate surrounding this modern pastime, exposing you to rich vocabulary and engaging discussions on both sides of this contentious issue.
Video games foster the mindset that allows creativity to grow.
⭐ Nolan Bushnell
Throughout the lesson, you will uncover:
- Learn relevant vocabulary and phrases.
- Understand different viewpoints on video gaming.
- Improve listening comprehension with clear, simple language.
- Hear real-world examples of English in use.
- Get exposure to British English and culture.
- Follow structured arguments and opinions.
- Enhance understanding of complex topics.
- Engage with an interesting and modern topic.
- Practice listening to natural, conversational English.
- Access additional lessons and resources on the website.
The latest research findings on the impact of video gaming on mental health. Gain insights into the arguments supporting and opposing the notion that video gaming can be beneficial or harmful. Strategies to articulate your opinions and participate in nuanced discussions on this subject.
Video games are a waste of time for men with nothing else to do. Real brains don’t do that.
⭐ Ray Bradbury
Stay informed about a contemporary and relatable issue that divides opinions among experts. Enrich your English language skills through immersion in natural discourse and authentic perspectives. Gain pragmatic comprehension by listening attentively to a native speaker's insights and delivery.
Subscribe now to our English lesson series and unlock the invaluable ability to engage in meaningful discussions on current topics while continuously improving your listening and comprehension skills. Stay informed, stay engaged, and elevate your English proficiency.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- How can learning about the video gaming debate help improve my English vocabulary? Learning about the video gaming debate can enhance your English vocabulary by introducing you to new words and phrases related to mental health, psychology, and gaming culture. By understanding both sides of the argument, you will encounter terms that are commonly used in discussions about video gaming and its effects, allowing you to expand your language skills in a meaningful context.
- What are some common opinions about the impact of video gaming on mental health? Common opinions about the impact of video gaming on mental health vary widely. Some psychologists and psychiatrists believe that playing video games can be detrimental, particularly for children and teenagers, as it may lead to issues like addiction and social isolation. However, recent studies suggest there is no significant link between video gaming and mental health problems, indicating that gamers may not experience more mental health issues than non-gamers.
- How does this English lesson help in understanding different viewpoints on video gaming? This English lesson helps you understand different viewpoints on video gaming by examining both sides of the debate. It provides insights into the arguments made by those who believe video gaming is harmful and those who see it as harmless or even beneficial. By listening to and analysing these perspectives, you enhance your comprehension skills and learn how to articulate complex opinions in English.
- Can video gaming be considered beneficial according to the lesson? Yes, the lesson acknowledges that some people see video gaming as beneficial. While it discusses the concerns about mental health, it also mentions that recent studies claim no harmful effects from gaming. This suggests that video gaming can be enjoyed without guilt, and may even offer cognitive and social benefits when played in moderation.
- How can listening to English podcasts about contemporary issues like video gaming improve my language skills? Listening to English podcasts about contemporary issues, such as the video gaming debate, can significantly improve your language skills. It exposes you to current vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, and varied sentence structures. Moreover, it enhances your listening comprehension and helps you understand how to discuss and debate topical issues in English, making your language use more relevant and up-to-date.
Most Unusual Words:
- Contentious: Causing a lot of disagreement or argument.
- Psychiatrists: Doctors who specialize in mental health.
- Neutral: Not taking any side in a disagreement or conflict.
- Objective: Not influenced by personal feelings or opinions.
- Participants: People who take part in an activity or event.
- Acknowledges: Accepts or admits the existence or truth of something.
- Criticised: Pointed out the problems or faults in something.
- Perceptions: The way people think about or understand something.
- Sceptical: Having doubts or not easily convinced.
- Moderation: Not doing something too much or too little, but just the right amount.
Most Frequently Used Words:
| Word | Count |
|---|---|
| Gaming | 31 |
| Video | 29 |
| Which | 13 |
| About | 11 |
| Might | 11 |
| People | 10 |
| Health | 9 |
| Study | 9 |
| There | 9 |
| Mental | 8 |
Listen To The Audio Lesson Now
Transcript: Are Video Games A Waste Of Time
Video gaming - good or bad?
