Learning Japanese by playing Final Fantasy IV

[Esteban]

Hello everyone,

I'm writing articles now (as a job) to learn languages (mostly French, Chinese and Japanese). I'm doing my second BA in 2nd language teaching have a fair bit of experience.

I've written about 50 so far but always ended up with the same problem:

How to get people interested into learning Japanese? How to make it accessible for people without any prior knowledge? How to make it fun and interesting for the learner while, of course, remaining free?

I eventually came with the idea of writing a guide to learn Japanese by playing JRPG, in this case Final Fantasy IV (the ds version).

The reason why I'm writing here is becaues I'd like to hear what you have to say about it. I want to make this interesting and fun and I'd really appreciate some feedback.

I'll write my next articles based on what you (as Final Fantasy fans who'd like to learn Japanese) have to say. I really want to have a close relationship with what the readers think so that I can improve and make this a great learning experience.

Anyways, you can say whatever you want, any way you want it, and I will take into account what is said in my future articles and adapt it towards what you guys are looking for.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the way I approach this and will learn a thing or two.

I've read the rules of the forum and I'm unsure if this would be considered as advertising so I thought I would ask permission first before posting any link at all.

Attempting to create a discussion from a website, image, or video you find does not fall under the category of advertising.

Based on this, could I share my article with you guys as I'm looking for opinions and feedback?

Thank you for reading.

Thank you for reading.

[Rocky]

I'd like to learn Japanese but it's not because I'm some crazy weeaboo or anything, I'd like to learn it to make myself more of an asset along the lines of the business world and such. Is there any way you could implement that into your ways of teaching? I like FF games too but I find learning a foreign language to play videogames not as practical because of the different vocabulary Final Fantasy games use in comparison to talking in real life.

But yeah, I'd be interested in your article, please continue.

[Esteban]

Hi Rocky,

Thanks a lot for the input, you bring in some valuable points which I'd like to address.

I'd like to learn it to make myself more of an asset along the lines of the business world and such. Is there any way you could implement that into your ways of teaching?

I'll try when I get to the first shop. Good idea.

I like FF games too but I find learning a foreign language to play videogames not as practical because of the different vocabulary Final Fantasy games use in comparison to talking in real life.

Yes, I see where you're coming from.

I personally learned my English almost entirely by playing video games. I learned it to the point where I used the language for various jobs such as translation, teaching in school and now as a writer.

I base the structure of my articles on the MLA (Modern Language Association). They have certain directives which I found appealing such as:
*Use common sentences for students to learn the language
This is something I thought I could easily find in a video game. The vocabulary isn't as complex as say, a Japanese newspaper, and thus more accessible.
*Teaching inductive grammar
In other words, let the studet figure out the grammar from being immersed in the language instead of writing about the rules themselves.

I might be off track here (which is why I'm asking for feedback! ) but I just thought I'd share the logistic of it all with you guys.

[Andromeda]

I think the largest gap to bridge is just getting past the different characters. If you know English you can with some degree transition into French and Spanish and other European languages because for the most part the alphabet is the same. Japanese doesn't even use an alphabet, but syllables and then being able to recognize and remember Katakana and Hiragana.

Finding a way to teach that in a game would be interesting. I'm not sure how you would go about doing that. I've been teaching myself Japanese and Hiragana was just a matter of memorizing it and the same with Katakana. And then there is Kanji, which I'm guessing you'll be including Furigana with?

But I do think that conversational sentence structure found in dialogue of games would probably be the best course for learning.

Is there just going to be a reference table for the katakana and hiragana or a certain level of expected knowledge going in?

[Esteban]

Hi Andromeda,

Absolutely no prior knowledge of Japanese is necessary. Hiragana and Katakana will be integrated along the way.

Speaking of which, I've added the Second Lesson.

I took some time to talk a bit more about the writing system, I hope it's not boring.

CLICK HERE!

Let me know what you think.

[che]

I'm sure there are more conventional ways of learning a language quicker and easier than learning it from a game. However, if you choose to learn that way it means you'll have more focus and want to do it, which increases your chances of success.

Not everyone is going to be able to benefit from it. Though I applaud your achievement and willingness to help others in this way.

Thumbs up!

[SOLDIER #819]

It's hard to say what you should start with. Whatever you do, categorize things so that it is easy to understand. Don't talk about more than maybe two subjects per lesson. Pick things carefully, and make sure to include vocabulary and/or one or two simple expressions related to the game each time. Famous quotes are probably the best to start with. Moreover, be absolutely sure that you carefully explain how what you're talking about relates to the game.

For instance, even if you tell them the katakana for バロン or kanji for 部隊長 they probably won't understand what it has to do with FFIV. A lot of English speakers can't even understand spoken English words that have been adapted for Japanese, so it's even harder when it's written since they aren't familiar with how each character sounds. Kanji should only be explained briefly (a sentence or two) until they've been completely exposed to hiragana and katakana. I think it's just too confusing to start with.

I really like how you're trying to teach them writing through names though. If you taught hiragana and katakana like that each time you could probably finish it all in 10 lessons or so. If you can keep someone's interest for that long it's good enough. It's really hard to keep people interested with online tutorials.

