One of the difficulties Alex Mauer has with his transition English class is that, because students may take it more than once, they’ve already gone through the textbook.

That prompted the McHenry High School teacher to find a new way to teach language skills for his students, all newcomers to the English language and McHenry.

Instead of reading a textbook, his students are learning how to speak, think, write and communicate by playing Dungeons & Dragons, the storied role-playing game.

Role-playing games are played through speaking, taking notes, listening to the game master and yes, rolling multisided dice. “They have to do their character descriptions, ask questions and make decisions” while playing the game and using English, Mauer said.

“The interesting part of the game is flexibility. Whatever they can imagine, I can help get them there,” Mauer said.

His students are native Spanish, Ukrainian and Portuguese speakers. A recent lesson focused on subject-verb agreement. As they played the game taking on various roles in the D&D universe, the students tracked how they use that part of grammar.

“They are using all five parts of language: reading, writing, speaking, reading comprehension and listening” while playing, Mauer said.

He is not the first teacher to see how the immersive game can help students become more comfortable using a new language. The company that publishes the game, Wizards of the Coast, provided the game for free because its being used for instruction, Mauer said.

Luis Aguilar, a bilingual instructional assistant at MHS helps the students by translating during the game as needed.

Over the course of the semester, the students will go through one campaign – a story from beginning to end. “They are not aware of what is next to come. That is only known to the game master, who determines what is next,” Aguilar said.

Each student did get to choose what role they have in the game, based of fantasy literature types. “We have a wizard, a rouge, a paladin and a ranger,” Mauer explained.

Because there are 16 students in the class, they are broken into teams. The teams rotate - swapping out every five minutes - so everyone has a chance to play in the 30 minutes allotted.

Miguel Rondon, 17, is one of the newcomers in the class.

“I learn everyday English. It is a little difficult, but I can try,” he said.

They go slowly enough so students can understand what is happening in the game. “I can say ‘We go and attack the monster,’” Rondon said.

The campaign they are working through is a simple one, designed for beginners to the game. The players are on an island and must ask the villagers about the dragons there. “They are going into a cave to find the mystery of the creatures,” Mauer said.

There are real-world applications in the fantasy game. “We try to be practical with skills. There are parts in the adventures where I would do something similar in my own life” like talking to a shopkeeper and shopping for groceries.

“It is a practical skills kind of curriculum,” Mauer said.