Hello !

I'm interested in learning the japanese language for lots of reasons ( mainly studying ), but I find it really boring to learn it by reading a textbook... So I thought about learning it with the help of some games.

But... what kind of games should I start with if I know really NOTHING in japanese ?

Any advices ?

Thanks !

Bad, for a beginner.

The language will come at you too fast, language exposure is separated by long periods of gameplay, much of the vocabulary isn't useful in normal life, and most of the characters will likely have heavily affected speech. Also, since you won't understand a thing at first, it'll just be frustrating.

You may pick up some words that come up a whole lot, but on the whole it'll be a wasted effort. I say wait until you're at least intermediate.

upper-intermediate level for sure... the grammar would confuse you as well until you get a lot under your belt

Upper-intermediate. You won't be able to -read- the kanji you need until then. Most games don't have furigana.

Thank you all for your answers !

So, any other methods but for beginners ? What would you advise me to do first, and for how much time ?

Olympus Wrote:Thank you all for your answers !

It worked for me at least when I was learning French and English but ok ...

So, any similar methods but for beginners ? What would you advise me to do first, and for how much time ?

If you are really determined on using video games, try the Zelda games. Apparently they have furigana, and are generally geared towards a wider audience so maybe the grammar will be a bit simpler too (at least overall). I've never played the Japanese version, but that's what I gather.

After a year of studying I don't think I have what it takes to read Japanese video game dialogue, but I've been really slow and slacking off so that's my fault.

The Zelda (for DS) games do have furigana and there are almost no spots where the text continues without waiting for a pen touch, but the language is not basic. There is a lot of ancient-y sounding dialog (and even a tiny bit of classical Japanese), lots of dialect and affected speech, and lots of fantasy words (generally related to religion). It should be one of the first games you play when you start playing Japanese games, but it is hardly suitable for a beginner.

Even I, with a vocabulary well past JLPT1 level, added ~250 new vocab words to Anki while playing the latest DS Zelda game.

A beginner would be more suited to something like Pokemon, Doraemon, or any other games meant for elementary age children. The only "all ages" aspect of Zelda is that it's ridiculously easy. The dialogue is around middle school level.

Hum I think you're right, I tested Chrono Trigger and FF6 and I wasn't able to figure out the meaning of a single word !

I'm now giving a try to My Japanese Coach ( well, illegally because I'm using a rom+emulator, but maybe if it's efficient I'll try to buy it if I can find it ), and it's pretty good for beginners like me ! I now know some basic words like ii, hai, dame, konnichiwa, sayonara etc...

Olympus Wrote:Hum I think you're right, I tested Chrono Trigger and FF6 and I wasn't able to figure out the meaning of a single word !

I'm now giving a try to My Japanese Coach ( well, illegally because I'm using a rom+emulator, but maybe if it's efficient I'll try to buy it if I can find it ), and it's pretty good for beginners like me ! I now know some basic words like ii, hai, dame, konnichiwa, sayonara etc...

I tried My Japanese Coach and it was kinda slow and lame. I think you'd have more fun with some other things.

TheVinster Wrote:I tried My Japanese Coach and it was kinda slow and lame. I think you'd have more fun with some other things.

Like what ?

The only teaching game for beginners I found is Japanese Coach and it's pretty good, but if you know something better, then please share the name(s) :-)

Arigatou !

I just mean the non-game typical path like learning the basics. Learn your Hiragana and Katakana first, learn a bit of basic grammar use Tae Kim's grammar guide, and so on. My Japanese Coach might seem okay, but you can probably learn infinitely more per day using other self-study methods.

Really, just focus the next two weeks on learning Hiragana and Katakana, and mixing a little bit of Tae Kim into it using his basic grammar lessons. He even has practice sheets for Hiragana and Katakana. I mean if I read your post correctly, you don't know these, right?

