Zombie James
Banned
Anyone try it even? :lol
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Is it possible to learn Japanese while playing a JRPG with a dictionary?
- Thread starter Zombie James
- Start date
Joe Molotov
Member
Anything's possible...if you just believe in yourself.
Cheesemeister
Member
I really wouldn't recommend it. I managed to get through Majora's Mask this way six years ago. Looking back at it now while being more able to understand the text, I'm amazed I finished the game.
Import games, particularly RPGs, should be held off on for a good handful of years after starting to learn Japanese.
Import games, particularly RPGs, should be held off on for a good handful of years after starting to learn Japanese.
xaosslug said:
It's not that surprising. Listening to people speak a language and watching their gestures for long enough will lead to your picking up the language at least partially. I learned Korean through a combination of several similar methods + friends met through online games. I wouldn't call myself fluent, but I can at least have conversations, and I've had no instruction whatsoever.
akachan ningen
Member
That's a ridiculous idea. Not only can you not learn Japanese that way, you won't even make it through an E-rated JRPG with just a dictionary. You might finish the game, but there's no way you'll understand it without years of studying Japanese first.
Not an RPG, no. I tried to play my first RPG in Japanese when I was studying for JLPT ikkyu, and it was still hard.
You'll have to at least have some basic knowledge. You won't even be able to look up the meaning or know how to read some characters if you don't have some basics down.
To start with, do something a little easier
The Yakiniku action game seems like a good place to start.
Fun, easy, and they speak a lot of the language being used, so you'll pick it up quicker, and probably even laugh a little (like when the little girl gets something she doesn't like and says 'gero mazuuui!'
I know this game might be rare outside of Japan, but if you are already looking for a game that's in Japanese I don't think it would be that much more difficult to find.
You'll have to at least have some basic knowledge. You won't even be able to look up the meaning or know how to read some characters if you don't have some basics down.
To start with, do something a little easier
The Yakiniku action game seems like a good place to start.
Fun, easy, and they speak a lot of the language being used, so you'll pick it up quicker, and probably even laugh a little (like when the little girl gets something she doesn't like and says 'gero mazuuui!'
I know this game might be rare outside of Japan, but if you are already looking for a game that's in Japanese I don't think it would be that much more difficult to find.
There are far better ways to learn Japanese. That said, an RPG would be a nice complement to a Japanese language course. A simple game like Pokémon can help you understand simple sentence structure, and it wouldn't be overwhelming since the game uses hiragana instead of Kanji. Also, the Pokemon names are in katakana, which could help you learn/remember those. Don't even bother playing a Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior though.
When I was learning German in highschool, I picked up the German-language version of Link's Awakening for GB. I was familiar with the game having played it in English, so I knew the gist of what people were saying. Applying the German wasn't that hard and kind of enjoyable.
When I was learning German in highschool, I picked up the German-language version of Link's Awakening for GB. I was familiar with the game having played it in English, so I knew the gist of what people were saying. Applying the German wasn't that hard and kind of enjoyable.
BudokaiMR2
Member
icecream said:
Pretty much exact.
There are a lot of nuances in Japanese grammar that would make it practically impossible without undestanding them. Particles and such.
I'm several years in and I still have trouble with some stuff. Plus there are times where you can't stop to look shit up, like cutscenes.
Pristine_Condition
Member
Short answer:
No f***ing way.
Long answer:
Japanese is tough. It's even harder to read, since there are three different styles of text.
If you are just kicking the idea of learning it around, but aren't ready to commit major time and money yet, do what I did about 6 months before I went to Japan for a visit:
-Get on iTunes, and do a search for and start downloading the "Japanese101" podcasts. Or go directly to www.japanesepod101.com
-Start from the beginning, (Season 1: beginner lesson #1, or the Intro lesson #1) and try to master each one before moving on. When I say "master" each lesson before moving on, I'm serious. Even though each lesson is short, they are pretty packed with info, so you must concentrate on each lesson, (no web-surfing while listening) and review often. I did a lesson every two days, repeating each one a lot, and then reviewing them all at the end of each week.
-Within the iTunes program, if you click on the little "i" in the "description" column, you'll get the vocabulary, written in both Romanji (Roman letters) and the appropriate Japanese Text, so you can get used to seeing the words.