Hi there. Do you play video games? Or do you see it as a waste of time or even damaging to people? Today let’s cover another ‘hot topic’ in this English language listening podcast. Let’s explore the ongoing debate about video gaming and mental health. We’ll examine both sides of the argument, helping you learn new vocabulary and phrases related to this contentious issue. Whether you love gaming and think it bring benefits or think it's harmful, this lesson will give you fresh insights. So ‘video gaming’ means games on your computer, Xbox, Playstation, Switch etc. And usually this is an issue which divides opinion. That means that people either support video gaming and play themselves or that they don’t value video gaming and don’t play themselves.
Lots of psychologists and psychiatrists have the opinion that playing video games is a bad thing, bad for our mental health - especially for children and teenagers. And this has been seen as more of a problem since the COVID lockdowns. But a study this week claims to show that video gaming is not harmful and that video gamers have no more problems with mental health than anyone else. So no link between hours spent gaming and mental health issues. So can you keep gaming for long hours, guilt-free - is that what this means? I’ll look at both sides of the argument - and if you listen to the end, I’ll give you my own opinion too!
Hello, I’m Hilary, and you’re listening to Adept English. We will help you to speak English fluently. All you have to do is listen. So start listening now and find out how it works.
Apologies this isn’t a video!
Just let me mention first of all - normally our Monday podcast is a video - but this weekend was such a busy one, I’m sorry but we’ve only been able to do audio this time. That’s very unusual and we will be back to our normal video format for the Monday podcast next week. And before I get into this contentious topic, don’t forget on our website at adeptenglish.com, there are hundreds of podcasts just like this one. I make the English slightly simpler so you can understand and I give you help with the more difficult words. This has help thousands of English language learners really improve their English. If you want more than you can find on YouTube or Spotify or wherever you listen, then our podcasts are always available on our website - and you can download them in groups of 50 for a small charge. Go to our Courses page at adeptenglish.com.
📷
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The gaming industry - $159 billion a year!
So in 2020, the global video game industry made over $159 billion. Wow! That’s more than the film and music industries combined. It shows the huge popularity of video gaming worldwide. So it’s big business - and lots of people do it. The article I read this week was published, that means ‘appeared’ on the website PsyPost. That’s PSYPOST. It’s not familiar to me, but it claims to be ‘an independent science news website’ which has been quoted by major news outlets since 2010. And it seems to have posts or articles which both support and question video gaming. I like to know that my sources - where I get my information in other words - have some balance. The article makes the point that the WHO made ‘video gaming disorder’ one of its ‘list of diseases’ in 2018. And in the UK, our own NHS or National Health Service has a National Centre for Gaming Disorders, which has been operating since 2019. So clearly there is enough concern about this to be spending public health money on treating it.
Gaming isn’t harmful to mental health says a recent study
But what did this new study say? The study was published - that means ‘made public, put out for people to read’ in the journal ‘Technology Mind and Behaviour’ and you can follow the link to read the original article from the transcript. The article acknowledges that previous studies have been negative, neutral - that’s NEUTRAL, meaning ‘in the middle’ and that there have also been studies that report that video gaming is a positive thing - it has benefits. But previous studies are criticised because they’re based on the video gamers ‘self-report’. This means ‘based on what the people who game themselves think’. So maybe that’s not an ‘objective’ measure - it’s based on gamer’s views. I guess if you were really skeptical about video gaming and saw it as an addiction, you might see asking this questions as similar to asking an alcoholic whether alcohol is a problem for them! They might say ‘No, not a problem at all!’, even it if is!
Xbox players help science!
So this study was different in that it tried to collect ‘objective’ data. The adjective ‘objective’, OBJECTIVE means it’s not influenced by a person’s feelings or perceptions, it’s the logical, scientific view in other words. So the people who took part in the study, called ‘participants’, PARTICIPANTS, they were 414 adult Xbox players from the US and the UK. They were found through through paid ads on websites like Reddit and other social media. The study participants had to be at least 18 years old, play video games primarily on Xbox, and play at least one hour per week on Xbox. The study asked them to answer questions about their mental health every 2 weeks for 3 months. There were questions about how happy or sad they felt and about their level of anxiety or worry. Connecting to their Xbox allowed the study to see exactly how many hours they spent playing video games - to try to collect this ‘objective’ data.
And the study outcome - it found no significant relationship between the amount of time spent playing video games and the gamers’ well-being. Even gamers who spent several hours a day gaming, showed no signs of greater mental health problems.
