Play Jackbox Games to Learn Foreign Languages

¿Como se dice… “I want to be the cool Spanish teacher at my school”? 

It can be hard to find new games for your foreign language classroom that actually challenge students’ vocabulary while allowing them to have some fun. Meet Jackbox Games. 

We’ll help you become the hippest teacher on campus. Step one: sit backwards in chairs. Everyone knows the cool teachers don’t sit in chairs the normal way. Step two: download and play some of Jackbox Games’ most popular titles in your foreign language class.

Here are two ways in which you can use our games to supplement your foreign language class curriculum… or just to help you prepare for your vacation in Florence.

Play Drawful 2 and Quiplash 2 in French, German, Italian, and Castilian Spanish

Two of our most popular titles have been translated in French, German, Italian, and Castilian Spanish. International versions of Drawful 2 and Quiplash 2 are available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam. If you use a PC or Mac in your classroom, Steam is a great option. Learn more about playing our games on Steam and a full list of titles and platforms here. 

Because Drawful 2 and Quiplash 2 were translated with the intent of bringing our games to international audiences, this option would be best utilized in French, German, Italian, and Spanish classrooms at a higher level of language comprehension. Students may not be able to guess “was ist das?” until German 2 or 3. 

About Drawful 2

Drawful 2 challenges players to draw ridiculous prompts on their devices (so you’ll also be the cool teacher who lets your students use their phone in class). 

Once the drawings have been created, other players will be asked to guess the prompt that was given to inspire each drawing. This will challenge students’ vocabulary knowledge.

About Quiplash 2 InterLASHional

Do you see what we did there? QuipLASH. InterLASH– okay, you get it. 

Quiplash 2 InterLASHional delivers prompts to players’ devices. Players will have a short period of time to answer questions. Your students will be challenged to think quickly and try to out-wit their classmates. 

Important information about using these games in the classroom

Both Drawful 2 and Quiplash 2 InterLASHional support 3-8 players at a time and allow up to 10,000 members in the audience. All audience members can participate in the voting rounds. Games typically last 15-20 minutes, so classes with 8 or more students may want to play a few games allowing players to rotate in.

Both of these games also include extended timers if you want to give students some more time to think through their translations. These games also include manual censoring and content moderation features so the “teacher” part of your “cool teacher” status doesn’t get compromised. Learn more about our games’ settings options in this video.

Learn languages by creating custom episodes in Quiplash 2, Drawful 2, and Quiplash 3

Not only do the international updates for Quiplash 2 and Drawful 2 include full translations in four languages — they also include the ability to create custom episodes. So does the newly released Quiplash 3. 

Creating a custom episode is arguably the best option for a foreign language teacher wishing to creatively challenge their students to learn a particular set of vocabulary. By creating custom prompts, you can provoke your students to provide answers or drawings that utilize words from your current unit.

Custom episodes are also a great option for those teaching foreign languages that we do not have full translations of our games for. See the list below for characters our games support.

Flash supports the following characters (game content only)

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

0123456789ÀÁÂÃÄÅÆÇÈÉÊËÌÍÎÏÐÑÒÓÔÕÖØŒÙÚÛÜÝŸ

àáâãäåæçèéêëìíîïßñòóôõöøœùúûüýÿ:;<=>?!"#$%&'()*+,-./[]^_¿{|}~¡\•…–—―«»‘’“”„€¥£©®™Þ×¼½¾°

Jackbox controller supports the following characters from user inputs:

!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;?

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

{|}~¡¿ÀÁÂÃÄÅÆÇÈÉÊËÌÍÎÏÐÑÒÓÔÕÖ×ØÙÚÛÜÝÞßàáâãäåæçèéêëìíîïðñòóôõö÷øùúûüýþÿ > = <

Learn more about creating custom episodes here. 

Sharpen your foreign language skills the fun way

Whether you’re teaching a foreign language class or just trying to find a fun way to learn a new language on your own, Jackbox Games wants to help you out. And if your classroom is still virtual, check out these tips for playing remotely.

If you have success stories using our games in the classroom or with your friends preparing for an international trip, we want to hear it! Send us a message on Twitter or Facebook. Follow us on social media (we’re also on Instagram and TikTok) and subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page to stay updated on new international releases of our games and more.