-Go to JapanesePod101.com and see what else they have on the site. If you are really into it, I highly recommend the paid "Premium Level" of service. It's worth it. Especially if you have an iPod.
-Protip: Listening to the lessons through good headphones goes a long way to helping your "Western" ears pick up the nuances of the sounds.
This is a great podcast, and will go a long way toward teaching you conversational Japanese. Each lesson is about 10 minutes long, so you won't get overwhelmed.
The show is recorded in Tokyo, and aside from the host, features all native speakers, so you get to hear Japanese as spoken by real Japanese people. This is very important. If you stick with it, later on in the lessons, you'll be exposed to Japanese people with different accents, too.
Bottom line though, they make it pretty fun to learn, which is probably the best thing about it. The host and the other staff really come across as really liking what they do.
There's a lot of other interesting stuff to explore on the Japanesepod101 website. For example, If you have no interest in the language, but just want to learn a little about Japanese culture and stuff, they mix in a culture class regularly to break things up and keep it fun and interesting.
I was shocked how much Japanese I was able to learn through the podcast in only about 6 months. When I went to Japan for three weeks, I was definitely not fluent, but I was shocked at how much I was able to use. I was able to get by and hold decent conversations with pretty much anybody, if they were kind to me and understanding. I wasn't able to read much, but I never paid much attention to learning to read it until I got back to the states.
Let's just put it this way, I could go out in the streets of Tokyo or Kyoto, alone, and be fine. (If I knew where I was going...navigating the cities can be tough!) I could go to a shop or restaurant and be fine. Better yet, I could go to the bars with my friends and talk to the ladies enough to get by.
Of course, when Japanese people see an American, they tend to be understanding if you don't know everything or need them to slow down a bit. I should say "most Japanese people," because this doesn't seem to always apply to some members of the Tokyo Police or some Japanese transit workers, but for the most part, they are. :lol
It's so good, my host, who has been living in Japan for the last two years, was very impressed with my knowledge, and has subscribed, and is doing the harder intermediate lessons that I haven't even got to yet. He's already learned a lot of stuff that just gets glossed over.
It might be worth a try for you. It has worked for me enough to make me happy and fit into my lifestyle, and it's free, and it's even really cheap if you want to get the premium service.
No f***ing way.
Long answer:
Japanese is tough. It's even harder to read, since there are three different styles of text.
If you are just kicking the idea of learning it around, but aren't ready to commit major time and money yet, do what I did about 6 months before I went to Japan for a visit:
-Get on iTunes, and do a search for and start downloading the "Japanese101" podcasts. Or go directly to www.japanesepod101.com
-Start from the beginning, (Season 1: beginner lesson #1, or the Intro lesson #1) and try to master each one before moving on. When I say "master" each lesson before moving on, I'm serious. Even though each lesson is short, they are pretty packed with info, so you must concentrate on each lesson, (no web-surfing while listening) and review often. I did a lesson every two days, repeating each one a lot, and then reviewing them all at the end of each week.
-Within the iTunes program, if you click on the little "i" in the "description" column, you'll get the vocabulary, written in both Romanji (Roman letters) and the appropriate Japanese Text, so you can get used to seeing the words.
-Go to JapanesePod101.com and see what else they have on the site. If you are really into it, I highly recommend the paid "Premium Level" of service. It's worth it. Especially if you have an iPod.
-Protip: Listening to the lessons through good headphones goes a long way to helping your "Western" ears pick up the nuances of the sounds.
This is a great podcast, and will go a long way toward teaching you conversational Japanese. Each lesson is about 10 minutes long, so you won't get overwhelmed.
The show is recorded in Tokyo, and aside from the host, features all native speakers, so you get to hear Japanese as spoken by real Japanese people. This is very important. If you stick with it, later on in the lessons, you'll be exposed to Japanese people with different accents, too.
Bottom line though, they make it pretty fun to learn, which is probably the best thing about it. The host and the other staff really come across as really liking what they do.
There's a lot of other interesting stuff to explore on the Japanesepod101 website. For example, If you have no interest in the language, but just want to learn a little about Japanese culture and stuff, they mix in a culture class regularly to break things up and keep it fun and interesting.
