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What level of Japanese do I need to enjoy/understand the games?


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I started teaching myself Japanese a few weeks ago, so far I'm really enjoying it, and was wondering about what level of mastery of the language do I need for most games. So here are a few questions.

 

1.Are the games generally in hiragana and katakana or is there a lot of kanji as well, and is the kanji basic or really advanced?

2. I currently am using the living language series and then ordered the books Japanese from zero! 1-4 as well as Japanese in Mangaland 1-3 with the workbooks as well. Has anyone used these methods with enough success to comprehend the games?

3. Also are there any games you suggest to start off with when I am ready to play a game in Japanese text, sort of on the simpler side I guess?

4. What level of japanese knowledge did you have when you played your first Japanese game?

5. What was your first Japanese game?

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Playing games in Japanese is not just about being able to read the characters you see, so you must first have a pretty good grasp of the grammar. To achieve that, I'd say you need at least a year or two of continuous studying (especially if you're learning on your own). You can look up words if you don't understand something you see, but you can't really get anywhere if you don't understand the sentence structures. Being able to play through games without needing the use of dictionaries will take years and years of effort, so keep at it!

 

Exposure to the language is everything, so try to watch lots of anime, drama, or lots of music in Japanese to get used to the sounds and all that.

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1. Most Japanese games will have lots of Kanji. However, some games like Pokemon will give you the option to play in only hiragana and katakana specifically, or to include kanji as well. Most of the games that are like this are usually meant for kids. You won't see stuff like Ryu ga Gotoku or visual novels in only hiragana and katakana, though.

 

2. I haven't actually heard of those books you mentioned. I personally used the GENKI series when starting off, and I'd say it did a really good job. After going through all of them, I started talking to some of my friends in Japanese, watched anime without subs, and read manga that was in full Japanese. Reading manga helped a lot because some series had hiragana next to the kanji, and it really helped discover and learn new kanji. Watching anime was also super helpful because like Cookie said, it helps with the pronunciation.

 

3. I didn't actually start playing Japanese games until I had about 2-3 years of experience learning the language, but I'd suggest you start off with a Pokemon game, like I mentioned earlier. I know in the NA versions of Pokemon X/Y you can change the language to Japanese (hiragana and katakana, with no kanji). This will improve your grammar, sentence structure, and expand your vocabulary.

 

4. When I played my first game in full Japanese, I had about 2-3 years of experience learning the language intensively.

 

5. I think my first Japanese game was either Cross Channel, or Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo on PC. I had to constantly use a dictionary, so it took a while to beat. It was well worth it, though. I'm now almost fluent in Japanese (speaking and reading is great, but my kanji writing sucks), and can play through visual novels without a dictionary.

 

Overall, I'd suggest exposing yourself to the language as much as possible. It's the best way to learn the language. Just reading the textbooks alone won't help much.

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Oh, I forgot to mention that people think reading only in hiragana is a good thing, but that's a LIE!!! :eek:

Unless you have a firm grasp of the Japanese language, you will have NO idea what words they're using when you're reading. Small kids in Japan are fine with that in school only because they were born and raised in Japan.

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2. I haven't actually heard of those books you mentioned. I personally used the GENKI series when starting off, and I'd say it did a really good job.

 

I looked into the genki series and the books look good but it seems like a textbook for a class, so I am assuming the answers to the questions aren't in the books, or am I wrong. If I am teaching myself I would need to know the answers to check myself, how did you learn from them? Is there an answer key or something in the back of the books or elsewhere?

 

Also I was planning on reading some japanese manga and watching some anime but where can I find manga written in japanese? Do I need to import it or is there some website with some on it?

Edited by MrUnknown625
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Oh, I forgot to mention that people think reading only in hiragana is a good thing, but that's a LIE!!! :eek:

Unless you have a firm grasp of the Japanese language, you will have NO idea what words they're using when you're reading. Small kids in Japan are fine with that in school only because they were born and raised in Japan.

 

Yeah, that's true.

 

I looked into the genki series and the books look good but it seems like a textbook for a class, so I am assuming the answers to the questions aren't in the books, or am I wrong. If I am teaching myself I would need to know the answers to check myself, how did you learn from them? Is there an answer key or something in the back of the books or elsewhere?

 

Also I was planning on reading some japanese manga and watching some anime but where can I find manga written in japanese? Do I need to import it or is there some website with some on it?

 

I didn't have an answer key, nor did I take any Japanese classes. I used what I knew from the explanations and examples given in the textbook to answer the questions. Then when I started talking to some of my Japanese friends in Japanese, they'd correct me whenever I'd say something out of order. So basically I learned the bulk of the basics from the GENKI textbooks, but then filled in all the gaps and fixed the errors by talking to my friends in Japanese. The GENKI textbooks do a really good job, even if you're teaching yourself. It covers a lot of the common exceptions as well.

