Now that was a new one for me!

[Hussar]

I know that D&D has been getting all sorts of wide spread acceptance but, this was a new experience for me. I teach online English classes to Chinese students in China. Mostly kids from elementary up to high school age. Today I had a new student.

She announced that she was tired because she had just come back from her "camp". It's holiday time in China right now, so, the kids are doing all sorts of camps - English, Math, horseback riding, the typical stuff. At her camp, she spent the week playing Dungeons and Dragons. In Chinese. It wasn't an English camp at all. The kids went to this camp (think summer camp) specifically to play D&D.

:wow:

The young lady's English was fantastic - she goes to an international school, so, I just assumed it was a English language camp thing. Nope. The camp was for playing D&D.

She played a half-elf sorcerer.

Just... wow.

 

[Older Beholder]

You can tell the kids that learnt English playing DnD when they start talking about the encumbrance of their backpack.

 

[sevenbastard]

Sounds like fun!

Back in the 80s boyscout camp was just us playing D&D any chance we got. Sure occasionally we went swimming or shot .22s but mostly D&D.

 

[MoonSong]

She played a half-elf sorcerer.

I like her already. n_n

 

[dragoner]

I know that D&D has been getting all sorts of wide spread acceptance but, this was a new experience for me. I teach online English classes to Chinese students in China. Mostly kids from elementary up to high school age. Today I had a new student.

She announced that she was tired because she had just come back from her "camp". It's holiday time in China right now, so, the kids are doing all sorts of camps - English, Math, horseback riding, the typical stuff. At her camp, she spent the week playing Dungeons and Dragons. In Chinese. It wasn't an English camp at all. The kids went to this camp (think summer camp) specifically to play D&D.

:wow:

The young lady's English was fantastic - she goes to an international school, so, I just assumed it was a English language camp thing. Nope. The camp was for playing D&D.

She played a half-elf sorcerer.

Just... wow.

It's humorous when they say a small RPG sells 80,000 copies. I mean for a publisher that is like uh what?

 

[Hussar]

You can tell the kids that learnt English playing DnD when they start talking about the encumbrance of their backpack.

That's what blew me away. It wasn't an ESL camp. These kids go to immersion schools, so, their English is already pretty much fluent (or at least my student's was). I mean, sheesh, I've got students of my own here that I've taught ESL to for years and I wouldn't dream of trying D&D out on them.

 

[jian]

How very interesting. Did she anything about how she found out about it, who runs it, what other kinds of kids attended, and so on? It’s fascinating that there’s a demand and that parents consider it worth making time for in their children’s demanding extracurricular schedules.

Do they value the cooperative and group tactical development? The training in running meetings? (FYI, I found having been a GM for decades incredibly and unexpectedly helpful in running and chairing corporate meetings, at least in the NHS.) Or maybe they think it’s useful for making a cultural connection with Western techbros?

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Do they value the cooperative and group tactical development? The training in running meetings? (FYI, I found having been a GM for decades incredibly and unexpectedly helpful in running and chairing corporate meetings, at least in thr NHS.) Or maybe they think it’s useful for making a cultural connection with Western techbros?

I know China has a rep for doing things for a reason, but, I suspect "because it's fun and social and not staring at a screen" might well be the predominant reason here. Murder-mystery (and similar) LARPs are insanely huge in China, and no-one is doing those for any real reason beyond "It's fun/social!". I imagine D&D is nowhere near as popular as those LARP, but the rising tide from them probably did bring D&D and other RPGs up a bit.

I do 100% agree that DMing is basically training in running a meeting though, that is very true. It's also applicable to being the foreman on a jury and making sure everyone gets heard and gets to ask their questions in the jury room, which does not necessarily happen otherwise.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

You can tell the kids that learnt English playing DnD when they start talking about the encumbrance of their backpack.

Or, for those of us that grew up with 1e, mispronouncing all those Gygaxian words.