How much Japanese have you learnt from playing visual novels?

[Natalieee62]

Wah..I'd probably be so much better at JP if I actually kept up with it. I try to pick up shorter >2hr type games every once in a while to read in pure japanese to study but I don't do it enough to actually keep anything long term it feels...On the topic, if anyone knows any EZ BL games I'm happy to get suggestions!

I've heard from others that Nie no Machi is quite easy to read relative to most ^^ but since they're all made for adult native speakers I would say they're all a bit tricky (⁠*⁠﹏⁠*⁠;⁠)

 

[藍色水珠]

In addition to listening to Japanese music, playing games and listening to Otome drama CDs, it has become my biggest source of Japanese learning:

From knowing nothing and can only understand a few words, because the game can replay the voice, review the text content, and the excellent performance of the voice actors, learning Japanese is not only my interest, but also the greatest source of motivation, which has made me a lot of progress. Now I can understand 70-80% of Japanese by myself, only professional terms are left, and I also need to look up the dictionary.

 

[myfrral]

I once enrolled in online courses because I really enjoyed Japanese anime and otome games. I feel that online classes are like a rough outline for learning Japanese for me, because I always can't remember grammar or vocabulary. But by watching anime or playing otome games, I can quickly understand grammar and vocabulary, and gain a better understanding of some colloquial pronunciations in daily life. Overall, watching anime and playing games can help me remember words and grammar more deeply, enabling me to remember them.

 

[Erille]

I can understand some simple phrases but reading kanji is still a challenge for me

 

[O cha]

I've gotten pretty good at reading and listening, especially when it comes to anime- or game-related dialogue. I still struggle to understand conversations that are more like everyday, real-life Japanese though, haha. As for speaking and writing, I'm basically hopeless at those, hahaha.

Still, I've gone from only knowing hiragana and katakana to being able to read simpler manga, so I'm pretty happy with how far I've come!

 

[Ophi]

I'm actually just starting to pick up playing Otomes again since I'm learning Japanese, I want to play some that are released in Japanese only now that I'm around n4. I feel like it will be good motivation to keep me studying

 

[konjikinoyami2]

For me, I started playing visual novels when I was 11, when my Japanese was literally at zero. I kept playing them over the years, and eventually passed N3 at 16, N2 at 17, and N1 at 23.

So honestly, I'd say visual novels were basically what taught me Japanese. I have a really short attention span, so I've never been very good at learning languages through conventional methods, and I'm terrible at memorizing vocabulary by rote. I ended up learning mostly by playing games and picking things up naturally through context and repetition.

Looking back, VNs were probably the most effective language-learning method for me precisely because I was actually having fun while doing it.

 

[Nekosen]

One of the best japanese studying advice I've gotten is to start reading as soon as possible. It's hard at first, but as long as you keep reading VNs, you'll be surprised to see how fast you progress. And your interest in VNs helps with motivation a lot.

I still can't read something on the level of Taisho mebiusline without looking up kanji every five seconds and wanting to cry, but the rest is fine and YAY no need to wait for the games to be translated.

 

[Natalieee62]

One of the best japanese studying advice I've gotten is to start reading as soon as possible. It's hard at first, but as long as you keep reading VNs, you'll be surprised to see how fast you progress. And your interest in VNs helps with motivation a lot.

I still can't read something on the level of Taisho mebiusline without looking up kanji every five seconds and wanting to cry, but the rest is fine and YAY no need to wait for the games to be translated.

Yeah it's definitely a struggle at the beginning to push through how hard and slow it can be at times ! But it's so worth it!! Not having to wait for things to be translated and being able to translate it yourself is the best part ^^

 

[Catmelia]

Believe it or not... I got to know my Japanese proficiency is up until N3 level thanks to otome games and other Japanese exposures like anime and drama CDs.... I wasn't aware of that until I went for an interview trying to get the translation job. During the interview, I was being honest that I only know Japanese but not expert level, they just let me sit for the translation exam for the job and told me my Japanese proficiency is just up to N3, which is not up to their requirements. Mind you I was surprised about that cause I never took any Japanese
Language courses

 

[q1w3e5]

My Japanese is pretty much entirely thanks to watching anime and listening to drama CDs, and playing otome games. One day, I suddenly realized I could understand what the characters were saying without subtitles. Then I spent a day memorizing all the hiragana and katakana, which allowed me to read Japanese. That's how I passed the N1 exam without even studying much (since I never formally studied grammar—my grammar is actually pretty weak, but my listening skills are exceptionally strong), It's pretty unbelievable when I think about it now…

As for learning Japanese, I actually recommend everyday-themed games that don't have a lot of technical terms. "UtaPri" is actually a great choice because it doesn't have many complicated technical terms.