 

As for reading manga in Japanese, you can find them online. A quick Google search should find you plenty. Not sure how much Japanese you've actually learned so far, but since you've only started learning the language a few weeks ago, it's still too early to start reading manga in Japanese, even with hiragana characters next to the kanji and a dictionary. Also, as Cookie said, it's a bad idea to learn only hiragana because you'll have no idea what they're talking about when you read and it can be super confusing, and this is where kanji comes in.

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1.Are the games generally in hiragana and katakana or is there a lot of kanji as well, and is the kanji basic or really advanced?

2. I currently am using the living language series and then ordered the books Japanese from zero! 1-4 as well as Japanese in Mangaland 1-3 with the workbooks as well. Has anyone used these methods with enough success to comprehend the games?

3. Also are there any games you suggest to start off with when I am ready to play a game in Japanese text, sort of on the simpler side I guess?

4. What level of japanese knowledge did you have when you played your first Japanese game?

5. What was your first Japanese game?

 

1. Depends entirely on the game, and even moreso on the generation. 8-bit and 16-bit games are often all in hiragana/katakana due to technological restrictions, modern day games almost all have kanji to various levels unless it's a game intended for young children.

 

2. Never heard of those particular books, but I self-taught myself basic Japanese as a starting around age 13-14 (before I was able to enroll in real Japanese classes in high school and college) and was able to navigate my way through Japanese games fine, though I couldn't appreciate the story and character development until many more years into my study.

 

3. Whatever you want and are interested in. I approached it by playing Japanese versions of games I was already familiar with in English, such as Final Fantasy 4. In Final Fantasy 4, the main character, Cecil, was a Dark Knight. When I played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy 4 as a teenager, I translated the name of Cecil's class and discovered he was called an "Ankoku Kishi" (あんこくきし) in the Japanese version. Then I hit the dictionary; it turned out "ankoku" meant "pitch black" and "kishi" meant "knight." So, a Dark Knight. Cool, makes sense. Committed those two words to memory and drove onward. Rinse and repeat that process for long enough and you'll start to feel more comfortable and confident.

 

4. None whatsoever. Though I am 1/2 Japanese, 1/2 Caucasian by birth so my mother and extended family speak Japanese, and I also had a Japanese exchange student who loved video games as a friend and resource and I was able to ask him a lot of questions.

 

5. Brave Fencer Musashiden on the PS1, followed by Final Fantasy 8 on the PS1.

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Nice Thread. I am still stuck on which learning books to buy I look into them all and then never make a decision.

I have a few online sites but they are no where near the same.

I am finding playing a game with English text and Japanese audio is working well but it is very hard to find a game the other way around with Japanese text and English audio.

 

As mentioned above Japanese media like Anime really helps but if you keep watching anime with the same fansub group you can pick up on some bad habits that might be incorrect.

 

In the end I am being lazy and keep putting it off but I think with some learning books that would change.

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The GENKI books are great for explaining grammar and whatnot but I notice they stick to formal usage of the language exclusively, for example they always use じゃありません (ja arimasen) instead of じゃない (ja nai). I found I had to educate myself elsewhere on more informal phrases. Aside from that it's an excellent learning resource.

 

But like anyone who learns a language and I can vouch for this with German, immersing yourself is key. Talk to friends who know/are Japanese, watch Japanese shows, read Japanese books, or games. It teaches you a lot more than you expect.

 

I've been learning Japanese for close to two years (thanks to Aeliana motivating me to do so :) ) and I can comfortably import games now. I can't understand every single thing mind you (fluent in Japanese in two years? IMPOSSIBRU) and I'm checking up a dictionary frequently if there's a word I don't know, jotting it down for learning later, but I can safely say playing imports has expanded my vocabulary more than anything else out there.

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Well yeah, they're not going to teach your much conversational Japanese in classroom textbooks :p

 

In the end, the best way to start learning a new language is doing so through formal education in a classroom setting if possible to make sure you get the basics down. Learning through immersion and all that is great, but I'm going to bed that your grammar and stuff will be full of holes.

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Well yeah, they're not going to teach your much conversational Japanese in classroom textbooks :p

 

In the end, the best way to start learning a new language is doing so through formal education in a classroom setting if possible to make sure you get the basics down. Learning through immersion and all that is great, but I'm going to bed that your grammar and stuff will be full of holes.