I definitely agree that video games use a lot of difficult vocab and grammar. There's nothing wrong with you wanting to learn from video games, but don't accept to miraculously understand everything. Just a few days ago I was watching some FF13 scene on youtube and I could understand it fine. Only problem was vocab, it uses a lot of things that aren't really common at times.Examples are: 召喚,召還　

Just to give you a heads up, they don't mean the same thing.

Plus even anime sometimes uses weird vocab. It's mostly related to the shows/mangas such a ナルトそれにるろうに剣心 which both use a lot of vocab that isn't familiar to a lot of people since it's dealing with 忍者,侍 terms. But lucky for me I've immersed myself in those contexts so many times, that i can understand 90% of it.

Actually Pokemon might be harder for a beginner than some other games because the text is in all hiragana, and if you don't already know how to speak the language (like the kids the game is targeted at), it may be very difficult to know how to parse the sentences.

Another problem with handheld games for beginners is that the kanji are often very small and hard to read if you don't already know what they're supposed to be from general shape and context.

yudantaiteki Wrote:Actually Pokemon might be harder for a beginner than some other games because the text is in all hiragana, and if you don't already know how to speak the language (like the kids the game is targeted at), it may be very difficult to know how to parse the sentences.

Another problem with handheld games for beginners is that the kanji are often very small and hard to read if you don't already know what they're supposed to be from general shape and context.

Oh yea. I remember someone saying japanese people have trouble understanding sentences that have full hiragana as oppose to full kanji.

I second what Jarvik said. The way most people talk in manga and anime and games is not the way most normal people talk. If you learned all of your japanese from videogames, and you tried to talk with japanese people, they would probably laugh at you (maybe not directly, but behind your back).

It is also true that most people don't talk the way we see in textbooks, but at least using textbook japanese will save you from a lot of embarrassment.

Spend two weeks mastering Katakana and Hiragana, it is really not that hard.

Do the first basic lessons of Tae Kim to grasp the basics, and try to get a solid notion of the basic concepts in Japanese. This does not take much work.

Then, you might occasionally flirt with some Doraemon games, but you will quickly become frustrated if you depend on them for most of your learning. Especially when it comes to Kanji.

My advice is, find a balance between doing some traditional Japanese study, and playing some passive videogames just for fun, without trying to translate stuff. I recommend Puzzle Bobble series Puyo Puyo, or similar fun puzzle games, with simple interfaces.

But you will not go very far just by games alone, and even if you do, it will cause you more harm than good, and I mean it seriously. You don't want japanese people thinking "this guy talks like he is living in Naruto-land, or some weird video game".

Thank you all !

I think I've found the correct balance :

- Grammar and structure with Tae Kim's guide .
- Trying to memorize vocabulary as fast as possible with My Japanese Coach ( oh by the way, I saw that the strokes' order is wrong, but it's okay since I'm not relying on it for writing ) .

Now I think I mastered all the Hiragana in 2 days ( approx 2 hours per day ), know some very basic vocabulary thanks to MJC, but I still don't know Katakana . I know it's used for non-japanese words ( if I'm wrong here, please correct me ), but why bother to learn it if non-japanese words are very rare ?

Oh and another thing, what about Kanji ? When do I have to learn it ?

Olympus Wrote:Thank you all !

I think I've found the correct balance :

- Grammar and structure with Tae Kim's guide .
- Trying to memorize vocabulary as fast as possible with My Japanese Coach ( oh by the way, I saw that the strokes' order is wrong, but it's okay since I'm not relying on it for writing ) .

Now I think I mastered all the Hiragana in 2 days ( approx 2 hours per day ), know some very basic vocabulary thanks to MJC, but I still don't know Katakana . I know it's used for non-japanese words ( if I'm wrong here, please correct me ), but why bother to learn it if non-japanese words are very rare ?

Oh and another thing, what about Kanji ? When do I have to learn it ?

Umm, learn katakana. It is not used for "non-japanese words", it is used for words that have a foreign base, but they are very much japanese words. It's like "karate" or "sushi", they are originally from japan, but they are borrowed and are now english words, or something like that. 判るのか！