 

[DoDoPopping]

The different kinds of things I've encountered through , otome / bl / gal visual novels：
Through games centered around cooking,
I've come across a lot of explanations of cooking processes and the names of different dishes.
They often make me hungry just reading about them—I end up practically drooling...

Some games with ancient settings have taught me a lot about customs,
local culture, and historical terminology.
Some games are packed with memes and slang from internet communities,
which has helped me learn a lot of the expressions people use when interacting with each other online.

And then there are hardcore sci-fi games,
with all kinds of complicated terminology that can be incredibly overwhelming.
They can be seriously brain-burning,
and I constantly have to go back and reread the explanations to make sure I understand them.
Whenever I run into a wall of katakana hell, my brainwaves just disappear for a while lol.

Of course, playing through a game doesn't mean I'll remember everything.
But after years of reading and accumulating all these things,
I think they gradually become part of my own language-learning experience.

 

[caducus]

Your post made me remember back, years and years and YEARS ago when I was in high school. One of the teachers spoke Japanese, and I'd made an off-handed comment about how I knew a couple of words from the games I played and the anime I watched.

Japanese games and anime were a bit more niche, so he was a little surprised I knew any Japanese and asked me what I could say. After which, I realized my limited vocab gave me 3 dialogue options and I could:

1) ask him to save me,
2) call him a bastard and tell him I'd kill him, or
3) ask him where the bathroom was.

 

[Natsukicchii_]

Just by playing Visual Novel Otome Games, I got my N2 certification lol

Since I never study Japanese formally, studying by myself, using VN, at first, it was so hard, because I was starting with 0 knowledge.

Writing the hiragana, katakana, kanji, even how to pronounce it, very very slowly. Took me almost 3 years of studying lol

 

[Edsffafzf]

Enough to understand VNs without having to look up words with Textractor. It was so hard at first but it's crazy how i went from struggling to comprehend a single sentence to casually reading without difficulty.

Thank god for the tons of VNs that are still untranslated that served as my motivation (I can't stand machine translation)

 

[mowanjian]

My listening has improved a lot, but more complex content is still a bit difficult for me

 

[mellowmachi]

Enough to pass N3 by self-study! :D I'm currently studying for N2, tho granted I also use specific JLPT-focused series, textbook, and workbooks but Otome games are what kickstarted my Japanese learning journey barely a year ago. I was dreading reading so much, but now it was manageable now to read essay book and light novels. Tho I'd say reading actual novel would help with vertical reading most since Otome's texts are horizontal haha.

 

[anibroco]

To be honest, I learned very little, mainly because whenever I play, I use one of my many translation apps lol. I'm seriously thinking about signing up for Japanese and Chinese classes. I learned very few words from the audio clips, and sometimes the words were repeated a lot, but unlike before, I can say I did learn a few words jejeje

 

[mellowmachi]

Also, before going the Otome/Visual Novel route I used to listen to Vtubers livestream BUT they didn't help as much as I expected listening-wise....? Kinda.....since livestreaming (naturally speaking) requires some interjection (?) it was actually way easier than the actual listening audio where they just read the script lol. So, yeah going back to Otome is the way I guess. What surprised me was my reading score was higher than listening, yet I used to struggle so much in longer-text comprehension and reading speed. Maybe I need to immerse more in listening.....Yay for more Drama CD time!

 

[sirius1255]

reading wise don't really count myself among "learners" anymore just "Japanese speaker". Honestly don't think there's any difference between me and natives reading novels. Speaking wise my accent is still prominent so going to have to work on that.
Started learning around late 2019 and started reading (almost) exclusively JP VNs/LNs in JP about one year later.

 

[mellowmachi]

Also, I'm wondering what other kind of Visual Novel Genre (other than Otome/BL) you guys play (for language learning or for fun)? I'm trying out the detective genre (Famicom detective club, Hiyoku no Tori) since they're on the shorter-side (instead of multiple routes in Otome) and the cases are presented straightforwardly, total 10 hours or less, haha. I kinda prefer them if I'm short of time since Otome can be a much larger of time commitment, at least for me. JRPGs can be very daunting especially with the mechanics and it can be tempting to just skip the JP in favor of the English version....unlike unlocalized Otome where we don't have the option lol.