I was shocked how much Japanese I was able to learn through the podcast in only about 6 months. When I went to Japan for three weeks, I was definitely not fluent, but I was shocked at how much I was able to use. I was able to get by and hold decent conversations with pretty much anybody, if they were kind to me and understanding. I wasn't able to read much, but I never paid much attention to learning to read it until I got back to the states.
Let's just put it this way, I could go out in the streets of Tokyo or Kyoto, alone, and be fine. (If I knew where I was going...navigating the cities can be tough!) I could go to a shop or restaurant and be fine. Better yet, I could go to the bars with my friends and talk to the ladies enough to get by.
Of course, when Japanese people see an American, they tend to be understanding if you don't know everything or need them to slow down a bit. I should say "most Japanese people," because this doesn't seem to always apply to some members of the Tokyo Police or some Japanese transit workers, but for the most part, they are. :lol
It's so good, my host, who has been living in Japan for the last two years, was very impressed with my knowledge, and has subscribed, and is doing the harder intermediate lessons that I haven't even got to yet. He's already learned a lot of stuff that just gets glossed over.
It might be worth a try for you. It has worked for me enough to make me happy and fit into my lifestyle, and it's free, and it's even really cheap if you want to get the premium service.
Cormacaroni
Member
Forsooth, noble leech, I hereby avowest that thou canst most assuredly semble the moste curious speech of the denizens of the far-flung Isle of Japan in the manner thou hast written of! Why your noble servant learned the tongue of the Britons from playing Ultima and Elder Scrolls!
One of the few RPGs that can be used to build someone's Japanese skills at the beginner, I think is the main Pokemon series. The games are in all kana and use simplistic language most children can understand. But the best way to learn Japanese is immersion: read the textbook, study your Kanji daily/weekly, listen to Japanese music, watch Japanese shows, talk to Japanese people, etc. etc. Games obviously can fit somewhere in there but start from the basics.
Twilight Dawn
Member
I've had three years of college Japanese and most RPGs still go over my head. (I can understand a large amount of Kingdom Hearts but still have to look up words... and that has simpler vocab than, say, a Final Fantasy game.) I have to stop so often to look up kanji that it just isn't worth it, especially if there's no furigana or voice acting. Part of the problem is that the vocabulary used in your average RPG is hardly everyday vocab you learn in a class. Still, at this point I'm not taking Japanese formally anymore and playing games and reading/watching anime/manga is one way I keep myself from completely forgetting everything.
Advice: learn at least basic sentence structure and grammar, and then start with games with less text than a RPG, or manga/anime set in a fairly everyday setting.
Advice: learn at least basic sentence structure and grammar, and then start with games with less text than a RPG, or manga/anime set in a fairly everyday setting.
no chance, sorry. first you have to understand the basic structure of the language, especially the grammar which is totally different from western languages. apart from that you would have to know from which style of text that little word is that you are trying to translate: hiragana, katakani, kanji? it's way too complex.
apart from that: IF you have some basic knowledge of the language, then you could really combine playing RPGs and learning japanese. but i think, at least at the beginning, the whole fun of playing would be undermined by this stressful and tedious looking up of vocabularies....
apart from that: IF you have some basic knowledge of the language, then you could really combine playing RPGs and learning japanese. but i think, at least at the beginning, the whole fun of playing would be undermined by this stressful and tedious looking up of vocabularies....
Cormacaroni said:
:lol :lol :lol :lol My hat goes off.
Well, from my experience: no. I know it because I tried that some years ago and don´t work, you will get frustrated and without furiganas, you will have a hard time trying to search every kanji (and then trying to check what meaning of the kanji is used in the sentence). At the end you won´t remember the kanjis you have chequed, so you won´t learn anything and, what is worse, you won´t enjoy the game.
As Bebpo says, it is more useful when you have a solid base of Japanese, for improving your skills.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
JapanesePod101 actually looks really good. It seems like they put just much emphasis on reading as they do speaking/listening. Seems you have to subscribe to get a lot of the better stuff, but what they're offering for Premium is like a ridiculous amount of material. (But also costs $25 a month. Though considering the cost of most CD based tools and the fact that this is all mobile/web based makes it seem almost...worth it?)
HisshouBuraiKen
Member
You can definitely pick up vocabulary that will be useful in future JRPGs (like spell names, weapon types, stats, status effects), but you won't learn anything usable in actual conversation or writing.