 

Pretty much. Anime, music and video games are all fantastic for extracurricular immersion into the language, but if you're truly serious about learning it, you need to take formal classes - there is no substitute. The material in the classes will indeed likely be based around the formal desu/masu forms and not so much on the casual conversational stuff, but that's fine - you need to know *both*.

 

Think of it like learning how to play an instrument; a piano teacher will make you practice boring lessons like scales and Mary Had a Little Lamb until you're blue in the face, but they're essential for refining technique. Once a lesson is over for the day, you can feel free to try and play pop songs or whatever songs you like on your own time at home; you'll have fun (which tends to increase motivation) in the process, and you'll naturally apply the technical skills you learned from the piano teacher at the same time. Learning Japanese is no different imo.

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As mentioned above Japanese media like Anime really helps but if you keep watching anime with the same fansub group you can pick up on some bad habits that might be incorrect.

 

I despise watching subbed anime these days because fansub groups almost always translate so it would make sense to an English-speaking person. It bothers me when the subs don't exactly match what the characters are actually saying. What the characters say just feel more natural when watching anime without subs than watching with the subs and comparing the translation.

 

The GENKI books are great for explaining grammar and whatnot but I notice they stick to formal usage of the language exclusively, for example they always use じゃありません (ja arimasen) instead of じゃない (ja nai). I found I had to educate myself elsewhere on more informal phrases. Aside from that it's an excellent learning resource.

 

Well yeah, they're not going to teach your much conversational Japanese in classroom textbooks :p

 

In the end, the best way to start learning a new language is doing so through formal education in a classroom setting if possible to make sure you get the basics down. Learning through immersion and all that is great, but I'm going to bed that your grammar and stuff will be full of holes.

 

Yup. Thankfully I had a few Japanese friends who'd help me. I also did my research while studying, so I don't sound like a businessman whenever I talk. My friends helped me with more of the street Japanese, slang, and how to talk more casually.

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Well yeah, they're not going to teach your much conversational Japanese in classroom textbooks :p

 

In the end, the best way to start learning a new language is doing so through formal education in a classroom setting if possible to make sure you get the basics down. Learning through immersion and all that is great, but I'm going to bed that your grammar and stuff will be full of holes.

 

Pretty much. Anime, music and video games are all fantastic for extracurricular immersion into the language, but if you're truly serious about learning it, you need to take formal classes - there is no substitute. The material in the classes will indeed likely be based around the formal desu/masu forms and not so much on the casual conversational stuff, but that's fine - you need to know *both*.

 

I wish I could follow this advice and go to official classes but over here little to no one even knows what anime/manga/all that good stuff even is, let alone where it comes from, so the knowledge or interest in Japanese media and its language here is almost non-existent. (I've even gotten some nasty comments personally for liking this culture, boo :thumbsdown: ). They don't even teach it in colleges, and in my secondary school it was taught as an optional class until a few years ago when the already little interest that was there died off. Even then, I heard the teacher had fuck-all interest in the teaching.

 

:pout:

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I wish I could follow this advice and go to official classes but over here little to no one even knows what anime/manga/all that good stuff even is, let alone where it comes from, so the knowledge or interest in Japanese media and its language here is almost non-existent. (I've even gotten some nasty comments personally for liking this culture, boo :thumbsdown: ). They don't even teach it in colleges, and in my secondary school it was taught as an optional class until a few years ago when the already little interest that was there died off. Even then, I heard the teacher had fuck-all interest in the teaching.

 

:pout:

 

That's tough. :( Even in the US, there are regions of the country (the southern states come to mind) where Japanese isn't an option to take in high school, just the standard Spanish, German, French. It's not a deal-breaker though; you'll have to search harder and farther for resources and opportunities, but if you have the drive and the desire, you can do it. In the meantime, keep up your self-study!

 

Out of curiosity, despite the fact that they don't teach Japanese at the schools/colleges themselves in Ireland like you said, are there study abroad opportunities? I'm sure you'd take like a fish to water living in Tokyo for a year. :)

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I'm trying to learn Japanese at the moment, I'm using the Let's Learn workbook series. These books teach you how to write in hiragana and katakana. Before I tried to learn Japanese I imported Orochi Z as I loved Warriors Orochi 3. I went to Koeiwarriors and I wrote by hand all the kanji, hiragana and katakana for skills etc.

 

I've found that by writing them down that it actually helped me memorize them. I've found that writing them correctly helped even more, a bit like in elementary school you had to keep writing letters over and over. That's what I've been doing.

 

It's strange nearly a year after playing Orochi Z, a friend convinced me to pick up Monster Hunter 3 HD and I had remembered all the elemental symbols and when I played Dynasty Warriors 5 empires I realised that I remembered ones like bolt, slay/slash.

