Aberwla: a Welsh-speaking town in VR.

Getting children to practise a second language outside the classroom is hard. Worksheets and textbooks don't give learners the natural, low-pressure practice that builds confidence, and many children in Welsh immersion programmes hear little Welsh outside school. The council needed something that felt like play but delivered real language practice, fitted what learners were already doing in class, and gave them space to make mistakes without anxiety.

We built Aberwla, a fully navigable imaginary Welsh town. Children move through everyday scenarios, from the supermarket and the cafe to the museum and the weather centre, talking to characters and answering questions in Welsh. Multiple-choice interactions keep it accessible at every ability level, and the content was developed with the immersion programme so it connects to the curriculum.

Language is social, so multiplayer was central to the design. Up to 30 learners can enter the town in one session, each with their own avatar, practising Welsh with their classmates rather than responding to prompts on a screen. The app runs on a managed fleet of 105 headsets, so teachers don't have to install or update anything themselves.

Aberwla has been running for over two years and is still in use across Welsh immersion programmes in the region. It won Best EdTech at the Wales Technology Awards 2024.

Following the commissioned version, a free edition is now available on the Meta and Pico stores, extending it to schools and families beyond the original programme. It shows how a commissioned tool can keep adding value long after the first brief.

Aberwla in numbers.