When I was living in Japan, after about almost a year of Japanese study before going, I had a hard time playing through Final Fantasy 7 in the manner you describe (it was slow going and I never beat it in Japanese) but I managed through Symphony of the Night. After a year in Japan, I made it through Final Fantasy 5 pretty well, thanks to its relative simplicity.
In short, if you have had no training in the language and its grammar, a dictionary won't do anything for you. And even with training, learning how to read your way through a game won't help you to actually speak the language.
Personally I found playing games without kanji to be harder sometimes. I remember trying to play Final Fantasy 2 and having a hard time because it took a while to identify word boundaries when I wasn't familiar with the vocabulary. Of course, that was a long time ago.
In short, if you have had no training in the language and its grammar, a dictionary won't do anything for you. And even with training, learning how to read your way through a game won't help you to actually speak the language.
Personally I found playing games without kanji to be harder sometimes. I remember trying to play Final Fantasy 2 and having a hard time because it took a while to identify word boundaries when I wasn't familiar with the vocabulary. Of course, that was a long time ago.
Speaking of simple(r) stories, how difficult is Blue Dragon's vocabulary?
I'm thinking about getting started to at least get the very basics of the japanese language, I had already been told about japanesepod101 and it seems like a good way to get started.
I don't have any hope of ever even managing to read something written in Kanji, I don't have time/energy enough to spend more than a few hours every week to learn language.
I'm thinking about getting started to at least get the very basics of the japanese language, I had already been told about japanesepod101 and it seems like a good way to get started.
I don't have any hope of ever even managing to read something written in Kanji, I don't have time/energy enough to spend more than a few hours every week to learn language.
Servbot #42
Unconfirmed Member
i learned English by watching TV and playing video games,it wasn`t so hard because English isn`t that complicated..at least to me. but Japanese is so hard! you need to take classes probably to get it right,i wish i knew Japanese so that i could play Japanese games.
Yep. Once you have a solid base, going into a game is actually very useful as you'll pick up all sorts of new words and, more importantly, kanji. I learned so much kanji from games...and it sticks!
I believe it works as a study suport tool. You need to have already invested time into the studies (a lot of time) while taking an eager attitude towards continued learning. The upper intermediate class I attended for a few months back in Japan last year was pretty critical for me (I was the only English speaker in my class, actually, which was beneficial), but the playing of games during this period had a very positive impact. At the end of the class, one of my teachers told me that the three of them agreed that I had seen the most dramatic improvement over the course of the class. Naturally, speaking improvements come from talking and listening (hanging out with Japanese friends as much as possible, for example), but reading and writing were aided greatly by games. As part of our tests, we had to write a 4-5 page essay (in about 40 minutes) and it was a piece of cake. Games allowed me to become very comfortable with text. It is very satisfying to feel actual progress being made while playing and this feeling will drive you to work harder.
It would be far too frustrating to start on games early on, though. If you can comfortably read the text while running into a few words here and there that require look-up, that's a prime time to get started. If, however, you look at the text and have absolutely no inkling as to what is written, you'll never get anywhere.
Whoa, blim, you played through Blue Dragon without any Japanese knowledge. :O Hardcore. Your English seems virtually perfect. How did you go about learning that in the first place?
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Also, as someone else stated, you're much better off starting with manga. A perfect beginner's book would be Yotsuba&!. It's very simple, but not overly kiddie, and also happens to be one of the best comics you could ever hope to read.
Yeah I had played through most of eM until I was stuck at a boss fight where understanding the spell names was really important, so I figured I could play at least a bit of Blue Dragon. Turns out I've not been stucked too much until now. I had to ask for Bebpo's help a few times but otherwise it was pretty easy. Lots of trial and error though, especially to get the elemental spells name right (casting water on a water boss is always a good way to quickly learn thatdark10x said:
)I learned the basics of English in middle/high school, English was my third language after French and German. I forgot 99.9% of my German, but since English is the basic language for everything computer related, not even mentioning games I used it almost daily when I was 16-20 years old, and then started reading books in English (I have something like 200 English books or so now, I'm an avid reader), watching TV shows/movies in English with no subtitles, and of course writing on internet forums and my sites.