 

I don't have any Japanese friends to help me learn and my goal isn't to necessarily be fluent to speak it. I just want to play certain games and ideally play some visual novel games without text skipping (i really don't like that). The first I played was Hakuoki on vita (thought it was like Dynasty Warriors) and I was confused and wanted to know what was going on. I watched the anime and things made sense. Even better it was localised.

 

For me, I rather like writing it from an artistic perspective, it gives you time to focus on it. The way the characters end is relevant as well. I use to study the occult which is about symbols and specific ways to write them and focusing on them to give them meaning. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but like I said I don't have anyone to help me learn it is a solo project.

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Out of curiosity, despite the fact that they don't teach Japanese at the schools/colleges themselves in Ireland like you said, are there study abroad opportunities? I'm sure you'd take like a fish to water living in Tokyo for a year. :)

 

Well, if you ever study abroad in Tokyo, make sure you have set aside some funding for it, because it will be VERY expensive, just saying.

Also, it's best to go to a study abroad program after you have a pretty grasp of the language, because you'll get more out of it.

 

Edit: The "you" is directed at FsFuruba, of course :p

Edited by CookieOnFire
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I wish I could follow this advice and go to official classes but over here little to no one even knows what anime/manga/all that good stuff even is, let alone where it comes from, so the knowledge or interest in Japanese media and its language here is almost non-existent. (I've even gotten some nasty comments personally for liking this culture, boo :thumbsdown: ). They don't even teach it in colleges, and in my secondary school it was taught as an optional class until a few years ago when the already little interest that was there died off. Even then, I heard the teacher had fuck-all interest in the teaching.

 

:pout:

 

I am in the same boat as you. I wished I could have taken this in high school but all that was offered was Spanish, German and French. And my college doesn't teach it either. I have wanted to learn the language for awhile now and finally just decided to self study it.

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That's tough. :( Even in the US, there are regions of the country (the southern states come to mind) where Japanese isn't an option to take in high school, just the standard Spanish, German, French. It's not a deal-breaker though; you'll have to search harder and farther for resources and opportunities, but if you have the drive and the desire, you can do it. In the meantime, keep up your self-study!

 

Out of curiosity, despite the fact that they don't teach Japanese at the schools/colleges themselves in Ireland like you said, are there study abroad opportunities? I'm sure you'd take like a fish to water living in Tokyo for a year. :)

 

Now that you mention it Aeli-sama, I do think there may be study abroad opportunities in the colleges nearby. Where exactly I don't know, but considering I won't be hitting third-level education for another 4-5 years, it could have expanded as far as Asia for me to be heading to Japan XD Which would be a dream come true, because like you said, I'd happily adapt to the Japanese lifestyle.

 

Well, if you ever study abroad in Tokyo, make sure you have set aside some funding for it, because it will be VERY expensive, just saying.

Also, it's best to go to a study abroad program after you have a pretty grasp of the language, because you'll get more out of it.

 

Edit: The "you" is directed at FsFuruba, of course :p

 

Hopefully my extra few years of self-study will set me up in some way to be capable of living on my own, but from what you guys are saying about classes, I don't want to be too optimistic on that :scared:

 

And yeah, if a study abroad chance did become available, I'd start saving from the get-go. Gonna need all that money for Akihabara-- I mean, food and water, of course :whistle:

 

I am in the same boat as you. I wished I could have taken this in high school but all that was offered was Spanish, German and French. And my college doesn't teach it either. I have wanted to learn the language for awhile now and finally just decided to self study it.

 

Self-studying is definitely a lot harder but it's very rewarding when you start to see progress! I honestly never felt so accomplished when I found I could read off Kana words without a moment of contemplation. XD Now it's just second nature. Getting motivation can be tough since there's no one there to enforce classroom-like rules on you, and there's no penalty to not doing the work or study, but then just ask yourself, will I ever make any progress in my learning if I just keep procrastinating? :)

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Don't worry, even when studying abroad, you'll rarely be on your own, because you'll most likely end up living in a dorm :o

Also, be careful of the trap known as Akihabara :eek: I've gone there way more often than I should have in a certain amount of time, and as a result, I have a pretty good idea of where to buy games for cheap in that area :thumbsup:

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Don't worry, even when studying abroad, you'll rarely be on your own, because you'll most likely end up living in a dorm :o

Also, be careful of the trap known as Akihabara :eek: I've gone there way more often than I should have in a certain amount of time, and as a result, I have a pretty good idea of where to buy games for cheap in that area :thumbsup:

 

Guess I'll need Cookie's advice on how to efficiently save my Yen in the town of dakimakuras and eroge :thumbsup:

 

Oh goodness what a horrible generalisation

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