Second language acquisition after the students have learned their first lan-
guage is a unique process. One major difference between learning a foreign language
and one’s mother tongue is that second language learning is often facilitated with digital
media, and in particular, through interacting with computers. This project is aimed at
leveraging computer game technologies and Microsoft Kinect camera to create virtual
learning environments suitable for children to practice their language and culture skills.
We present a unique virtual environment that contextualizes the practice and engages
the learners with narratives, encourages group work and leverages the power of
embodied cognition in language learning. Our system has been deployed in an
afterschool program for children from 6 to 8 years old. We report our evaluation results
and reflections on the deployment process, followed by discussion and future work.