Difference between ‘brain’ and ‘mind’
Great, you might say - especially if you like playing video games. It means it’s OK. And there are plenty studies which claim to show that video gaming is actually good for the brain and the mind. When we say ‘the brain’, BRAIN we’re talking about the physical health of the brain, the organ in your head. And when we say ‘the mind’, MIND, we’re talking about the mental health, our psychological experience - our emotions and how we feel. And here to look at the effect of video gaming, we surely need to think about both of these.
Can video games improve your focus, co-ordination and problem solving skills?
So there are studies which say that gaming can ‘improve concentration’ and focus. Or that gaming ‘can improve your hand-eye co-ordination’ - meaning that you might be better at say driving a car in real-life, if you play video games. It can help your problem solving skills. And it can be sociable if you play with friends online. As I’ve said before, my son was 11 years old at the start of COVID lockdowns and he made his current, really good friendship group at school mainly through playing video games online. And I think for people who’re older, it can a really good way to relieve stress from your job. An hour of gaming when you come home from the office may mean you’re much more able to engage with your partner and family. So that’s the positive side of video gaming.
‘Which comes first the chicken or the egg’ with video gaming and low mood?
But the idea that it’s negative persists. Surely long hours spent gaming doesn’t improve people’s lives and there have been previous studies which linked high levels of gaming with low mood, depression and poor mental health. But even this link isn’t simple. You might say ‘Depressed people game a lot’ or you might say ‘A lot of gamers are depressed’. And I would say ‘hold on’. There’s that phrase, a saying we use in English - ‘Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?’ A chicken is the bird that lays eggs, EGGS. The eggs you might eat for breakfast, in other words. And the meaning of this saying - ‘Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?’ - where there are two things happening, sometimes it’s impossible to know which causes which. ‘Did the egg come first? But in that case, surely a chicken laid it? And if we say the chicken came first, then didn’t that chicken come from an egg?’ You see the impossibility. And I would say in the context of video gaming - it’s possible, surely if you were to spend most of your time gaming that the rest of your life might suffer, your friendships, your sleep, your work, your physical health - because you were gaming so much. It’s also possible that if you felt really sad or depressed already, you might turn to video gaming to help you feel better. It’s impossible to tell in a study like this - which causes which.
English Listening Practice | Speaking Without Prejudice
My resident 15 year old expert says…..
The negative side of gaming in my opinion? And I did ask my resident expert, my 15 year old son. We agreed that asking ‘Is video gaming bad for you?’ is too simple. It’s rather like asking ‘Is alcohol bad?’ And while some people would immediately say ‘Yes’, I think for most that it’s more nuanced, it’s more complex. If I ask the question ‘Is alcohol bad?’ I would say immediately ‘It depends how much you drink!’ It’s a question of the ‘dose’, DOSE - how much? For me, the odd gin & tonic is a nice thing, a positive thing, because I don’t do it very much. But if you drink so much alcohol that it is harming your life, then clearly alcohol is a problem for you. And I would say the same is true largely for gaming. It depends how much you do.
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What would you do if you weren’t gaming?
I think for many people, gaming is a harmless, fun activity, if done in moderation. And I think there are people who do become addicted to that high dopamine hit. But often, even where video gaming is a problem, it’s not so much the act of gaming itself which does the harm, which makes the negative in your life. It’s more about what gaming replaces. If you’re spending 7 hours a day gaming, which is, I think, excessive, the harm is in what you miss out on, what gaming is replacing. If you weren’t gaming what would you be doing instead? Having more friendships, doing art, sport or music or going out doing good things in the world. I guess for me, if gaming is done excessively, the ultimate conclusion is - it just feels a bit of a waste of your time, of your life even, which might be better spend doing other things. That’s my opinion but I’m biased because I’m a non-gamer! I’d rather be in the garden. But I know that some people might say ‘But what’s the point of that?’
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Goodbye
We’re all different. I’d love to hear your opinion on this one. Get in touch, comment, let us know. Do you game or not? And if you do video games, are they a positive or a negative in your life. We’re really eager to hear from our listeners.
Enough for now. Have a lovely day. Speak to you again soon. Goodbye.
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Links
- Gaming shows no harm
- Hundreds with gaming disorders
- Centre for Gaming Disorders
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