[Selcopa]

Rosseta Stone would be a great tool to go along with this, it is got to be the most powerful language software you can get.

Of course I wouldn't pay for it, but there are ways....

[Esteban]

@Secolpa:
I wasn't a big fan or Rosetta stone myself. Some readers might like it though, thanks for the input.

This being said, I'm also working on a RPG to learn Japanese.

Here's a video of how it works (this is very, very, very beta):

YouTube - Slimongo Test

@Soldier: This is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. The third lesson is almost finished and it's about... kanji. But I think it's not too complex. I'll post it here soon and you can tell me what you think (if you think it's too hard).

[Esteban]

Hey guys, It's me again.

Just wanted to let you know the third lesson is out and is available there:
Learn Japanese with the Nintendo DS

It's a quick introduction to Kanji. It was very challening to make it as simple as possible but I think I did a good job. There's also a short review exercise.

As usual, I'm always interested in reading your comments.

@Soldiers:
I have taken into account your comments for the fourth lesson which should be online fairly soon now. I've made a special effort in both lesson 3 and 4 to keep things short and to the point. I hope you like it.

[SOLDIER #819]

This is a good so far. Keep it up!

I think I would rearrange the first three lessons so that you have one for hiragana, one for katakana, and one for kanji. I'm used to seeing hiragana come first, but in this case I suppose katakana is better at the beginning. People will probably find it more fun since they can write the characters' names. You can probably include dakuten and handakuten in the first lesson with katakana and then say in the second lesson that it works with hiragana, too. Furigana, of course, can be in the third lesson with kanji. Make sure not to explain all three types in one chapter though.

Even if you don't rearrange them (though I highly recommend it), I would probably go back and make each exercise more FFIV-related. Like instead of charts where you draw lines between katakana, have them translate other names from katakana to romaji, like カイン-->Kain and so on. Maybe attack names too. For hiragana... even if the words normally use kanji, I would just give them their pronunciations in hiragana. Simple things like 風 or 土 or something, then talk about their role in the game.

Explain the connection to FFIV even more. I think it's still unclear at some parts. Like how they didn't learn what 部隊長 was until the 3rd lesson, even though it was in the second lesson. I still don't think they know what バロン is.

The most important thing is to not make them guess at the answer. Personally I believe people will just become confused. If you give them the katakana for セシル, tell them that it means Cecil immediately after.

On another note, maybe it'd be nice to explain hiragana a bit more. You've explained what katakana and kanji are used for fairly well, but with hiragana it's still a bit hard to understand what it's for. If it isn't explained then those who read the articles will probably underestimate its purpose in the language.

[Esteban]

Hey guys, it's been a while (my editor was really busy).

Lesson 4 is available here. It's about Katakana for words of foreign origins.


Lesson 5 is available here. It's about hiragana and words of Japanese origins.

Dear Soldier, once again, thank you for your criticism.

I think I would rearrange the first three lessons so that you have one for hiragana, one for katakana, and one for kanji. I'm used to seeing hiragana come first, but in this case I suppose katakana is better at the beginning. People will probably find it more fun since they can write the characters' names. You can probably include dakuten and handakuten in the first lesson with katakana and then say in the second lesson that it works with hiragana, too. Furigana, of course, can be in the third lesson with kanji. Make sure not to explain all three types in one chapter though.

I try not to edit my previous articles too much (it's a burden for my editor). I took great care not to explain all three in one lesson however.

Even if you don't rearrange them (though I highly recommend it), I would probably go back and make each exercise more FFIV-related. Like instead of charts where you draw lines between katakana, have them translate other names from katakana to romaji, like カイン-->Kain and so on. Maybe attack names too. For hiragana... even if the words normally use kanji, I would just give them their pronunciations in hiragana. Simple things like 風 or 土 or something, then talk about their role in the game.

I agree 100% with you about this. I will avoid not sticking to the game from now on. This is the idea I kept in mind when writing lesson 4 and 5 (as you've probably noticed if you've read both lessons).

About this:

Simple things like 風 or 土 or something, then talk about their role in the game.

Lesson 6 will introduce grammatical particles but I will make lesson 7 more focused about Kanji .

Explain the connection to FFIV even more. I think it's still unclear at some parts. Like how they didn't learn what 部隊長 was until the 3rd lesson, even though it was in the second lesson. I still don't think they know what バロン is.

The most important thing is to not make them guess at the answer. Personally I believe people will just become confused. If you give them the katakana for セシル, tell them that it means Cecil immediately after.

Good point, I agree with you.

On another note, maybe it'd be nice to explain hiragana a bit more. You've explained what katakana and kanji are used for fairly well, but with hiragana it's still a bit hard to understand what it's for. If it isn't explained then those who read the articles will probably underestimate its purpose in the language.

I actually wrote lesson 5 after reading this comment. The reason I kept hiragana for later was that I thought it was much more complex than katakana (which I find a lot easier).

Keep the criticism coming. As you can see, I use everything I get in shaping the next articles.

M.